As a kid my favorite thing had been to ask "why?" and when my parents would tell me how something is, before I even began to consider it, I would ask "Why? Convince me!"… and while the questions might have changed over time, I still remember to ask. In the last few weeks, I enjoyed being a cell of the Kauffman Foundation body, a living and breathing organism where the word "entrepreneur" is in the forefront of people's minds. My inquisitive mind has been constantly searching for clues in my daily experience to understand all that is the entrepreneur. What are the defining characteristics of an entrepreneur, the shaping qualities, the character… what is the entrepreneurial psyche? What are his or her success drivers? How does the entrepreneur find meaning in his or her actions? What is the path they see and feel themselves walk? What is their journey?
From childhood to old age and as we move through life we all have a sense of wonder about our lives and search to find our purpose. We look into the eyes of our parents, listen intently to our teachers, question religion and science and everything around us pursuing hints, pointers and signs… Yet, it seems to me that entrepreneurs, especially successful entrepreneurs have a certain, definite, unquestionable conviction for what they do. They live in a space where purpose is. They are and they do as they are directed. Joseph Campbell spent his life studying stories, fairy tales and myth. Just before he passed away, this 83-year old wise man said to follow your bliss. Campbell embarked on a journey of his own, to learn and experience myth and he realized that there is an underlying universal structure in myths of every tribe, every culture and every civilization - even those who were completely isolated. He named this genetic heritage for mankind, the "hero's journey". The hero receives a call to adventure and after some initial hesitation he crosses the threshold with the instigation of a guide. He or she sets out to answer the call and follow the adventure… to step through all the trials, face great dangers and fight great monsters with the assistance of magic helpers that he meets on the way! And there is always a gift, a treasure for those who are heroically courageous, those who live without compromise and take control of their own destiny. A gift that the hero returns home to share with others.
While looking for my own conviction and searching inside myself for my own version of the entrepreneur, a connection between hero and entrepreneur seemed inevitable. It is a confession to say that I have only met a handful of entrepreneurs and none of them was walking around in a lion skin holding a sword and cutting monsters in two yet they all had to use every weapon at their disposal to deal with different kinds of daemons: infidels, competitors, jealous people, legal systems, difficult investors, team or board members. Often, there was a guiding person or event that pushed them to commit in the start-up and those magic helpers who helped them bring their idea to fruition. When you think about it this way then it comes naturally that the entrepreneur is a kind of modern hero. The visit to the Roasterie last week was key; it put all the pieces together. Danny experienced his call to adventure during his time in Latin America. His love for coffee generated a desire to give people the very best that coffee could ever be. During sleep, he would dream of his business-to-be while one visit at the Boulevard Brewery was enough for him to cross the threshold and find the magic helpers who would assist him along the way. Eighteen to twenty-hour days and unpleasant bank statements were only some of the trials that he went through in the last decade. He has now returned from his journey and is running a successful business and sharing the gift he received at the end of the journey with others: the Roasterie is a fine example of a firm with social responsibility that gives a percentage of their margin to satisfy the needs of the local community where their coffee is produced. On some deep level of consciousness, I believe Danny understands how we are always part of something greater than ourselves. He has a sense that his business is part of the local community, part of Kansas City, part of the USA, part of the whole world and it's interesting to see what comes up when you think that you are always part of something great than self, isn't it?
If you have made it this far then it means that you can expand your consciousness long enough to consider another perspective and I will step one step more. How could it be that there is a unique and specific path and journey for each one of us? A path that will turn the universe to our favor, if we choose to pursue it? I spent several nights thinking about this. Does this mean we our bound to some kind of destiny? A man after my own heart believes in choice, not destiny. In the Matrix trilogy and during the beginning of his journey, Neo is in denial of his destiny and the concept itself. Having a set destiny would mean that we have no control of our lives, that there is someone else running the show behind the scenes and we can only obey. As Neo begins to understand himself, to believe in himself, to realize his potential to do extraordinary things, he surrenders into serving his life's purpose... he becomes the "One" and it is only then that he can be all that he can be! He realizes that we have no control of our lives anyway… that things around happen whether we choose it or not… that you can only be in control of yourself and prepare for success in your journey.
I had a dream the other night… I dreamt something I had seen in a BBC documentary… it was a group of beavers in a far away pine forest next to a river with clear water running through. I could hear the birds on the trees sing in harmony with the water's flow and it gave me a feeling of peace and tranquility. A feeling of balance and mindful existence. The lady beaver had just given birth to three little beavers with just as large tails and teeth. They were all swimming and splashing around in the water while learning from their parents... what else but how to be beavers! How to chew on trees until they fall down like toothpicks and how to carefully pick them close enough to the water so that they can exploit the flow and move them to where they need. How to slowly stack the trunks one over the other, strategically, to block the river water and artfully build a good dam. And whether they know it or not, it is this dam that will transform this environment, forever. The trapped water will form a big lake over that part of the forest that was dry and inhospitable for sprouts to grow into flowers and as the dam slowly weakens and the earth absorbs all the water, it is transformed into a new world of fertility, bright and colorful blossoms… it is transformed into life. The river will start flowing again as it did before, the beavers will move to another area and start over, the trees that were cut are now compost and they all have had the honor to take part in this transformation, in this creation, they were all part of something greater than themselves.
As these images, sounds and feelings were flowing through my body, I got the feeling that this is true of all animals: they live a purposeful life. They have some way of knowing what it is they need to be doing. They are somehow aware that they are always part of something greater than themselves… and however it is that they know, they live their lives in a way that makes earth the paradise it is. There is no question of whom, why or how. Could it be that underneath it all, if you take away your logic and mathematical precision for only a second, there is a genetic imprint that lets you know what it is you need to be doing? That there is a different way of being where anything is possible for you and there is universal synergy? Could it be that like those beavers, we have a duty, a survival mechanism, to use the river and the trees to build a dam to replenish and fertilize the dry areas of the earth we tread on and the one we make dreams with - our psyche?
What is your passion? If you can answer this, then you know.
