Speaker #0In the last couple of weeks I felt more energy, more drive, more motivation than I have in probably the last couple of years because I feel myself coming back into that energy fit. It is my natural place to be that founder, to be that visionary. It's something that's come up in the work that I've done with clients and the more I think about it the more I realize that knowing which of these two is the more natural thing. fit for you can actually be extremely supportive when it comes to designing self-directed work, building your own meaningful business. As regular listeners may know, the last couple of weeks for me has been all about having strategic and trusted conversations with people about my new venture, specifically people that know me very well and that I feel safe with sharing an idea in its very earliest stages. Well, this week it was time to get really serious with that approach and that meant speaking with my sibling. Now, my sibling and I actually started my previous company together. We started LifeSize in 2010 and we were co-founders and I guess co-CEO for about four years until Broken decided they wanted to move on and do some different things and I bought them out of their share of the business and became the sole owner. Brogan is also now a published author and That will become relevant in a minute when I explain this concept of main character energy or supporting artist. So I finally got up the courage to have this conversation with Brogan and Brogan invited me to start with the personal side of the story instead of treating this like a pitch. And so I kind of, in a bumbling way, try to explain that, you know, even though I loved the coaching work that I was doing, I was also feeling frustrated because like somehow energetically it didn't feel like a right fit. And, you know, while I really enjoyed the work in the moment and, you know, I got so much out of the kind of businesses that I was helping my clients to create, there was just this feeling that somehow the fit wasn't quite right for me and all of this stuff that I have talked about in the last couple of weeks on the podcast and with kind of characteristic insight and knowing me kind of from the inside out Brogan said what you're saying is you've got main character energy and what Brogan meant by this is that there are kind of well there are many types of people of course but in this in this specific framing there are two types of people there are main characters who kind of need to be the heroes in some sense they need to be the visionary they're the ones who kind of go out on their own you know plow their way they're sort of pioneers they're groundbreakers they're believers they do audacious brave things and they're not afraid of kind of being seen doing it, of being quite visible and quite public. And then there are supporting artists. And supporting artists are actually what makes all of that work. They are the people who add the structure and the detail and the efficacy and the reach and the operational rigour to that kind of vision. And it doesn't work. without the supporting artists. And there is no, just to be clear, because it's quite difficult to talk about with this without sounding like there's some kind of value judgment on which type of person you might be, but there really isn't. We need both main characters and supporting artists. But Brogan was absolutely right. I am a main character and I really think that is the kind of crux of what had been feeling. wrong for me in my, you know, in the last couple of years of being a coach, a business advisor, a mentor, is that, you know, while I genuinely do enjoy guiding people, supporting them, teaching them, you know, helping to bring their visions to life, my happy place is building on my own visions. And that is... In some ways, my gift, my gift is being able to have big visions, believe in them very quickly and get them off the ground, get them up and running, get them started. I am not excellent at seeing them through. I never have been. I needed a team around me who were amazing at like testing that, shaping it, delivering on it. And yes, I had to teach myself a lot of that over the years, but it was never my natural space. Whereas I've had the privilege of working with people who are incredible at taking a visionary idea and operationalising that, taking a kind of an outrageous, big, hairy, audacious goal, and finding a way to actually deliver on it. And those are the supporting artists, but it's not who I am. And this was a really... important realization for me and I think it's actually part of why in the last couple of weeks I felt more energy, more drive, more motivation than I have in probably the last couple of years because I feel myself coming back into that energy fit. It is my natural place to be that founder, to be that visionary. It's something that's come up quite a lot in the work that I've done with clients. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that knowing which of these two is the more natural fit for you can actually be extremely supportive when it comes to designing self-directed work or building your own meaningful business. because what I have seen a number of times... is particularly in this direction is people who are naturally those supporting artists you know they were kind of very senior within large corporates but they were at the kind of making it happen level you know maybe they were like a head of HR or head of operations they weren't the founders and they were used to and they enjoyed working underneath a CEO or a founder or even a board that set the direction, that set the strategy, set the goals. What they were amazing at was taking, you know, was taking that and running with it and making it happen. And actually trying to force yourself into main character energy, if that isn't right for you, is always going to be really difficult. And I learnt this by seeing this happen with clients who were very happy actually working within a larger organisation, working under someone else's direction, delivering on someone else's vision. They were very skilled at that and they were contented doing it. And then by asking them to take a more entrepreneurial mindset, to sort of think of themselves, As a founder or a solopreneur, you're also asking them to really come out of their comfort zone. And that's fine. I'm all about coming out of comfort zones. Actually, that's the wrong way to describe it. It's not about coming out of your comfort zone. I think that's probably essential for any kind of growth journey. I think it's about asking people to come out of their natural energy. And that can be really problematic. Because if you are trying to step into main character energy and that just doesn't feel comfortable to you, you're always going to be struggling with lack of confidence. You're always going to be struggling with holding the belief, with having enough faith and drive to keep going even when, you know, the way ahead isn't clear, when you feel directionless. Because that is the job of a founder or visionary. That is main character energy work. And if you're having to force yourself to do that, there's a misfit there. And I think this is really important to acknowledge because I think it gives you really good information about the kind of work structure that you might want to create for yourself. If you recognise any of the description that I've shared of being a supporting artist, it may not be the right route for you. to try to come up with a really original concept, to try to build a business from scratch, from stepping into startup mode. It may serve you much better to design self-directed work that allows you to stay in that sweep spot of supporting artist energy. Like, can you create a, you know, a practice or a consultancy around helping other people to deliver on their vision, doing what you do best and where you feel comfortable. And I think the reason that people kind of push past their you energetic boundaries is because everyone that works with me is seeking work that aligns with their values and that gives them a sense of purpose and it is true that within the conventional dominant corporate system it can be really hard to find that values alignment and that sense of purpose and so that naturally leads to a kind of thinking of okay I'm gonna have to go out on my own. I'm going to have to create the organisation myself. I'm going to have to become a founder. And if you can do that, amazing. Like I believe so much in entrepreneurs. I believe in founders. I really think that they have the ability to make extraordinary change happen in a short amount of time. And if you're like a founder that has just been squashed inside of corporate system, oh my goodness, like, you know, take off. you know, take off the restraints and go for it, like fly. Absolutely. But if you are someone who is urgently seeking alignment with values, urgently seeking a sense of living purpose, but you don't feel a natural fit with becoming a founder, with setting up a business, if words like entrepreneur or founder and just immediately feel uncomfortable to you. And this is true of many people that I work with who post-corporate professionals, that is just not natural territory for them. And they sort of try to be okay with it and make it work. But if that's you, you don't have to force yourself into a role that doesn't suit you. You can continue to be an exceptional supporting artist and find work that allows you to... live in accordance with your values and be part of creating the kind of world and the kind of future that you want to exist in. And yes, that is going to involve quite a bit of self-direction. You are probably going to need to create some kind of consultancy, some kind of offer, but you don't have to go all the way of thinking of yourself as a founder or an entrepreneur or, you know, even a fully-fledged business owner. You could also think about whether you You want to partner with somebody who already has that vision in place. This is one of the things, dropping little hints here, that I am working on in my new venture. How can you bring together the best of corporate and scale up talent with those visionary founders who actually aren't naturally adept at the operational site and organizational and scale you side of things, how can you bring those two people together in a way that allows them to sit in their sweet spot and in their natural energy and do what they do best? That is one of the things that I am working on in my new venture. But for today, I just invite you to recognise which of those energetic profiles, as I'm going to call them, fits for you and just see whether that question you unlocks something for you? Does it give you a path forward? Does it give you some information about the kind of work life that you want to create for yourself? Because it absolutely did for me. For me, stepping into my main character energy, owning that, letting that take up space, letting that define who I am in my work has been incredibly energizing and freeing. And I've suddenly found that I am able to make things happen at a speed that I just didn't feel before when I was in that supporting role. It's like I can kind of feel myself coming back to life in some ways. And it's just so important to get that energy fit right. Now, just in case you've been listening and wondering how that conversation with my sibling went. Well, it was, you know, it was a great start with the main character energy suggestion, and it was uphill from there. They loved the idea. We talked for about two hours. I was, as I was walking through the wood and Every conversation that I have, the concept gets tighter, it gets stronger, and I feel more affirmed in this decision that I've taken, this leap that I've taken into going back to building a new, audacious, exciting, and really deeply necessary venture. So I am excited to continue sharing that journey with you here on the podcast and If you would like to go deeper behind the scenes, please do sign up to my emails. You'll find the subscribe link in the show notes. And I'm going to share a weekly extract from my kind of building journal so that you can really see like the warts and all version of what it is like to build your own meaningful work. And I hope that that is something that brings value to you. In the meantime. Have a think about it. Do you have main character energy? Are you supporting artists? Or are there definitions beyond the binary that fit with you? Knowing your kind of energetic profile is, I think, a really important aspect of successfully transitioning to self-directed, meaningful work. And if you have a kind of aha moment from this, I would love for you to share that with me. You can always reach me via email I'm at Alyssa A-L-I-S-A at regenerativeworklife.com. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you back here next week. If this episode of From Corporate to Calling was helpful or inspiring, follow the show so you don't miss an episode. And if you know someone who's questioning their career, send them this podcast. Lifelines are meant to be shared. Remember, you don't have to tolerate burnout or misalignment. you can redirect your skills into meaningful work that brings back life to you and to the world around you.
