Working Solo Was Fun for a While
I haven’t always worked solo, but I have done so for a long time, actually for over 20 years.
I’ve enjoyed it, on a daily basis and over the long haul. I love the freedom to work at my own pace, on my own timetable, without supervision – a big revelation for me climbing the organisational ladder in those bygone times was that no matter how high you get there is always someone supervising.
But lately I’ve been not wholly satisfied with working solo.
I’ve never missed the office politics, the jealousies, the closed-door scheming, the slanders!, the backstabbing (the scars have pretty well healed), or the need to support and work for corporate goals or projects which, left to my own devices, I might not have supported or worked for, at least not with the enthusiasm I like to bring to what I do.
Can you relate to that? I’ve met a lot of people who can and I understand why some of them have just kept plugging along, because they could not find another option.
Mind you, with some positions I’ve held and some programs I’ve developed and/or managed, I’ve also known and relished the exhilaration of achieving, with a good team, “impossible” deadlines and very challenging goals.
I also know of companies where people enjoy their work and the people they work with. I’m just talking here about the mixed feelings I had in the situations I was in.
And at times I’ve missed the camaraderie and occasional hilarity of drinks after work, especially on a Friday afternoon.
In short, I haven’t missed the corporate 9-to-5 (although usually more like 8-to-6 and half the weekend!) and I have enjoyed the very real freedom and independence of working solo.
But lately I’ve realised that I’ve started to miss the pleasure of working with a good team, with shared vision and goals, able to get along with one another whatever our individual foibles. And I’ve missed the occasional socializing. I knew also that whatever might come my way for me consider seriously, there needed to be a compelling, scalable business that fitted with my capabilities, temperament and values, and with a welcoming, capable team..
I got lucky. The business and the team found me.
With Our New Business Venture Came a Great Team
A recent business decision Suzie and I made, and the working as a team which that brought with it, have reminded me of the real pleasures that can be experienced in working in a team that has shared values, vision and enthusiasms.
The team Suzie and I are now part of is that and more. It’s an amazing group, internationally and locally. It seems that for everyone we are working with, optimism and being of service are default states. There is a strong work ethic, and – very important for us – a natural comfort in using current communications technology and social media, as well as a framework for supportive training for people who may not have previously engaged much or very systematically with social media for business.
Also, as the business is 90% automated, we can now operate more than previously on the basis that our business is not location-dependent – we can look seriously at living a “laptop lifestyle”. We can now plan much more confidently for implementing our “bucket list”, which includes a number of places to visit which we can only get to by plane (or boat, but planes are faster!).
Not least, we can and will build our own global team within the larger team we are now part of.
We Still Have to Work!
Mathematics is not my long suit, but I do know that 90% automated means 10% not automated, i.e. that needs us to work.
There is no free lunch. And we’re good with that.
But looking at the quite phenomenal success others in the team are having, we know our hard work will be amply rewarded.
If you’re happy where you are, including if you enjoy working solo, great!
But if you are looking to make a change in your life and help others do likewise, and if the idea of working in a great team with an amazing community spirit appeals, I’m happy to share more about what we’re doing. Just message me via the Contact page or at on my Facebook profile via Messenger.
Image credit – @rawpixel on Unsplash
