Why I Work With Corporations

During a lunch conversation with a friend who builds and nurtures teams for a living, she asked me, “why do you work with organizations?”

The question was a little unexpected, as we’ve worked together for years and she’s read my recent book which reads, in part, like an actionable manifesto for the potential of a beautiful business.

To be honest, I’m not sure I had a particularly good answer on the spot. But as I thought more deeply about the question, I began to understand, on a deeper level, what she was asking.

She knows that I have options in my life: Options around where I apply my earned skills, passion, time, and energy. I suspect you have options, too.

The question got me thinking. Why is it, given the choices that I have in life, do I still serve companies? Maybe I’m not alone in this query. And, maybe employees are asking — and answering with action — the same thing amidst the great resignation.

It’s a sneaky-smart question. One that might be valuable for each of us to ask, in its own form (e.g. why do you do what you do?), and answer. Or as Rilke invited us, to live the question. Welcome to the multi-layer cake of vocational living into wholeness.

Here’s how I’d answer that question today.

What we love is the cure. We all need, and the world needs, more of the medicine found in love. For what we love is both the cure and the path that can open us to our imaginative and innovative responses to problems. This is the core of creation. And it may just be the antidote to the current societal anxieties. And, what we each love has variations. So, the application of which can be applied with love in million different directions.

More and more I’ve come to see the world of business — the good people working hard to create value for people, places of collaborative belonging, and ever-evolving innovation — as an expression of love. That love is a love for humanity. A love for the potential of humanity and our planet. A love for the people we spend most of our time with: our family, our neighbors, our colleagues.

Part of what I love, is the ever-present potential of humanity, especially when pressed to create value, or a better world. I love unleashing and maximizing that potential.

Before you peg me as a starry-eyed optimist, consider this. Everything that’s truly meaningful to you has love baked in. Your family, your work, your friends, your colleagues, your expertise, your passions, your curiosities. Even your sense of self, in its healthiest expression, has love baked in.

A battle-proven CEO-friend with 35+ years of leadership experience under her belt recently shared with me, “You know, this business of leading people can be really challenging … especially over the last few years. And, it’s among the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Next to the love of my family, it’s the love of my people that has stood the test of time. While leadership is a different kind of love, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Why I still work, and love working, with corporations is because I believe in the evolutionary cycle of good people applying their passion and expertise to solve real problems. I will keep applying my passion and expertise to help the companies I serve excel and realize their potential in business and life. With love.

I wonder what your answer is to the above question.

Three invitations for you:

I love knowing you’re getting value from my insights and stories. So, I invite you to take a moment hit reply with a quick comment.
I also love hearing how you’re using these ideas in your brands, cultures, and leadership teams — so please let me know.
And, if there’s a topic that I haven’t written on that you’d like to hear my take on, feel free to share it.

Join us for a dynamic conversation between authors Dorie Clark and Jenny Blake, hosted by Steven Morris

Live & Virtual Event — Wednesday, July 13 at 2:30 pm ET / 11:30 am PT, 2022
It’s no secret that many of us feel pushed to the limit, rushed, overwhelmed, and perpetually behind. We keep our heads down, focused on an endless to-do list without a moment to breathe.

Fortunately, there are solutions to these persistent business and life challenges.

Dorie Clark and Jenny Blake have spent significant time and energy researching, uncovering, and creating tools to maximize your impact and optimize your time.

The Long Game by Dorie Clark, answers the question of how to be a long-term thinker (and doer) in a short-term world.

And, Jenny Blake’s Free Time book teaches us how to lose the busywork that consumes our time.

Join us — and bring your questions — for a free ranging and insightful conversation to reclaim your time and play the long game in work and life!

If you want a more trusting team, a culture of belonging or a magnetic brand that attracts more of the right customers, I can help. If you'd like to explore if working together makes sense, drop me a line.

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