Feel the Force, Luke

Looking back, it's occurred to me that 'the right thing' tends to show up in my life, when I need it most, right on schedule. 


Of course this isn't typically my schedule (and I must suffer from amnesia as I always tend to forget this, and think that worrying about it is a much better idea) but the range of a chance viewing of a college brochure of a pretty campus on the shores of Lake Michigan in my high school guidance counselor's office to the new idea that suddenly pops in my head to even saying to a good friend in England when I lived in a small beach town in California "Oh I love it here, though wish I knew some people!" and finding out that her continental cousins somehow lived 10 blocks away...happens all the time.  


I've realize it's happened once again as I've been finding my way in my new job.  Seven months into things, I  absolutely love it in a 'meant to be' type of way, though it's very different than the type of work I've always done in the private sector, at fast moving agencies and small-mid sized companies.  For one thing, at an agency, you're 'done' when you've completed the task, whatever it is -- improved sales, gotten splashy PR coverage, helped get  new product distribution, made the client look good to his/her boss.  I remember once talking to a friend who is trader and he explained how his P&L essentially 'begins new' every day.  There's a similar sense of beginning and ending completion. 


At a mission oriented non-profit organization, you're never done.


There's also the difference of executive style leadership vs. a more legislative style, as noted in the terrific book 'Good to Great in the Social Sectors', and the sheer size of a global NGO that works in 35 countries, all 50 states, with 2,000 projects going on around the globe any given time, with many priorities, long term objectives and strategies.  It's a lot to wrap your head around.


Somehow though, the 'right thing' showed up once again though in the form of a board member who has become a true marketing mentor, something I've realized I've never actually had.   As fate would have it, this board member, who I will call "Sam", is a very accomplished professional, and also in between positions, so for the past few months I've had the gift of working with him instead of a passing hello at board meetings four times a year.   


When Sam and I talk, it's the focused clarity that comes when Obi-Wan Kenobi speaks with young Skywalker, his Jedi apprentice.   Here's the path.  


I'm thankful for the gift of 'the right thing' that has shown up, once again.  


And for some of my readers who are in between days, perhaps waiting for that 'right thing' to show up, there's also the thought that like Sam, you may be someone else's 'right thing'....