When I decided to have children, I had no idea what I was in for. Most of the books showed pictures of cute babies who slept and ate and smiled adoringly at you, a little like the business books written about successful people, doing wonderful things.

With parenthood, I was jumping in the deep end with promises from those around me that it would all be worth it (and it is). It was like that when I leapt into my own business. No. Idea. What. I. Was. In. For.

 

We raised our children in the best way we knew how to. We listened to advice, read the books, discussed issues with other young parents, and made our decisions accordingly. We trialed an idea (prototyped), changed direction (pivoted) if the result wasn’t what we wanted (failed fast), all the while hoping our children would evolve into decent humans. That was our intent (mission). It’s like that in my business.

 

With the children, we made up games (creative play), changed rules as we went (agility) to create a fairer platform (ecosystem), and discovered new practices and new adventures (research and development). Imaginative play (workshopping), was central to development and we would lie down under the stars and look for constellations or create pictures out of the cloud shapes. We sometimes went on adventures (field trips) pretending we were the heroes in Adventures Books (out of our daily routines).

 

Our intent was to raise amazing humans (Big Picture). Through my business I want to impact the world for good (Big Picture). As the children grew older (disruption) we went into survival mode. We had to redesign (iterate)our approach. Our parenting style changed through necessity (reinvention).

 

As the children grew into adults, the rules changed. As we let go (adios micromanagement), and empowered them, they developed their own creeds (visions), grounded in shared values, all the while expressing individual strengths and interests (USP).

What does that mean for the parent (business owner) freed from the required 24/7 drill (work on the business not in the business)? My role has morphed into leaving a legacy I can be proud of. I have a bigger purpose.

 

It’s time for all of us to take responsibility for our community, our country, our planet. It starts with being accountable for our individual actions and for the words we speak. It’s time for us to think beyond ourselves and contribute to the collective.

 

It goes beyond politics and the myriad of things that divide us.

It reaches into the core of the values and the love that unites us.

Leadership needs to shift from short-term re-election ambitions, to long-term benefit solutions to humanity’s grand challenges.

Together, we’ve got this.