I nursed a cold in front of the TV Friday night. Given the election season in Colorado, this was an exercise for the mute button.
I wonder how it would feel knowing you’ve achieved something in your life by primarily bringing down the competition instead of proving your own worth? Would you consider that an achievement?
This, even more than the general nastiness of the ads, was depressing. Due to the onslaught of negativity, I’m feeling a strange urge to contribute something positive to the morass. My part to counter the vibe as it were. After all, there so many more people dedicated to (as a client of mine put it) staying focused on the we’ve never been here before as opposed to the this isn’t working.
People with a profound awareness of this reality are all around me. I’m a lucky guy. A few examples from the work side of my life that’s keeping me hopeful:
I helped write a job description for a client recently. The title of the job was Director of Social Capital. How cool is that?
I’ve just begun consulting work for a client who’s starting a business based on values. Yep – the economic logic will come after we (I’m honored that he thinks of me as a partner in this process, beyond a client-consultant relationship) decide the kind of enterprise we want to build, and how we want to run it. How cool is that?
I finished a branding platform project for a client who’s interested in changing the way we think about food. How we source it, how much of it we should eat, and how it’s crafted. They’re trying to grow as much of their own ingredients as possible. They think of food as something to honor, not as a resource. They welcome all staff voices at the table regardless of their job title. The owner has visions of a hog farm to create a zero-waste enterprise. How cool is that?
I’m in the midst of branding an institute that, if the vision comes to be, will facilitate sustainable development training for leaders. Not just the environmental integrity part that we all know about. But integrating environmental integrity with social justice and economic prosperity into the core strategies of running businesses. One of the leaders in this initiative truly believes that this notion of sustainability will be to our future business leaders what quality is to us. That it will soon enough transcend the “latest idea” into the ticket to play in business. How cool is that?
I’m lucky, fortunate, psyched… animated as my entrepreneur client puts it. These politicians can make their hay the way they need to make it. I’ll side with people who are looking at the opportunities.