10 career lessons I learned the hard way...

after leaving the 'almost' perfect job.

12 months ago today after 20+ years I left the very safe and familiar, consistently rewarding and regularly enjoyable world of being an employee to join the high risk and lonely land of the self-employed.

I had a fantastic job working with globally recognised leaders of industry, countries, sport and thought, as previously written about here, from Prime Ministers and Premiers to Managing Directors and management gurus to the best performers in the world across multiple domains and best-selling authors.

Apologies if this sounds like ‘humble brag’. Not my intention at all. My point is to highlight that my old job wasn’t broken. Far from it. I loved it and I was learning every day from some of the world’s most accomplished leaders and working alongside 100's of fantastic CEOs annually.

So why did I leave?

I hope my answer may help you with your career thinking, whatever your next career step may be. Those close to me know my story so apologies if I'm going over old ground.

On 25 August 2017 my mum (below) died totally out of the blue from a massive heart attack. No warning signs. No prior illness. No major life stresses. No reason to think she was going anywhere for at least another 20 years. No time to say goodbye.

Death was not new to me having lost my dad to a brain tumor in 2013 and my son Benji in 2008, but something about mum’s passing jolted me into a new reality (read here and here for my reflections on grief).

In this new reality:

• time would no longer be taken for granted;
• a new sense of urgency and energy was born to make every day matter;
• impact and legacy shot to the top of my values hierarchy; and 
• deep and authentic relationships became even more critical to my sense of identity.

Mum’s death made me question every way I was living my life including my career. But why did I choose the path I am now on and what have I learned that may benefit you in your career thinking?

Here are my top ten career lessons learned.

Lesson 1. Know your MTP

I am a huge fan of Singularity University and co-founder Peter Diamandis. Research from both has revealed the fastest growing organisations in the world all share one thing… a Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP). MTPs have the following attributes and can be applied just as easily to individuals as to companies.

To be honest some MTPs are better than others, as you will see in the table below. Some are a little self-serving, others are beyond impossible, many are super cheezy, and others could apply to anybody.

The key is that the MTP is motivating for you and becomes a guiding force for the decisions you make every day. 

It doesn’t need to be perfect and can be refined over time. The key is to start with something that feels like a good fit and tailor it as your thinking and practice evolves.

My MTP at the moment is

‘to help leaders be their best and find the best in others for a better world’. 

Is my MTP perfect? No. It is a little cheezy? Sure. Does it guide my progress and inspire me? Yes.

New research by University of California Berkeley Professor Morten Hansen shows just how important purpose is. He looked at the difference in performance between people that had high or low purpose and high or low passion, described in his new book Great at Work. 

Passion it turns out is not enough. Yes being passionate correlates with higher performance than those with low passion but the highest performers had both passion and purpose. See the video below for more on this topic from Hansen.

So how do you find your purpose then? According to Hansen one way is to answer the following question.

What are you uniquely qualified to do for others that you are passionate about? 

This is where the personal trifecta comes in.

Lesson 2. Define your personal trifecta

Being uniquely qualified at one thing on a planet with over 7.5 billion people is pretty hard. But being uniquely qualified on the planet across three things (your trifecta) turns out to be much easier.

I first heard about this concept in reference to the irreverent creator of Dilbert, Scott Adams. Dilbert is one of the most successful cartoon characters of all time. 

Prior to coming up with Dilbert Scott was an average cartoonist, an above average comedian and had experience working in corporate America. Only when he combined these three things did he become world class.

Based on this concept my personal trifecta looks something like this: Organisational Psychologist + worked with over 1000 CEOs + 20 years’ driving cultural change.

That uniquely qualifies me to help leaders get the best out of themselves and others. You help enough leaders do this and we have a better world, à la my MTP.

How about you? What three things about you uniquely qualify you to make a difference?

Lesson 3. Alignment precedes advancement

Dr Peter Fuda was the first person I heard talk with such passion about alignment. Peter has an unrivalled 90% success rate in helping companies transform. He states without question that

“transformation is not a matter of intention; it is a matter of alignment”.

I had intended to do the work I am doing now for many years, i.e. working with CEOs and their leadership communities to create high performance cultures. But my efforts were not as aligned as they could be.

In my old job I got to work with CEOs but I knew there was so much more I could do to add value to my clients that went beyond my job description. My boss gave me some rope to get more aligned but it wasn’t scalable. I knew the only way I could increase alignment significantly was to start my own business.

If you are wondering how aligned you are with your current role my great friend and founder of Life By Design Ian Hutchinson created the following simple test as part of what he calls your ‘Lifestyle Career Development Blueprint’.

Hutch suggests you assess your current role against your top skills, challenge and meaning. In other words

"how aligned is your job with what you need to feel fulfilled at work?" 

The ‘almost perfect job’ I left scored high on meaning, but after 7 years was medium on challenge. The big gap however related to alignment with my top skills. I wasn’t using all the skills I loved to use, or as Marcus Buckingham would say my 'strengths'. 

According to Buckingham

“People who focus on their strengths every day are 6 times more likely to be engaged in their jobs, more productive and more likely to say they have an excellent quality of life.”

As great as my old job was I was not doing any 1:1 or team coaching, no keynote speaking, no workshop delivery, no consulting, no diagnostic work. I wasn't using all my strengths and I could not consistently tell if the work I was doing was aligned with my MTP.

In my new role I get to 'focus on my strengths every day' I client facing. I am also much more aligned with my MTP as revealed in the short clip below.

There is much a miss about my old job and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to the co-founders of the CEO Forum Group gave me to work there, but this new role embraces all of me and that feels amazing.

How aligned are you? If you don’t feel you are advancing it may be a matter of alignment.

Lesson 4. The aggregation of marginal gains

Another fantastic concept Peter Fuda introduced me to is the aggregation of marginal gains, made famous by Sir Dave Brailsford, former Performance Director of the British Cycling team. 

Prior to the Sydney Olympics the British Cycling team had won one medal over the previous 76 years. Since then they have won not only numerous golds at every Olympics but Brits have won six Tour de France races.

As the clip above revealed the secret to Team GB’s success was by improving everything by 1%. Yes millions were spent on new helmets, new bikes etc but the real difference lay in small things like improving how the athletes washed their hands before meals to decrease the likelihood of colds and flu that would impact training.

According to Fuda

“transformation does not result from one big thing, it comes from the aggregation of marginal gains; lots and lots of small changes, that collectively generate an unstoppable momentum over time.”

This concept is not new but is surprisingly not well known. Einstein knew it well claiming that

“Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” 

The aggregation of marginal gains is akin to the compound effect, i.e. small gains compounding over time. This assumes of course that those gains are aligned, as discussed in lesson number 3.

Working for myself has given me the opportunity to put in place numerous marginal gains. I go to the gym more, run more often, sleep better, read more, write more, think more etc etc. Each small gain is adding up and I can feel the compounding effect already kicking in.

You don’t need to leave your job to put this one in place, but you do need to be deliberate about the decisions you make and actions you take. Lots of 1% gains in different directions do not serve you. 

Are your 1%'ers aligned? Choose them in favour of your MTP and personal trifecta.

Lesson 5. Get on your second curve early

The 'second curve' is a concept I learned from British management sage Charles Handy. He explains it best in the video below and in his book by the same name (see here), but if really pushed for time the idea is that too often we wait to start the next stage of our career, life, relationships etc too long! 

Handy suggests you should start working on the next stage, i.e. your second curve, before you peak on your current curve. Don't wait till you start plateauing and at all costs don't wait till you are in decline! Your energy and attractiveness to the market is greater when you’re on the up and up, not when you’ve already peaked.

Another related concept is the ‘tarzan principle’. No idea where I heard this one but I like it. 

Before letting go of the vine you are on make sure you’ve got a good grip on the next one. 

Silicon Valley refers to this concept as ‘side hustle’. It is a common story among tech founders who test and develop their ideas outside working hours whilst employed elsewhere. Only once they are confident their idea has legs do they leave their day job. A great example of the second curve!

Lesson 6. What’s stopping you are clues to moving forward

I procrastinated for years about doing my own thing. My dad (one of my last selfies with dad) was an entrepreneur and built a bunch of companies, most of which failed. Fortunately one paid off the losses of all the others and then a little so he could retire at 55. Just as well too given his unexpected departure at 75.

Whether dad’s failures had something to do with it or otherwise I had a long list of reasons not to go out on my own. That was until one day a wise friend Phill Nosworthy asked me to describe my top three barriers.

"First how will I pay the school fees. Four kids, 26 years of private school fees, it all adds up!" I said.

"Secondly what about my mortgage?" I continued. Given house prices in Sydney a seven figure mortgage is not that unusual.

"Thirdly, what if I’m a dud? I’ve always had a big brand behind me so who knows how I will go by myself?" I said in conclusion.

“Awesome” Phill said.

“Huh?” I replied.

“That is great Rich because you just described the three key things you need to focus on to set yourself up for success.”

That may sound obvious to you but to me I had seen these barriers as a blocker and my mate saw them as clues to moving forward. In one short moment my friend flipped my mindframe. From that day forward over the next four years I built a plan to address each of the three points so they were no longer barriers.

Re the school fees I have waited to go out on my own till we were over the hump of those 26 years. 

Re the house we rented it out for a time to help pay down the mortgage and recently sold it reducing the mortgage further still.

And as for the dud question I have spent the last four years capturing everything I have learned from across my career in addition to ferociously devouring everything I can read, watch or listen to about human performance. 

I also took every opportunity to listen and learn from the CEOs and HRDs I worked with about their biggest problems to ensure my knowledge lined up with a pressing market need.

What is stopping you from swinging to your second curve and how might these barriers be clues to your progress?

Lesson 7. Progress trumps perfection

I am not a perfectionist but I do, like most people, have perfectionistic tendencies. We are currently renovating. Fortunately my builder is very, very, very patient as I notice things no one will ever notice and ask him to fix them.

When it comes to things I care about, like my family home, I can sometimes care too much.

My career had been a bit like that too until I read The Lean Startup. So many of the principles author Eric Ries describes in the book and touches on in the video below can be applied to individuals also. 

One in particular relates to lesson 7 “progress trumps perfection”.

Waiting for the perfect timing, the perfect product, the perfect first client, the perfect market conditions, the perfect launchpad, etc etc etc is a fool’s game. 

For one perfection is highly personally so my version of it will differ to others. For two even if we all agreed on what perfect looked like the market is changing so quickly that yesterday’s perfect is redundant tomorrow.

No wonder “just ship it” has become a mantra for many software entrepreneurs.

Co-founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman famously wrote

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”

Although I don’t totally buy this concept given the potential downside impact on others we with perfectionistic tendencies can certainly learn from it.

Jeff Bezos has a 70% rule I like. In a 2016 letter to shareholders Bezos said,

"most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you're probably being slow."

To be fair some situations such as brain surgery and flight traffic control require a much higher percentage, but for many things in our lives 70% is more than enough, and sometimes a far lower percentage is sufficient.

Applying this thinking to your career, what does ‘minimum viable progress’ (MVP) look like, i.e. what is the smallest step you could take in your career that is meaningful enough to test what ‘next’ may look like and give you good feedback, but small enough to not cause major issues if it failed dismally.

An example of this for me is this article. I have been writing long form articles for over four years now once per month to consolidate my thinking on various topics relating to high performance, test them with real people, see which themes and ideas resonate, and learn from people’s reactions and comments.

Do I wait till the article is perfect before ‘shipping it’? No. 70% is probably close enough in this context. No one will die if I don't nail the last 30%. And when that 70% resonates with readers I build that content into my keynotes and workshops.

What is your MVP... the minimum viable progress you could make to your second curve?

Lesson 8. Deep work is essential for deep impact

Another percentage of note and relevant to lesson number 8 was first coined way back in 1948 at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. 3M as we now know it launched a novel and somewhat radical initiative in post-war America called ‘15 percent time’.

All employees are given 15% of their time to pursue projects of their own choice. William McKnight, who rose from his initial bookkeeping position to eventually become chairman of 3M’s board, best explained the logic of the 15% rule:

“Encourage experimental doodling. If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the room they need.”

The Post-it note is the most notable (bad pun intended) innovation stemming from 15% time amongst many others all contributing to the company’s phenomenal success reflected by its impressive longevity and even more impressive market cap of $97.21B.

Great story Rich but how is this relevant to my career? I’m glad you asked.

How much time do you give yourself to focus on ‘experimental doodling’?

Whether employed, self-employed or unemployed all our careers would benefit from applying the 15% rule to ourselves. Consider yourself as the project. Give yourself the room you need to discover new ways ‘to be you’. No one is going to do it for you. Don’t fence yourself in!

Cal Newport picked up on a related concept in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Cal suggests how much elite work you produce equals the time you spend on your task multiplied by how intensely you focus.

“Deep work is becoming the superpower of the 21st century” says Newport.

Cal doesn't suggest a percentage for this deep work but 15% is as good a place as any to start with. That's about six hours a week to do your most important and focused work.

Why not make some of your deep work time focused on your career? Don’t wait till you have to. Start today.

Lesson 9. No (hu)man is an island

English metaphysical poet John Donne came up with this chestnut in the 16th century and it could not be more true today. This has been one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned about going out on my own.

I had no idea how lonely it would be working for myself. The first six months were especially hard. 

I went from a highly people oriented relationship based role connecting with 100's of amazing people every week, based in a state of the art office in the heart of Sydney, dining regularly in 2 hat restaurants with my clients to sitting in the spare room of my home with my labradoodle 'Agi', Ikea furniture, and eating last night’s left overs for lunch.

I wish someone had warned me about the isolation as I do for you now.

Having said this I have had more time this year than in my entire career to do the deep work as well as things like drop my daughter off at school, walk the dogs, keep fit, and catch up with old friends. 

All in all the isolation has been worth it for the time I have gotten back whilst building my business, but be warned and be ready.

Lesson 10. If you are not pursuing your own dream someone will hire you to achieve theirs

This last lesson has haunted me for years. I believe it to be true, mostly. 

Sometimes you can find a job that enables you to pursue your own dream AND someone else’s, but most jobs are more aligned to your employer’s dreams than your own.

Sometimes you can tailor your job so it better aligns with your own dreams AND your employers. That is well worth trying before you consider leaving.

And sometimes you dreams are achieved outside of your employment AND your job just pays the bills. That is fine also as long as you can find the time on top of your day job.

However if you can’t pursue your dreams in your current job or outside then maybe self employment is an option for you.

Whether your next gig is within your current company, at another one, a side hustle or working for yourself full time I hope my tips above may help you to prepare for that journey. All my best to you as you align with your MTP, define your personal trifecta and pursue your second curve.

To really get you fired up I’d like to finish with some of my favourite quotes relevant to this topic. All my best to you.

Everyone has dreams but only a few live them. Anon

“Get busy living or get busy dying… that’s God damn right.” Red in Shaw Shank Redemption

Every man dies. Not every man really lives. ~Braveheart

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln

I'm less interested in why we're here. I'm wholly devoted to while we're here. ~Erika Harris

You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. ~Diane Ackerman

One day or day one. It’s your decision. Anon

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Rich Hirst is a leadership, change and high performance psychologist. His insights are based on real world experiences from his work with 10,000+ leaders and over 1,000 CEOs, underpinned by his knowledge as an organisational psychologist and expertise as a change agent supporting organisations for more than 20 years going through major transformation.

For more information please go to www.richhirst.com or contact me via email on [email protected]. Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

1. Don't make this high performance mistake in your company!
2. 7 Tips to World Class Performance
3. Winning in the turns
4. The #1 predictor of career success is not what you think
5. Don't die with your music still in you
6. Blasters, badmouthers, bottlers, brooders and builders. Which one are you?
7. P.S. I love you
8. The great change trap-eze!
9. What is your New Year's Evolution?
10. How to lead when change is NOT constant
11. All good things must...
12. This choke point may be slowly killing your company
13. Australia: The distrusting country
14. The most damaging four letter word to use at work is @#*!
15. Finding your moonshot
16. Sleeping your way to the top
17. How to supercharge your influence
18. How to be a master of mental Aikido
19. Time to terminate HR?
20. Too busy or not too busy. Is that the question?
21. Who inspired you in 2017? My top ten!
22. The missing link of high performance
23. The future belongs to people with this skill
24. Lessons from loss
25. Good Grief
26. 20 reasons why corporate wellness programs get sick
27. Australia is still lucky... but for how long?
28. Change management has become a joke!
29. Are you ready for the third age?
30. What matters most in a post-truth world?
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