New Work Pioneers Answer A Call To Adventure

Today’s post is the third in an emerging series, writing The Manifesto For New Work Pioneers.

Last week we were talking about the desire for soul-felt joy that drives gutsy, professionals to challenge career norms. Today we’re looking at the kind of things that catalyse that desire; that may indeed bring it into existence for the first time. And how now offers a brilliant opportunity for those ready to respond to that call to adventure.

The Prompt

Every journey starts somewhere. Including the journey of your own life, and the decision to put yourself on the path of doing a different kind of work. Whatever “different” looks like to you.

I don’t know if you’ve ever come across a guy called Joseph Campbell, but he reckoned that all heroes are provoked into action by some event or other that interrupts the routine of what has been their life till then.

This call to adventure brings you to a choice point of which you may not have previously been aware.

Smart film makers and writers use this idea to draw you into the story. If you’ve seen Matrix, you’ll recall that Neo’s secret life as a hacker is interrupted when he gets a message on his computer screen. If you’ve read Harry Potter, you’ll remember the unexpected invitation that arrives while Harry’s still deep in his miserable existence with his aunt and uncle.

The same dynamic is alive in our own lives when our own call to adventure presents itself.

Catalysts

Experience tells me that the New Work Pioneer journey begins in one of three ways.

It can start of itself, driven by you. In this scenario, it simply occurs to you to want something different from your worklife, and to start feeling your energy mobilise around the idea of it.

I think here of clients who seek my support, already with a good picture of what they’re trying to bring about in their work and lives, looking for coaching to help them set themselves trail blazing.

It can be brought about by a force for good or bad. Positive examples? Consider the confirmed career batchelors who are knocked sideways when they unexpectedly fall in love. Suddenly the role, shape and form of work in their lives gets put in the spotlight. Similarly, I’ve seen the arrival of a new baby fundamentally challenge long held career and life “certainties” and put parents on the path of major work life reinvention.

Negative experiences? Well, there’s the example of a recent client whose business dried up during the recession. It forced him to confront that what he’d been doing hadn’t really been “him” in any case and to put himself on the path to creating his dream. Another, who’d geared himself for the stars in a partnership firm, ignored many of his own personal needs as he worked round the clock. His wake-up call came in the shape of a life-threatening illness, forcing him to look at his relationship with work in a new way.

Or, it can be brought about by something serendipitous. Financial pressures caused one unhappy client to feel stuck in what she was doing. Out of the blue, her husband was offered a much better job in a different location, allowing her the finances, time and space to begin following her dreams.

Accept the call. Or stagnate.

Whatever brings them there, New Work Pioneers have a moment in time which they must grab hold of.

A period of hesitancy is pretty normal. The whole thing can have an other-worldliness about it. Fears of losing control, going crazy or bankrupt, becoming the proverbial bag lady, doing something that fails from which they risk looking stupid, or not being able to honour personal and financial commitments reign supreme. But the need and impetus to change and its associated excitement and curiosity win through.

But not always. Sometimes, it’s all too difficult and the call to adventure is ignored or buried. In which case the pioneering spirit gets flattened.

Don’t let it happen to you!

Why now?

Until recent times, western society was characterised by hierarchy, leadership by a few, and servitude. Work was a key institution that reinforced this picture. We were expected to study hard, get a good job, enslave ourselves to one organisation, display loyalty, and play the game, in return for the patriarchal rewards of pay and benefits.

But times are changing. First, we just expect more from our lives now than was the case of generations before us. Second, leadership is morphing into something that’s more about personal authority and influence. We are finding that we can offer our own forms of leadership that have nothing to do with position. Third, we want to call the shots more now on what work we do and how we do it. And, as Scot Herrick said earlier this week, the pay check, of itself, doesn’t really cut it anymore.

You could say there’s a society-wide call to adventure going on!

And, of course, technology, the power of the internet, self-development books, blogs and the coaches that support them have never been more available. Meaning that those of you getting on board with your own journeys have a wealth of resource to support you.

So, if you are listening to your own call to adventure, have the will to make things different for yourself and are prepared to put it to the test, there never has been a better time.

Sound familiar to you, my manifesto reading friends? What call to action have you heeded in starting your New Work Pioneer’s journey? What calls might you be avoiding? What do you need to enable you to listen?

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Related posts:

1. Introducing The Manifesto For New Work Pioneers
2. New Work Pioneers Use Crises As Opportunities For Change
3. The Silent Rise of the New Work Pioneer
4. The Birth of a New Work Pioneer
5. 10+1 steps to make coaching work for you