It’s out there.
You join or found or work on the side with a small company or law firm or consulting firm or organization or a simple web site or blog or something else. Whatever this is – it can be law focused, something totally different, or a mix. This job you do is challenging, and some of it will be grunt work, but the work aligns well with what you are good at and what you enjoy. You are confident at what you do, you actually look forward to what you do, which means you enjoy what you do and you are surrounded by supportive people which means you feel emboldened to take risks and try new things and see what is possible.
It’s out there.
If you like people and are empathetic and love to listen and speak and interact, this job lets you network and go for lunches and coffees … with potential partners and customers and employees. You enjoy motivating your direct reports, and you do a good job at it, and you understand the pulse of the office, and gently nudge and guide the team to a desired positive result.
If you are disciplined and organized, this job lets you manage important projects, to “herd catsâ€, to make sure the product or project timeline is kept on track. You relish the role of being the “adult in the room†and of being relied upon to produce tangible results that people can see and feel and rely on.
If you like to strategize and think big, this job lets you propose new partnerships and joint ventures and bring them back to the team and brainstorm on how best to execute. You love to get in front of your fellow senior management and take the dry erase pen and confidently sketch your ideas on the white board and have your colleagues poke holes in them, nod their heads in agreement and refine your thoughts into a plan, a real actionable, tangible, executable plan, that you can see helping someone, a customer, a partner, an audience, from beginning to end.
If you’d rather be in the background and deal with the details, this job lets you write copy or create models or produce content or build models that serves as the foundation for new products or services or initiatives. You enjoy quietly and unassumingly doing the hard work to lay the foundation for what the company is doing next.
If you like to focus on infrastructure or love gadgets and technology, this job lets you head Operations. You become COO or VP Operations. You don’t feel the pressure to bring in sales or new business, and you can manage the HR and finances and legal and IT processes of the company. You like being seen as that solid, core, consistent “rock†in the office that makes sure the ship is steady and running smoothly.
If you’re good at making something complicated simple, this job lets you collect disparate data and take the time to piece it together to create a narrative or a product or a service that binds together and can be sold to solve a pain that the consumer feels.
This job lets you make good money and there is a nice financial upside and you can go for long lunches on Wednesday and take Friday afternoons off when needed.
This job does not require you to jump to attention when a partner or a client calls. Friday night dinner plans and kids birthdays are not missed because a client or partner had some last minute work for you to get done. You do not need to work weekends and that Sunday night anxiety becomes a thing of the past. You are trusted and supported and motivated and grow exponentially.
This becomes more than a job. It becomes a key component to your happiness. Your identity is tied not with a title or salary or a future path but rather becomes equated with satisfaction and personal confidence.
It’s out there. This job and this kind of work is out there.
It starts with a babystep, and then another, and another and a proper plan and a lot of hard work and focus and facing your fears and courage.
But this job, this work, this life, is out there. It’s possible. Believe me, it’s possible. And with it comes so much more.