Balloons and Tethers

I am of the opinion that one is either primarily a balloon or a tether. These are not mutually exclusive traits, but understanding your dominance in one, helps you understand your need for the other. I am a balloon. I like to wander, to create, to dream, to ideate. If given my ultimate wish, I would wander the earth in search of spices and colors and tastes and sounds I can’t find “here”, wherever “here” is on a given day.  As if there is some magical, far flung bazaar that holds the ultimate scratch to my soul-itch.

I am thankfully married to a tether. My propensity to pulling in a direction helps move us along and his inclination to ground us saves me from floating away. His tether roots me in all the simple pleasures the stillness brings and serves as a reminder to soak in the beauty of the life we’ve created together. I put us on new paths, new directions, new ideas while he shows us what is here now to appreciate and celebrate.  

Being a balloon is not a weekend thing, it is who I am and ultimately one of the gifts I bring forward in the workplace. However, the MOST important thing I have learned in business is how to be my own tether while still dreaming big. How to give structure and reality to my ideas. I believe this ability separates the wheat from the chafe, boys from the men, mediocre from bad asses. Creating is who I am, but my professional success is wholly driven by my ability to recognize that I must do it within the confines of the business (the tether). I have to recognize that I have a responsibility to be a good steward of their business, to dream big only if the output represents their values and mission. Life is sweet when you find that balance.

So, what are you?

Ask yourself this? When you are in a business setting, do you get excited by ideas or process? Do you love to talk about the “what-ifs” or the “what is”? A “what-if” is a dreamer, a wanderer, a balloon. The “what-is” is a tether, grounding ideas to take root through tools, experience and process. One is not better than the other as a business needs both to succeed. 

Look around at the top of your company and you will see, those who are most successful are there because they have been able to strengthen their opposite trait – by either direct experience or by hiring the best smarties to complement their “weakness”.

The importance of rounding yourself out

When I worked at L’Oreal, I was blessed to have a boss who understood I was hard-wired to create, full of ideas and great at seeing opportunities where others didn’t. It was an ideal trait for a marketer. However, what I lacked completely was how to ground those ideas in actual business. His response was to put me in a job where I learned how to tether. He set me up for success by creating a group of people who could teach me about P&Ls, plant management, the connection between my ideas and actual sales people on the floor of a department store. He surrounded me with creative people who knew the importance of applying their creativity to business. 

He also made it clear that failure was not an option. Success of the program rested on my shoulders alone. I was given more than an amazing team; he gave me teachers and the opportunity to realize HOW to seed, root and grow my ideas. We crushed it together – found huge commercial success with our programs – and ultimately, I found confidence in my ability to execute.

Not every company has leaders like my old boss, which is why it is mission-critical to take your career into your own hands. Once you know you are Balloon or a Tether, here are few steps to consider:

1)     Feed your dominant trait daily – spend time dreaming or grounding in whatever way excites you – long walks in nature, exercise, meditation, cooking etc.  Flex the muscle of your gift. Just because I have learned to tether myself does not mean I want to be one. I still gravitate towards other Balloons – people who wish to see the world in new and exciting ways; who feed my lust for adventure. For a tether, their discovery often happens right in front of them, in the moment, in the place where they are. Rather than looking for some distant place to awaken their curiosity, tethers can find creativity in the here and now.

2)     Find opportunities to learn, and ideally work on, your weaker trait - In my case at L’Oreal, it was asking the CFO of our group for time every week until I started to see the business through his lens. Or spending time with our operations person to see what she was looking at in delivery of the business. People want to help, to teach; don’t be shy about asking. For Tethers, it might be volunteering to take part in brainstorms or spending time with the ones who generate ideas all day long.

3)     Ask questions – Be curious about what drives other Balloons and Tethers at your level and beyond. Ask them about how they see business and their role. It is so critical in business (and in life) to understand everyone’s position on the team. 

4)     Be relentless about providing value – nobody is going to give you your career. There is more competition out there than ever before.  Stop waiting for someone to think you are good enough to do the next job and start providing more value. Get engaged, ask questions, volunteer to help on new projects and learn the business from all angles. At minimum you will grow your network internally, or externally and who knows, you might actually find yourself enjoying a whole new side of the business!