Everything we do as a leader in the middle is about choice.
Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker
I was recently thumbing through my book, Serve Up, Coach Down, when I came across chapter that made me pause for a moment. In the chapter, ‘Choose Wisely: Sacrifice Versus Decision’, I share how my values evolved as I progressed in life and my career. Whereas in my younger, single years, I could easily dedicate my life to climbing the company ladder, as I aged, I realized the importance of choosing to maximize my time to do both. Of course, this got me thinking about you, dear reader, let’s chat about getting our priorities in order, so we can have it all.
Make A Choice: Family or Career?
Only when we have the commitment to and passion for everything in our lives that are important do we succeed at them. Because nothing is a sacrifice; it’s all about the choices we make.
Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker
If you didn’t already know, I have a wonderful wife and four amazing kids that I love spending time with as well as a job I’m passionate about. As a keynote speaker, I frequently spend quite a bit of time travelling throughout the year, sometimes for weeks at a time. However, I will never sacrifice my family for my career or my career for my family. I focus on maximizing my time with both, even if it means I lose a little bit of extra sleep.
Making A Personal Choice
In my family, my wife and I serve each other first. Now, in my book, you’ll read more in depth on why we go that route. What I can briefly share, is that even if you have kids, marriage should never be an obligation; nobody wants a job without pay. However, my wife, because she respects and serves me too, knows that my career is my passion. So, she does whatever she can do to equally support that side of me and vice versa. We create a winners’ circle for all.
Making A Career Choice
I’ve borne my soul of that to say, the same principles apply for leaders in the middle. Let me break it down for you in two simple equations (we’re getting technical!):
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- Spouses = Bosses, Organizations and Customers
- Kids = The people we lead
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Ergo, because you serve your bosses et al., first it doesn’t mean you don’t appreciate and love your team. To borrow from my book:
“…[You] have a job to do and keep doing it better and better—and that you have the same
expectations for your team: to keep contributing and earning that loyalty day in and day out moving forward.”
Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker
My Final Choice?
Yes, I do need the job to provide for myself and my loved ones, but it’s not as simple as that. My job, like my family, makes me whole. It’s who I am, it’s what I’m passionate about and it’s one of the tools that I use to make my mark on this world. So, without any hesitation, I make the choice, to have both. I recommend you adapt this mindset:
The correct mindset fueled by great coaching and an ability to serve up: I choose to serve my leaders and company. I owe it to them to push myself to get better and coach my team to success.
Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker
See you next week!
In today’s post, I spoke quite a bit about my book, Serve Up, Coach, Down. Did you know it’s available on Amazon Kindle and Amazon Audible? Check it out and tell a friend!
