By Anne Jirsch
In her new book, Future Vision Your Working Life: 10 Strategies To Help You Get Ahead (Watkins $16.95) Anne Jirsch looks at the issue many of us face – finding our true purpose. Here she discusses the notion of Straddlers, how to work out if you are one, and what to do about it.
The Straddlers
We are in a transition phase. The world is changing at a rate never before witnessed, and this can unsettle people. Some are even terrified. Does that sound extreme? I promise you I regularly meet people who are full of doom and terror.
This transition phase means that all aspects of our lives will change. But not all change is bad, and not all change is going to happen overnight. To take one example, we all agree we need clean energy, but expecting that we should immediately stop flying by aeroplane isn’t realistic. Neither are we going to suddenly start growing bean sprouts for food and all become vegans, or ride horses and donkeys instead of driving cars? Some want immediate change, while others want no change. Neither will get their way. Positive change will happen over time, and to ease us from the old way to the new way we need people who bridge both worlds. We need Straddlers.
What we are concerned about is how the change will affect our world of work. We have already seen how our world of work is changing fast, and it will change faster in the future. Some jobs will fade into obscurity. Many self-employed fields will become so overcrowded that people will be left twiddling their thumbs. This is starting to happen already, but through these turbulent times, the Straddlers will be our guides. They will guide us through transition phases and help us to find a positive way forward. Do not underestimate the power of the Straddlers. They are the people who will lead us from the past to a better future.
I can often spot a Straddler. They are the people asking the right questions. They are problem solvers, and although many of them do not see themselves this way, they lead people to a better future. When I work with Straddlers I take them into the future to find out what part they have to play. For the Straddlers, that is their purpose.
Are You a Straddler?
Being a Straddler is a calling. It’s knowing that there is something more than you are meant to be doing. Often the Straddler has no idea what it is. The calling can be scary. It can be triggered by upheaval or a sudden change of direction. A Straddler can see their old industry fading and know something new is emerging. They don’t always know what is coming next, and that breeds fear. The difference is they go in search of answers. They step into the unknown, looking for a better way. At first, they don’t always get it right, which makes them doubt themselves. But they can see their industry fading and they know something new is emerging.
How to Tell If You Are a Straddler
You get the sense you are meant to be doing something. The old way of working doesn’t seem quite right anymore. You feel there is more to your life. You are searching for answers. You instinctively know the future will be amazing. You are noticing changes going on around you when others don’t. You are not sure where things are heading, but you somehow know you have a part to play.
CASE STUDY
Giulia is a classic Straddler. This is Giulia’s story: “In 2010, I resigned from my well-paid job with one of the oil and gas supermajors. This made no sense, as my employer and the financial rewards they offered were excellent. But I had a strong feeling that traveling through the corporate ranks wasn’t what I wanted from life. Sure, I had everything I needed from a material perspective, but I felt empty. I felt there must be more to my life. I was missing my purpose.
Fast forward two years. I was working as a consultant in the energy industry and I was asked to provide advisory to the oil and gas industry in Yemen. What many people don’t always understand about the industry is that profits are shared between the big oil companies and the country where the oil is discovered. When the right performance frameworks are in place, it has the potential to provide revenue that can be channeled into employment and training for the local population.
Yemen has been in conflict and is extremely unstable. During one of our journeys, our armored convoy came to a stop and this beautiful little boy ran across to our vehicle and knocked on my window. The extremely over-diligent security guards, who were usually very jumpy if anyone came close to us, appeared not to notice his loud knocking on the window. I saw his tearful face smile at me and something in me changed. I had this deep feeling that I could put my skills to use and work at a much higher level than my corporate background had allowed. My vision was to help with bridging the skills gap and create employment and small business enterprises that could help people to have a better quality of life.
The timing was wrong for Yemen with the conflict worsening. I decided to turn my attention to Africa. I began speaking at conferences and working with government representatives to see how we could implement better measures, manage supply chains, and find employability solutions. This felt good and the work is ongoing, but I wasn’t quite yet hit the sweet spot. Finding your purpose is a never-ending journey of discovery.
Back in the UK, I called Anne Jirsch and we did a session to gain more information. It showed me that timing is everything. I had become interested in advanced technology and how it will affect jobs, society, ethics, and education for the better. My goal was to set up some innovation hubs to help businesses with the large-scale transition – green energy is one of the transitional industries that will be making an impact.
During the FLP session, we saw I had written a book. I was speaking and interacting globally with big businesses and governments. But more importantly, we saw a happy, calm world that had utilized this knowledge for the good of humanity. My role was to bridge the gap, help people learn how to transition, and help transform education and training models so that people were employed for jobs that don’t yet exist. The method for helping was by creating innovation centers or hubs where we can co-create and bridge these gaps. These innovation hubs would also help with my vision and concept for Africa too. The frustration and stress I was feeling because of not knowing my purpose just lifted in this session. The confidence to move forward and show me to the world is running right through to my bone marrow. I had found my purpose.”
