Yeah, But I don't have my own business

Today you don't. Tomorrow you might.
And today, it's not just about business, or about your job. It's about you and what you are all about.

April sent me an email today about a new gig she has, and she wrote, "My cell number, email, and webpage have all remained the same.  How's that for keeping life easy!"

Some people, particularly those of you who are freelancers, and those with a web presence, may think, "Yeah, so?"

Well, it isn't that obvious and logical to many others who associate their professional identity with the job affiliation they have. It is time to get with it, particularly if you are a Boomer still in auto-pilot.

I'm a good example. I didn't have my own email address until I left the corporate world in 2003. To be accurate, I had one, getting it when I got internet access at home, but I never used it. I channeled everything through my job email instead, especially because I was one of the hot-shot execs the IT guy left alone about the personal stuff.

When I left Hualalai Resort I was able to keep my cell phone number because I converted the account billing to my name. (Back then, you couldn't take the number with you when you change providers, that came later.) And thank goodness I did, for that was how many people were still able to reach me, even though I hadn't burned any bridges and left my job on good terms. I sent my new email address to everyone in my address book when I made the change, but who among us is perfect in keeping our address books updated, hmm?

Today, and every day, think work - and think ho'ohana - instead of job. When it is your ho'ohana, your work often stays with you even when your job changes.

Besides, no job should define and identify you, you should be defining that job.

Footnote:
Ho'ohana defined on www.managingwithaloha.com and here, within the articles in our Talking Story archives.

A good place to start, if you are hearing of Ho'ohana for the first time: Ho‘ohana: Love Your Work.

Postscript:
Yeah But begone! will be a new category here on Talking Story.

Photo by Karen Apricot New Orleans

"Rosa, listen to yourself: Do you realize how much you can say 'Yeah, but...' in our conversations?"

That wake-up call was one of the best gifts a mentor gave me back when I was a manager for the Hyatt Corporation. It's a hard habit to break, and awareness of it is the first step. Eighteen years later, I still catch myself saying those yeah buts - and writing them (those edits are even harder for me), however (and 'however' is only a pc degree better than 'but') I do catch myself more often than not.

In his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There, Coaching Guru Marshall Goldsmith writes about this as one of twenty habits which hold us back as our challenges in interpersonal behavior "often leadership behavior," calling them "transactional flaws performed by one person against others." Yeah, buts are number 5 on his list: Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, "I'm right. you're wrong."

So in this Yeah But begone! category, we'll work on this together :)

These may also be of some interest:

• The word is WORK.
  Work in its basic form can be viewed as something someone does that brings them dignity while making a contribution to the world in which they live.
  —Mark Dowds, co-founder of www.creationstep.com

• From Corporate Life to Self-Employment.
  Knowing of my long history in corporate life, people will ask me if I’d ever go back to it should I be offered the corporate dream job again. The question will come up when I say that I came very close to having THE corporate dream job more than once in my career. I knew when I was in those situations, and I truly did enjoy them; I had learned a lot being Mz. Corporate Manager.

  While I have no regrets, the quick answer is no.
  I’ll never go back.

• About your address book, you can connect with me on LinkedIn if you like!

Comments

[April Groves]

I love the idea of us defining the job instead of the job defining us! That is my mission in life :)

I am fortunate that I own my email. Unfortunately, it hasn't always been that way and I hope I have touched all those who may still have the old one. I may be easy enough to find again, but being difficult to contact is not one of the better business practices.

[Rosa Say]

Ah, words of wisdom April! Mahalo for adding them.

We might have great tools, setting ourselves up well for the possibility, but using them wisely and effectively is what makes them the *right* tools!