I was reflecting the other day on my somewhat lengthily and chaos filled career. I realized that there have been a few specific events that have made me who I am in business and they are burned into who I am. I suppose everyone experiences these landmark moments in their job and they are critical in incrementally shaping the person both professionally and personally. For me, these events either have been empowering and helped to solidify my leadership and business beliefs or they have been destructive in nature and have had a somewhat negative effect. Both of these milestones have had a longer term effect on whom I am and where I am going. The events in my professional career that have been constructive are reinforced everyday when I walk into my office and look at all of the awards and honors I have been presented with throughout the past 15 years. More importantly, the destructive events stick with you and also help to mold you and your view on everything in business and life. There have been at least six specific destructive events in my current career that have had a decisive force on my career and these events have molded me to who I am today. Though the majority of these influential low points were painful, they helped to mold me in a positive way and have helped me focus my life on where I am going.
Everyone as they are growing and maturing in business has to roll with the punches and those that don’t will not make it very far in business or even in life. Each of these events in business is critically important. They are there to learn from, they are there for reinforcement, they are there to grow upon, and most importantly they are there to guide you in the right direction. You must constantly be watching and learning and hearing what these events are telling you. When you lose the awareness of these messages, it is time to go.
"What does not kill me makes me stronger." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
