work and LIFE…

I LOVE this work. We help people build STRENGTH in work and LIFE. When Miss and I started on this journey in 2002 I had NO idea. I just knew that this was how I wanted to invest my work and life. I wanted to study high performance individuals, teams, and leaders and I wanted to work with my family, friends, and a few clients and see if we could live our tagline.

I thought that the focus of BUILT TO LEAD would be on WORK and life.

It’s NOT.

Who knew…

High performance individuals, teams, and leaders that SUSTAIN their high performance, focus on WORK and LIFE. The stories they tell me of their transformations through hard BUILT TO LEAD practices, programs, and one on one coaching are most often about LIFE.

Here’s one sent my way today.

This came from someone just like you and me. A guy on the hero’s journey. A guy getting STRONG. I’ve shortened the text…don’t miss the message.

Enjoy.

“Last night my twelve year old son and I had dinner together. We’re bachelors together this week. All the girls are out of town.

This week Danny’s at day camp learning to sail at the Leatherlips reservoir in Powell near the Zoo. He needed deck shoes, so last night we picked up a pair and then went to eat.

At dinner, we got talking about Danny’s favorite animated movies of the last several years. He rattled them off one by one. Aladdin, Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Meet the Robinsons. I asked him what he liked about them. He replied that ‘they all had a great message.’

I was intrigued, so I probed a little. ‘Oh yeah? What were some of the messages?’ He gave it a moment and then said ‘well, Dad, in each the HERO has a problem he has to solve…kinda like getting into real trouble and having to work his way out of it.’

Triggering BUILT TO LEAD themes, I wondered aloud what was so interesting about watching someone get into trouble and work their way out of it. That led us to a teaching moment…but I wonder who was the teacher – Dad, or Danny?

I got a chance to share with Dan the concept of the “hero’s journey” as the central drama line in every story since the Ancient Greeks first perfected it. The protaganist, the antagonist, the fall, the STRUGGLE, the confrontation with the evil antagonist, the journey back HOME, the resolution. From Achilles to Anakin, from Odysseus and his shipmates to Woody and Buzz, all great stories have a common thread. Dan listened intently and brought up great examples showing his awareness…Aladdin’s struggle against his poor background and identity. The Incredibles finally living true to their CORE, all were brought together in WONDERFUL CONVERSATION.

It was a GOLDEN moment for me.

Perhaps also for him.

Time will tell.

Now here’s the real learning:

Dan half asked and half said ‘Dad, the struggle is the hero against his own self as much as it is against the antagonist…?’

BINGO.

The hero’s journey is a return home to the true self…a STRUGGLE to find an authentic voice in the world, often only found when confronting an adversary bent on ending the journey before its resolution.”

What is your central STRUGGLE?

Are you on the hero’s journey, or are you “settling” instead of STRUGGLING?

Have you defined your CORE?

Are you too worried about surviving?

Are you strong?

Are you rushing towards your journey and your confrontation with the antagonist?

Are you letting your “Dan” teach YOU?

Are you having WONDERFUL CONVERSATIONS with your “Dan” where he ends up feeling like “DAN THE MAN?”

Dan and Dad are…