Wanting to impregnate your business?
You can tell when you have hit a certain age and everyone is either wanting to get married and have babies or they are deluding themselves with their own positive affirmations that they are in fact 'happy' just the way they are and wouldn't change their world for anything or anybody. The latter tends to think that by caring about someone other than themselves or making any changes to their lives would only lead to 'unhappiness' or as I like to think, 'putting themselves in a vunerable situation in which they cannot control'. Having spent the last couple of weeks with a number of single, middle-aged, childless, unmarried individuals who proclaim that by having anything different in their lives, they would have to change their lives and that is something none of them aim to do. Going out, drinking too much, partying too much and holidaying at every opportune moment seems to be key to what they think is the perfect life - of course, until they wake up one day and realise that they are all alone and they have spent too much time loving themselves to realise that there is no-one there to love them when they need it most.
On the plane from Vail to Atlanta, Georgia yesterday, I watched the latest movie with Sarah Jessica Parker in it. The movie, I Don't Know How She Does It, depicts a woman who is married with two beautiful children that runs a hedge fund. If you know anything about hedge funds, you will know that the people who work in jobs like this, work very long hours and often have little time for anything else. They tend to divorce over and over again, throwing away the money they earn on settlements, but the adrenelin of a deal keeps them going until finally they burn out, get cancer or end up old and lonely. I know this is a grose generalisation, but I am sure you get the picture. This movie is great for any buddying career woman (yes, its a chick flick) as it really does highlight what life at the top of the corporate ladder is like. Men make many of the key decisions, if you work hard and have a brain you will go a long way, there are always back-stabbers in and out of the office, people will look down on you, people will look up to you, your staff often don't think the same as you, you may flirt with the idea of a handsome man you are doing business with being more then just a business associate only to realise that it is just that - flirting - and your husband who listens to you winge every night and is there for you through thick and thin is really the most important person in your life.
Is a career really worth it? Is having 100% freedom to do what you want, when you want really the ultimate in life? Can you have it all - a career, a family and a life? Is there more to life?
How does this relate to business? Well, firstly, we are all human - and we all want to be loved. So do our businesses! They want to be loved, cherished, nurtured, improved, healthy and wanted. When a business gets to a certain stage and all areas of the business are going as they should be, do you stay exactly how you are, or do you look at what is next? In life, when we grow up and we tick a lot of our 'life boxes' (career, friends, holidays, experiences), we tend to move to the next level and for many that is finding someone to spend your life with and getting married, having children and evolving as a person. In business, when all the boxes are ticked, its time to evolve and 'impregnate' the business with fresh blood, new ideas, growth plans, innovation, expansion and LIFE.
18 months ago, Marketing Eye arrived at this stage and now we are impregnating the business with expansion, innovation and LOVE. A new philosophy and growth strategy has 100% buy-in from all staff and everyone is ready to tackle 2012 with more gusto then ever before.
Just by 'impregnating' the business, a new life is about to be born and anything could happen from there. It's exciting, rejuvenating and importantly, more fulfilling then anything we as a team have ever done before.
Is your business ready to breed a new life?
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comments ( 4 )
Ren
07 Feb 2012Drawing a comparison between the cyclical nature of life and a business is spot on, and your use of the term impregnate is very relevant. Businesses use people to facilitate the flow of a business and as such we can only expand a business a business by impregnating it with valuable human capital. With the aid of these valuable human capital we can take all businesses to the next stages/levels and allow businesses to be re-born.
ReplyElsa
17 Jan 2012I like the idea of loving and treating a business just like loving and treating human. When the steps of life have been ticked it looks like we have moved to the higher step of life. So does a business that human runs. A business should take a further step as time goes on as it has more experiences and need to make better decisions based on new ideas to grow stronger.
ReplyBrendan Moran
10 Jan 2012First of all, I love the picture!!!
ReplyI think its a great analytical way of understanding businesses, by comparing them to people. However, like people, I think some businesses are either home-makers or achievers.
Some companies are suited to being small, that is why their clients shop there. Back at home I shop at a local produce store because the people that own the company are local and know most of their customers. It makes it a much more personal interaction when you shop, especially when you compare it to the cold, faceless environment of the supermarket.
But I agree that nothing is worse than stale bread.
Fresh ideas and innovation are the main drivers in the boom in technology and commerce. The companies that act as they are achievers, often struggle to retain their identity, but are the main contributors to the innovation in industry.
Paula
10 Jan 2012I guess for business owners, their business is their baby and should be treated with the same love and care as you would your child. Getting that work-life balance is the tricky part and I think it's always important to remind yourself what is really important in life.
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