Turning on lights

I'm passionate about building projects that turn on lights for people to see possibility.

I don't turn on the lights for them. I help them find the light switch.

Picture that you're inside a house in a dark room. You don't know how many rooms or floors there are in the house. You're eager to grow, to solve this challenge, to move to the next room, but there's a lot of scary unknown ahead.

I'm the fly on the wall that encourages you to peel back the black-out curtains to see that there are lots of other dark houses on the street, a whole neighborhood, with people in similar situations, trying to move forward. You're not alone. They might even wave to you from their rooms and encourage you to keep trying to find the light.

Then, I might whisper a suggestion for where to look for the light switch, but you, my friend, have to find it yourself. I can't turn on the switch for you to see possibility, you have to unlock that from within.

Our lives are a series of walking into dark rooms, learning to figure things out, adjust to what's new, grow, and recognize there other people on a similar journey.

Not for me

I read a book the other day that I should have quit. I didn't though. I spent hours reading it, thinking, "I don't like this very much. This isn't for me." It's a skill to let go of something, especially when you had good intentions. This book was a special find in a small, indie bookstore. An advanced copy. I was one of the first in the world to read it! And, still, I should have just let it go and quit. It wasn't for me...and I knew it. Listening to ourselves can save us time and emotional energy. And, yet sometimes when we don't listen to our gut, we end up learning something unexpected, something we needed to learn, but that's a riff for another post.

Gift of runway

Giving someone the chance to fly on the runway and create the flight path themselves as they go is really something special.

It's trusting them. It's giving them the belief and freedom to make changes and decisions—to take off from the runway and say, "Let's fly over here." "What if we upgraded to this plane?" "No one's done this before. Based on my assertions, I recommend we test it." "And, what if we invite these people to join us?"

Taking a chance on someone and giving them the opportunity to soar is a gift that can completely change them professionally and personally. The opportunity to work with someone who's eager to be a pilot for your airline, who will step up and lead is also something special.