“That’s an aggressive question!” – Daniel Crania

Threads

“I spent this morning touring the offices of the business currently recruiting me.”  Daniel Crania’s voice sounded in my ear early Saturday morning.

He’s being recruited for a position with a company located in the same city he is currently working and living in.  He wasn’t looking for a new position, they called him.  What initially caught his interest was the opportunity to make more money.  A lot more money.  It’s a big decision for him so, we’ve been conversing about the pros and cons of potentially accepting an offer for a couple of weeks now.  It’s been a process of puzzling many of his life pieces together.

“I mean, the additional money is great!”  He continued.  “But, I asked the recruiter about work-life-balance today.  His response was that the CEO was really working to shift the culture to institutionalize this.  He said, she is a real believer in getting the company culture corrected in that way, as part of her turnaround plan.  I meet with their human resources group on Tuesday as my next step in the process.”

In truth, has became clear that Daniel’s desires for working and living are lying just below the surface of his awareness.  So, I made a simple suggestion to help him move his deepest desires to the forefront of his heart and mind.

“You know, when I’m working with a buyer of real estate and am getting ready to write an offer on a property for my client, I always make a phone call to the Seller’s Agent.  When doing so, I ask the other Agent, ‘Is there something other than price important to the Seller?’”  I said by way of introduction.

I went on to suggest that he consider additional factors, other than money, which are important for him in work and life. After all, he had already been sporadically pointing them out during our conversations.  He just hadn’t woven each strand into place yet.  

So, I suggested, “Send the recruiter a message today asking, ‘Other than the money being offered, why would I want to work for this company?’”

“That’s an aggressive question!” – Daniel said as if the wind had been knocked out of his lungs.  “I don’t even know how they would react to that!”  

But, I could tell the suggestion had made an impact because at the end of our conversation Daniel said, “This has been helpful.”

I hope it was helpful for him beyond the process of being recruited at the moment. Such a question, “Other than money, what do I want in my life?” is important to each person to ask.  And, it is a question that one must be asked over and over again, because life is a never-ending puzzle; a puzzle of tapestry. 

Life is a form of art, woven by each individual, in which their total of threads is hidden in the completed work.  It is unlikely that each thread is immediately visible.  Because each thread is typically discontinuous; requiring an interlace of each phase, each experience, back and forth in their own unique, small pattern.  One’s whole life is ultimately a combination of threads worked thoroughly together to form the final design.

Is your tapestry displaying, the whole picture of what you want in life?