Franklin Covey

As I worked through the materials this week I reflected on some critical turning points in my life.  One of them that came to mind while watching Jim Ritchie's short video was the impact of the Franklin Quest plan back in the late 80's.  Someone that I was dating at the time introduced me to it, and I then worked with the fledgling company to introduce the training and program into my company, NatWest Bank.

I became a certified trainer and widely implemented the tools across my company.  During this time I met Hyrum Smith and others (almost certainly Jim Ritchie), and it was a huge success in NatWest.

More importantly than that, the tools helped my own career take off.  I can see that as a critical turning point in how I worked.  There was suddenly more purpose and structure to my career....I was focused on getting things done, and I was focused on getting the RIGHT things done.  I almost left the Bank to start working for Franklin, but other things happened that also helped me to stay on the right path.

I think I had almost forgotten this experience until reading "The Ministry of Business" and listening to Jim Ritchie.  These tools have had an incredible impact on my life.  I also remember how delightful it was to work with like minded people.  LDS people.  That was quite unusual in the UK, there are relatively few members - and I felt completely spoiled by meeting these wonderful business men and women who seemed to share the same values as me.  Fond memories!

It was valuable this week to review my Personal Commitment Statement, just pondering who I want to be is impacting my daily behaviours.   I wish I was closer to becoming a "saint", but I think I still have a long way to go!  

Magdalena Yesil

The most impactful thing that I learned from our studies this week was from the Magdalena Yesil Case Study.

Yesil defines "entrepreneur".  She has reinvented herself time and again, finding passion in different things, and each time refining her search for what would fulfill her professionally.

When I apply this to my life, I realize that I have been fortunate with my career, and if I were to look at the diversity of my roles, you could mistake me for "reinventing" myself:

1977- 1985 Financial Advisor
1985- 1988 Technical Trainer
1988- 1992 Leadership Trainer
1992-1996  Development Centre Manager
1996-1998  Operations Manager
1998 -2005 HR Generalist
2006 -2015 Global HR Business Partner

It looks like a varied career, and it really is.  But I have never felt like any part of it was really planned.  Rather I have felt like I have fortunately stumbled through my career.  Now, as I consider my next steps, it is the first time in my whole career that I feel as though I am in control of the last few years of my career!

Buckets and Steppingstones

I completed a couple of fascinating assignments this week.  Firstly, my bucket list.  50 things I want to do before I die.  I started my list by thinking of places that I want to visit or re-visit, and as I progressed through my list it became harder and harder to think of things that I want to do.  That's when something interesting happened.  My list suddenly became less about "things", and more about "experiences".

"Visiting the Holy Land" is something to do. "Enhancing my testimony of the Saviour by walking where he walked" can be life changing, but is essentially the same.  I didn't re-write my bucket list, but my list became more experiential, eg "holding a baby in its first day of life", is magical, spiritual and free.  The discussion board also gave me some additional ideas.  Here is my list:

1. Great Wall of China
2. Pyramids
3. Holy Land
4. Taj Mahal
5. Mediterranean Cruise
6. Set up my own business
7. Complete an on-line degree
8. See those big rocks in Southern Utah
9. Christmas Devotional
10. Drive West Coast Highway 1 (California)
11. Take a photography class
12. Movement of the sun, photo project
13. Borough Market, London
14. Watch the Calgary Flames in an NHL playoff game
15. Go on one more proper date
16. Pay off my mortgage – completely
17. Go to 40 temples (26 done already)
18. Play one hymn in a church meeting (piano or organ)
19. Zip line at COP
20. Grow something that I can eat
21. 365 day photo blog
22. Eat a meal at Dukes in Honolulu
23. Put $100 behind the counter at Tim Horton’s and watch the reaction
24. Run a 5K
25. Walk another marathon
26. Complete a Sprint Triathlon
27. Watch the Star Wars movies on opening night
28. Be an extra in a movie
29. Volunteer at ICU
30. Complete 4 generations
31. Luge at COP
32. General Conference at Conference Centre
33. Go to the Opera
34. Watch a musical in the West End
35. Walk up Sulphur Mountain in Banff
36. Photograph a black bear
37. Have a professional portrait photo taken
38. Laugh till I cry
39. Drink a Perrier on the Champs Elysees
40. Eat a Yorkshire Pudding in Yorkshire
41. Make a perfect Yorkshire pudding that my grandma would be proud of
42. Have dinner in the Inn that my great granddad managed in 1900 (Yes, it still exists!)
43. Achieve goal weight and stay there for at least a month!
44. Shoot a gun in a firing range
45. Hold a baby on it’s first day of life
46. Have a pedicure with my step daughter and granddaughters
47. Invite my neighbor to dinner
48. Read a Charles Dickens novel
49. Read the Harry Potter books
50. Go to a formal dress event

Some of these things are super-easy, and some are not - so I think it makes for a good balance!

This experience also helped to form my "stepping stones" thoughts.  "What do I want to do when I grow up"?  At 55 years old, I'm a little late into this game, but my stepping stone became a little more experiential, but still remained professional and realistic!

Finally, I was inspired by Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture".  What a wonderful man.  I am not sure I would have his courage and tenacity. 

To specifically answer the questions about Randy:

• Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?

Randy was an independent thinker, it started with the support his parents provided, but he focused on achieving his goals, NOTHING was going to stop him.  This week we learned about Edison and Tyson and their willingness to fail in order to achieve success. Randy had a similar perspective.  There is no such thing as failure!

• Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?

I do think that dreaming is important.  There are enough inspirational leaders that dream big - so I know it is important.  However, it is absolutely something that I struggle with.  I feel that planning is far more valuable than dreaming.  I still have a lot to learn!

• Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.

I actually don't recall having childhood dreams. I am not sure whether that is because I'm too old to remember them or whether it is because I have never been a dreamer.  However.  later in life I dreamed of becoming a lawyer.  I have left it too late to achieve that.  The schooling alone would take too long, and I would need to financially support myself while studying.  However, my steppingstone goals give me exposure to this field which will satisfy that dream!

Becoming an entrepreneur

I have been a little apprehensive about this course.  I am close to retirement, and I have never considered myself an entrepreneur.

I also think there are people in the world that give entrepreneurship a bad name, I have been approached by too many people who "have a great business opportunity" for me, and encourage me to sell a product or service in some form of multi-level marketing initiative.  My experience with these people is that they rarely are true entrepreneurs, but are seeking opportunities to make lots of money for not much work.  I have yet to see any of them become successful.

In the reading this week, I have been encouraged by how entrepreneurship is defined.  It "means recognizing that life is hard" (Jeff Sandefer, Living Life as an Entrepreneurial Hero), it will require me to find my calling, and build stepping stones to get there.  Even as I read these articles and watched the video's I started to feel an embryo of purpose for my personal journey.  That may well evolve over the semester, but it is there and it is a tad exciting!

My entrepreneurial goals are not to make lots more money, but rather to build a brand and a business that will enable me to build a lifestyle that will be compatible with semi-retirement, and enable me to do the work that I enjoy while maintaining a balanced life.

Maybe it isn't too late to teach an old dog new tricks after all!