The Hardest Job in the World

The Hardest Job In the World

Paul watched as his CEO, Jake, took risks—one risk after another, risks that Paul thought were exactly the wrong risks to take.

Paul wanted to spend money on an expert in innovation; Jake was proud that he didn’t bring in outside consultants. Jake railed against the evil of people he liked to call “egg heads” and “so-called experts” who talked nonsense that Jake said was disguised as “innovation.”

Instead, Jake was big on being what he called, nimble, flexible, “light on his feet.” He liked new ideas—his own—and he liked doing things himself.

Paul thought that Jake was not keeping the big picture in mind, and was not sticking with a strategy long enough.

Paul was grateful to Jake for bringing him on as his Director of Operations and he liked Jake, had known him for a long time and was initially thrilled to be part of the organization. But as he watched these risks, these changes of direction, unfold to produce more and more costs, costs Jake referred to as "so-called hidden costs” but Paul felt were not hidden at all.

Paul thought these were the costs of not having an overall plan, not using clear, understandable methods of innovation, and not tracking rates of success in order to measure the progress of these methods.

Loyal? Or disloyal?

Paul came to me burned out, worried that he was “jumping ship.” He had seen some of the company’s best talent leave over the last few months and while his nature was to be methodical, to see things through, he was fearful that he, too, would soon be jumping ship, that he, too, would “abandon” Jake and the company.

His biggest fear, he told me, was that he would be seen by Jake and others as disloyal, risk averse, unable to “share the vision and,” as Jake liked to say, “take all necessary risks, change lanes when needed, and find our way to a successful outcome.”

Paul was all too familiar with Jake’s rhetoric. In a recent session with me, Paul confessed that at this point, he was convinced that Jake was simply spouting aphorisms, nonsense. Jake didn’t know what he was doing and he was burning through capital at an alarming rate.

The ability to “see” potential

As we talked, my intuition allowed me to “see” how Paul thought: initially, Paul had seen the company’s potential as if it were a huge, old, oak tree, branching into one possibility after another. Now, after years of watching Jake take risks that did not pay off, Paul saw the tree as ailing, weak, with fewer branches than it had to begin with, shallower roots, stripped of new growth, barely hanging on.

And with that image, he saw his own career stalling.

Paul feared he would descend into burnout and, eventually, depression.

Because it had happened before.

His loyalty had taken him down with the ship before.

First, I was able to reflect to Paul his brilliance, his ability to perceive potential—and to do so accurately.

The hardest job in the world

Then I explained to Paul that the hardest job in the world is the soul assignment of witness. This soul assignment can show up in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. It is the job of simply witnessing anything from a series of mistakes that result in harm to actual tragedy—all the while knowing three things:

·???????You are deeply connected with the person whose tragedy you are witnessing through anything from a lifetime of love to a momentary bond of empathy and understanding ?

·???????You, as the witness, for whatever reason, are not in a position to change things

·???????And these mistakes, this tragedy, didn’t have to be that way. That given other personalities or different choices and resources, things could have resulted in a different outcome.

Being a witness is painful, frustrating, but honorable

The role of witness is, in many ways, tragic itself. It is painful and frustrating. But it is also an honorable role.

I believe—and I shared this with Paul—that there is value in our perspective when we find ourselves in the role of witness. Maybe we are learning all the ways to do something wrong so that we will be clearer about how to do something right.

Maybe we will be uniquely informed when we have another chance to participate in a strategy or project where our perspective will be valued.

Maybe we will have a chance to provide input and make a difference either with the person for whom we served as a witness or a different person in a similar situation.

Like some eye in the sky, the role of witness is a soul assignment. We may be “called” as a witness for the individual we cared so much about—even if it is somehow, somewhere other than here on this Earth, outside of this time and place.

A new perspective

As I explained these ideas to Paul about how he might have volunteered, at a soul level, to be a witness to Jake’s trajectory, he relaxed. He felt seen and understood. He gradually was able to experience a new perspective—one where his time with Jake was not lost but, instead, a kind of graduate level assignment that might be preparing him for a new role, perhaps even a role as one of those “eggheads” Jake was so opposed to.

Together we explored Paul’s sense of the spiritual, how maybe loyalty to a person or company or idea had a higher level: the level of devotion. By sharing some ideas with Paul, he was able to become aware of his true purpose as someone who was devoted to the methods and structure of innovation rather than calling flying by the seat of the pants “innovation.”

We talked about a path moving forward for Paul where he could ascertain the real ability for a company to be adaptive and innovative—in a way that applied strategic foresight and a structured, measurable, and truly innovative series of moves.

After a few sessions, Paul was able to value himself and his own trajectory over adherence to an idea of loyalty that did not serve himself—and, he realized, did not ultimately serve Jake. He was, at last, able to let go of his own negative judgement of himself and become excited about how best he could use his gifts.

Moving on

In short, Paul was able to move on.

This isn’t just Paul’s story. It may be yours and it certainly has been my story as I moved through my own experiences as a technical writer. I saw start-ups start up—and fail fast. I sat through project meetings knowing the project would never reach the optimistic conclusion presented by the project lead. And I participated in successful projects aided by innovation that actually drove business goals forward.

Now, as a Next Level Guide and Intuition Coach, I get to support true innovation by supporting my clients as they explore their own soul assignments--and their own devotion to what they believe is a future of actual innovation.

My clients don’t have time to waste. Being able to share their challenges with me—someone who can literally see what they envision, someone who can often perceive their soul purpose and soul assignments, someone who understands the interplay between the level of the spiritual and the world of the practical—allows them to move forward with greater confidence and the peace of knowing how their decisions fit in the bigger picture. I can add to their own vision of the future and assist as they apply strategic foresight to their organization.

How about you? Are you frustrated and experiencing burnout and the emotional pain of feeling that you cannot adequately influence the course of events that is unfolding before you? Do you find yourself thinking, “It doesn’t have to be this way?”

Let’s talk: [email protected] https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/frangallaher/