Margot (not her real name) is someone whose journey is both inspiring and instructive. Margot is a senior associate for her firm. In addition, she is a part-time instructor with a university. She is based in Canada and despite the record cold and snow on the day we met over lunch, she was warm and welcoming. Margot has had the unique opportunity to work in a multiple settings and business cultures – from doing her own thing in a sole proprietorship to working in a corporate setting to working in higher education. All of these give her a unique vantage point, but what makes her story really compelling is what she calls her ‘alchemy’. She says she crashed and learned the most in some dark days from which she has returned bright and renewed. Her experience is enlightening for organizations as well as individuals. These are the themes and lessons that emerge from Margot’s story of how she brings work to life and life to work:
- Find your own vision.
Margot says that it is helpful to know what gets you out of bed in the morning and know what you love to do. These are the things that you should pursue with energy, investment, and commitment. Popular wisdom suggests that when our best talents are aligned with the world’s needs, magic happens. In Margot’s case, she loved design and she loved teaching. These were at her core and self-awareness about her passions have guided her course. Margot recommends listening to both your heart and your head in determining your vision for your future. - Embrace the darkness.
Margot describes dark days after she left her job, and her marriage, and lost her direction, and her identity. She says that leaving her job was alchemy and that she sunk to the bottom and ‘went into the fire’ but found transformation there. She did odd jobs to support herself and figured out that she had to fundamentally change her life. She started her own design studio in a spare room of her home and it grew very successfully. Why? Because she took time to re-assess what was most important to her and took time to align what she was doing in her work with what was most important to her customers. - Stay connected.
Humans thrive in community, and we understand ourselves best when we are in relationship with others. Margot says that for her, community is created anytime there are at least two people together. We all need solitude, but we also need the opportunity to think with others, exchange ideas, and innovate together. The best ideas take shape when we can turn to another person and say “Hey, what do you think of this?” and when we can do a ‘collective high five’ at the conclusion of a project. According to Margot, success in community is when an idea is so imbued with the ideas of the group, that no one person can lay claim to it. It has truly been shaped by all the members of the team. - Seek learning and challenge.
One primary aspect of Margot’s energy and success is that she is always seeking new learning and new challenges. Our human craving for achievement is also a craving for challenge. Margot suggests that it’s an upward spiral when we combine our new learning with sharing. We learn, we share, we receive feedback, and we learn some more. New learning and new challenge are deeply connected with sharing among others in our community. - Be your 9-year old self.
As a 50-something, Margot feels liberated by age. As she gets older, she feels more youthful in spirit because she is no longer constrained by worry about what others think. She says that she embraces her 9-year old self in which she can take herself less seriously and make plenty of choices that are purely her own. - Trust the process.
What advice would Margot give her younger self or her 30-something niece? Trust the process. She says that the best gifts she’s ever received are those she’s stumbled upon in crashes or dark times. Most things happen for a reason and if you can trust the process, and be kind to yourself and others, there will be treasures within the rubble. - Take responsibility.
Organizations should take responsibility to build cultures which are respectful and which offer recognition and appreciation for staff. And as members of organizations and communities, we can also do that for each other to powerful effect.
Margot has found abundance in alchemy. She says that darkness is a gift and that it is a symbol of the need for change and growth. We can shape our own realities. We have the opportunity to create abundance in our work and all of our lives by embracing challenges and setting a course toward our vision and our passions.
Would you like to tell your story? If so, let me know by emailing me at tbrower108@gmail.com. Why? One of the foundations of Bringing Work to Life is abundance: the idea that it is possible to find fulfillment, have it all, and avoid the trade-offs between work and life. After all, work and life aren’t separate things to be placed in containers, but part of an integrated whole of a satisfying life. Another foundation of Bringing Work to Life is the idea of multiple right answers. As we’re all seeking ways to bring work to life – and bring life to work – we can learn from each other’s unique solutions and stories. I’d love to learn about your story!