The Universe Is Telling You to Quit Your Job (A Fable)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: You don't find many fables on LinkedIn, but I'm not kidding... this is one.

My name is Mike McGain. I sell enterprise software to the largest companies on the planet, which means I’m nearly always on an airplane.

It’s a good job, and the money is great, but we keep buying other companies and I spend half my energy just fighting off internal zombie hordes (translation: sales people from other divisions) that are trying to steal my prospects, clients, territory, or entire job. I don’t blame them – they’re just trying to stay employed in the middle of all this chaos – but it gets really, really old.

The other day I boarded Delta 426 for an early morning flight to Salt Lake, and checked my email. There was one interesting tidbit from a headhunter… the hottest, best-funded startup in my space was looking for someone to head up sales. The subject line caught my attention: Great money, serious equity.

I made a mental note to call him as soon as we landed, and closed my eyes for a quick nap.

Next thing I know, we’re in the air. The guy next to me looks familiar. No way, I think.

It’s Sky Fanning, founder of the startup described in my email.

He notices I’m awake. “Bet you needed that, huh?”

It takes me a minute to process this. Maybe I'm still sleeping?

“The nap?” I finally say, “It’s my best skill. I can sleep anywhere. That’s the only way I could possibly do my job.”

He offers his hand. “Sky,” he says.

“Mike McGain. I’m your biggest competitor, or at least I work for them.”

His eyes narrow. “Trinity?”

I nod.

“Interesting,” he says.

“I’ll tell you something even more interesting. I just got an email from Russell Reynolds asking if I want to talk about running Sales for you.”

“From Laura?”

My turn to nod. “Yep, Laura Hender.”

He pauses, then asks, “When did you book this flight?”

Sort of an odd question, but I see no harm in answering. I’m just as freaked out by this coincidence as he is.

“This one has been on the calendar for a few months. It’s a courtesy call on one of my oldest customers.”

He returns the favor. “I’m giving a keynote speech at a conference in Park City. It was arranged late last year.”

We both take a minute to stare at the seats in front of us.

He turns back towards me. “The job is yours if you want it. We’ll pay you twice what you make now. At the end of the year, you’ll get stock options for ten times that amount. You'll run Sales, and I won’t second-guess you.”

The stewardess stops by and asks, “Do you have everything you need?”

I turn to Sky and offer him my hand. “Hell, yes.”

QUESTION: How seriously do you take coincidences? I’m not talking about you and your co-worker showing up one day in the same clothing, but rather substantive and unbelievably "what are the odds?" occurrences like the one described here. Were these two right in deciding that meeting on the plane was a sign that they should work together, especially given other evidence that Mike was a strong candidate?

Bruce Kasanoff writes and edits content for a wide range of entrepreneurs and executives.