Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Personal Leadership

Are You In The Midst Of A Tough Shift?

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A Tough Shift™ occurs when we’re caught in the middle of change and struggling to make a smooth transition.

We each react differently. On pages 93–96 in The On-Purpose Person you may recall Bob Scott telling the man about “floaters, fighters, fleers, flitters, and navigators.”

Kevin W. McCarthy, political leader, speaking at a public event.

A Tough Shift™ reveals your natural response to challenging situations.

As Dr. Phil would ask, “So how’s that working for you?” On-purpose persons strategically think through how to navigate the circumstances, people, and flow of a Tough Shift. In time and with training, you’ll learn to navigate your way more smoothly and rapidly through Tough Shifts.

Becoming the navigator of your life is a personal leadership learned skill and trait that anyone can master over time with experience and practice. If once a year, you’ll grab and work through The On-Purpose Person and On-Purpose Peace, you’ll be amazed at your improvement with navigating Tough Shifts.On-Purpose Peace FE cover(3)

You need not go it alone either. You can start or join a facilitated small group and begin mastering what it means to be On-Purpose®.

Do you find yourself fretting, fearful, or discouraged? As you come to appreciate that Tough Shifts are inevitable, then you’re in a better position to productively and positively navigate the change upon you.

Tough shifts are events such as

  • changing careers
  • starting a business
  • having a baby
  • retiring
  • getting married or divorced
  • the dying of a loved one
  • moving
  • switching jobs

They’re all around us. Some are smoothly managed; others are not. That’s when we need help.

Tough shifts happen in business, too. They come in the form of

  • changing markets
  • competition
  • job changes
  • personnel transfers
  • mergers
  • acquisitions
  • new bosses and co-workers

In a global economy, changes in one part of the world can affect you in your part of the world.

What to do? Take heart!

Purpose is symbolized by the heart. Knowing your 2-word purpose statement provides a “north star” and a home base even in the midst of the swirl and turbulence about you. Once you have your north star, you’re in the best position ever to navigate the challenges you face with a healthier, less stressful response that is more likely to produce a better outcome.

As a kid, I remember learning to drive a stick shift in a grey-blue 1962 MG Midget thatJimW_01s our family owned. This car made today’s Mini Cooper look big. It was basically a tin coffin with an engine and wheels and a removable lid. It had paper-thin doors, slide on windows, a pull starter, and it was absolutely the most fun car in the world to tool around town in. (I can’t believe I found a photo online of one that looks just like ours! Same color and style even to the dark blue convertible top.)

My digression into my ’62 MG Midget personal history is about learning to shift gears. I remember the first sounds and feel of that gearshift in my hand as I attempted to sync the clutch, the gearshift, and still steer the car. Today, I still find myself driving two-footed every now and then with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. Growing up in the “South Hills” of Pittsburgh meant I needed to master it all fast, lest I drift into the car behind me at all stops! Today, driving a stick is still second nature thanks to what I mastered at age 16 to 18.

Tough shifts in life are similar to my experience of learning to drive a stick shift. They can be difficult, noisy, rough, clashing, and damaging with the threat of even worse things happening. On the other hand, once mastered, the ability to make what used to be a tough shift becomes an opportunity to efficiently go places. The skills are transferable to other “vehicles.” The lessons learned stay with us.

So when you’re in the middle of a tough shift, remember your purpose, press onward, and know that every shift can lead to the next gear.

Every tough shift gets you closer to your destination.

Discover your 2-word Personal Purpose Statement at ONPURPOSE.me. This online app will guide you through a process of selecting a purpose statement, plus you’ll receive a 10-email course that’s practical to being on-purpose. The limited-time reduced launch price is currently available.

Is Your Career In The Midst of A Tough Shift™? (part 3)

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(Be sure to read to the end to learn how we’re helping good, willing-to-learn people start their own business.)

With the continuing changes in the economy, there seems to be this “tough shift class” of Corporate America employees—talented, experienced people—who are in transition every few years. Generally speaking, I see them as what used to be middle management in sales and service positions. They’re the new migratory workforce. In the past, they may have migrated from branch to branch within a company and had continuity of employment. Today, however, they’re migrating from company to company. These fits and starts in and out of jobs wear on one’s confidence.

Here are 3 smart reasons to start your own business in the midst of your job search:

  1. You’ll be a better employee when you do get your next job. You’ll be able to Think Inc!—a concept from The On-Purpose Business Person whereby every person thinks like the president of his or her own company.
  2. You’ll do a better job search because you’ll better understand yourself and what matters most to you. You’ll improve your marketability and odds for landing in a better, more on-purpose place.
  3. Your business venture might work! Join the ranks of being an independent business person whose only boss looking at them is staring them in the mirror. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up on Shark Tank!

Prospects for this rising middle management migratory workforce are not necessarily improving. Technology is working against them. In the front end of the Knowledge Age, automation of systems and controls shrunk the middle management class. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are replacing their decision making and oversight and decimating their numbers yet again.

Here’s how to find the job of your life.

Hedge your bets. 

Here’s the hard reality. Your working career is likely to be a series of tough shifts composed of company changes. Regardless of whether you’re looking for a corporate job or working in one now, you are in the midst of a tough shift or you will be soon!

The involuntary income gaps between “gigs” disrupt financial and retirement planning horizons. It can also wear on the soul.

Starting a business is the perfect hedge for job jumping.

When you get “re-organized out” of your old company you’ll immediately have something to look forward to investing more of your time into until you land again or your business replaces your income. It dampens the lows and lifts the spirits.

Pressure and risk are high when you’re in the midst of a tough shift. If your business isn’t ready to launch, then you have to keep looking for that job. However, if you’ve been working all along on your business and the career tough shift comes along then you’ve some involuntary freedom—Voila! What a perfect time to take your solo ownership opportunity to the next level.

Beat Your Drum

The continuing ups and downs of the economy and the growing ranks of the dis-incentivized non-working can be disheartening. Perhaps you fear falling into such government dependence. You have a choice and it can start today.

Let your life beat with the drum of being true to yourself by being on-purpose. The world will not necessarily or readily step to your new beat, so that’s why you want to ramp up your business adventure now.

You possess the power to transform your world and bring your dreams into being.

Are you asking yourself, “Am I ready for a tough shift … to a new job or business opportunity of my own?”

Everyone, yes everyone, needs to start a business at least once in their life. Aside from marriage, which I highly recommend, little else that you set out to do will challenge, educate, and mature you into a better person or even a better employee.

Starting a business is demanding.

It is also rewarding because you have the independence to pick and choose what you’ll do and whom you will serve as your clients or customers. Risks go with these rewards so be smart.

Chances are you’ve uttered the words more than a few times: “I should start a business.” So … what are you waiting for? Even if the business never opens its doors, the benefits of starting a business are far greater than you’ll ever know unless you’ve done it.

Need some help with starting your own business?

Consider On-Purpose Personal Leadership Coaching. Whether you are starting a business or wanting to improve a current one, this offering is a great way to get the help you need.

Selectively, my wife and I are also helping people to start businesses as independent health coaches. Email me with your interest and we’ll set up an interview. It is rewarding work on many levels.

Are You Like A Fly On A Window?

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We construct our lives as best we can, yet it is hard to see the boundaries and borders we’ve created around us. Certainly, some enclosures provide protection and support. Yet, some barriers are self-inflicting and limit our life with an unhealthy—even an unnatural—manner and lessening result that leaves us being off-purpose.

It sucks to be stuck in life.

Heart WorkOn July 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan challenged then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev with the words, “Tear down this wall,” and the world soon changed. Look at your own life and ask, If President Reagan were to speak to me, what walls would he challenge me to tear down in my life?

Are you ready to stop banging your head against the window pane of life? Do you see the life you imagine, but an invisible barrier prevents you from getting to the other side? Now is the time to do the hard work of your heart work.

Are you ready to do your heart work but you don’t know how?

Here are some ideas:

Visit our online bookstore for more ideas.

Humility Matters: Who Is Keeping You Real?

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So you think you have this on-purpose thing mastered in your work life?

Yep, as you’re getting more and more on-purpose you’re being sought and placed into positions of leadership. Your star is rising.

Now for the bad news — there’s a downside to being on-purpose.

Guard against the arrogance of being on-purpose or, ironically, you’ll end up being off-purpose.

Success can breed a winner’s arrogance versus a servant leader’s confidence and humility.

Who is keeping you grounded and real? It better be someone!

Are you a business leader looking for an executive coach to give you a true perspective on your personal self-importance reading? Below are some great referrals for you and me. Tell ’em I sent you.

1. Mary Tomlinson in Raleigh, NC. Email Mary. Mary has a stellar corporate executive background at Walt Disney World plus 16 years of being an independent coach, consultant, and speaker.

2. John Smith (yes, his real name), my mentor. Email John. John has a decades-long career in the ministry of serving CEOs.

3. Dave Vogelpohl is a senior-level business advisor with both big business experience and small business consulting insights. In recent years, Dave has been doing a lot of church consulting—when I’m not bugging him to help me sort out options.

4. Kevin W. McCarthy. Yes, I’m available for business advisory services to help individuals and organizations to be on-purpose.

Is Your Business Running You Ragged?

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If your business is running you ragged, then it means you’re using old strategies in the new economy.

Is it time for an update? Perhaps this holiday season is a time to contemplate and reconsider your priorities.

In the 20th Century’s Industrial Age, much of the prevailing “wisdom” of the day was along this line of thinking: “Keep your personal life separated from your business life.” This compartmentalized approach to life provided clear lines between work and family. By and large, it worked to preserve a certain measure of sanity for much of the industrialized population that was engaged in routine, mindless work.

The downside of separation, however, is the dehumanizing of workers and poor business ethics.

When people are human resources then they are assets—commodities bought and sold by management. When we act one way on Sunday and another way on Monday, our decisions are easier and expedient but not necessarily morally sound or even best business practices.

The 21st Century, however, is in full swing into the Knowledge Age and the knowledge worker.

Separation of one’s work and life isn’t so easy because we carry our work in our heads.

It was easy to walk away from a milling machine, but keyboards surround us at work, at home, and on our smartphones and tablets. The lines between home and work are blurred beyond recognition.

The situation is so severe that many service companies offer “Work–Life Balance” programs to address the growing problem of employee workaholism, health, and burnout. Time management is nearly a joke anymore in this 24/7 society where our noses are glued to our apps.

Now as we stand on the edge of the Age of Purpose and Meaning where separation is a liability, just what are we supposed to do?

Do we separate? Do we balance?

The On-Purpose® Approach provides answers for the New Age. Balance in your life is a false ideal. (See: Do You Want A Balanced Life?) The 21st Century way of doing life and work is integration with healthy boundaries.

An integrated life has a point of integration—your purpose.

The more we are pushed upon, the more we need to know who we are and what is our purpose in life so we can resist, rest, and rebound. A solid core to our life enables us to establish appropriate boundaries so “Our yes can be yes, and our no can be no.” The risks of not knowing who we are is unhealthy to our body, mind, and spirit.

Gain Health! Gain Your Life!

When your business is running you, then you’re not running your life. Use the On-Purpose® Approach to run ahead and find the margin you need. The On-Purpose Peace and The On-Purpose Person set is an amazing coaching or small group experience to help you get ahead of your life so you’re in charge and on-purpose.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Why Is Life So Hard?

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In this On-Purpose Minute we’re exploring one of the greatest hidden impediments to living a better life: confused language, in general, and—specifically—the words of strategy and planning. Purpose, vision, and mission are used synonymously though they are not the same. Each has a unique quality, capacity, and meaning.

Each strategic term of Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values answers a TOP Pal 2014 w copyrightspecific question and speaks to a distinct aspect of personal and organizational strategy.

Purpose: Why do I exist? (Being: Identity and worth)

Vision: Where am I going? (Seeing: Direction and dreams)

Mission: What do I do? (Doing: Planning and action)

Values: What is important? (Choosing: Decisions and importance)

On-Purpose, therefore, is when your heart, head, and hands are aligned and integrated with the highest values.

On-Purpose® is both a process and state of being strategically integrated while giving practical expression to who you truly are. You prosper others and yourself—it’s a win–win. As a result, you can’t help but make a difference.

Too many of us live our lives desperately seeking “to make a difference.” It is a noble aspiration, but a misguided approach. When the focus is the result and not the cause, then we’re almost sure to get distracted and detoured.

Instead, focus on becoming the personal leader of your life.

Know who you are—really.

  • Write your 2-word purpose statement.
  • Invest the time to clarify your vision and missions.
  • Specify your values—the boundaries and guidelines of your life that matter most to your overall health and well-being.

Need help? Explore The On-Purpose Shop for books, tools, coaching, and more.

Decay and destruction are easier than growth and construction. Being on-purpose is work … but consider the alternative. And that, dear reader, is why life is so hard.

Rock-paper-scissors chartRock–paper–scissors chart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When there isn’t agreement on the definitions of Purpose, Vision, Missions, and Values—but plans are made with them—then those plans are confused. Confused plans result in under-performance. Under-performance calls for a review and update of the plans. Rock–Paper–Scissors!

Can a good old game of Rock–Paper–Scissors help you to unlock the difficulties of your life?

Yes!

  • Rock breaks scissors.
  • Scissors cut paper.
  • Paper covers rock.

We know the rules and the game.

The problem isn’t the process, tools, or sincerity of the people. The problem is outside of the system. The terms of leadership and strategy are confused so the entire “game” is rigged against you to almost always fall short.

Have you ever asked yourself, Why am I so frustrated and overwhelmed? Do you think you’re crazy or something is wrong with you?

If you’re crazy, then you don’t know you’re crazy. If you think you’re crazy, then you’re sane enough to know you’re not going mad. All this, therefore, means you aren’t crazy—just stressed, worn, and detoured from the life of your dreams but not the life of your reality.

When the world within us is confused, directionless, and searching, to assume the world outside of us is going to magically provide what we’re looking for is stepping on the unhealthy path of voluntary victimhood.

To make sense of the world about you, make sense of your life.

Start with consistent definitions of purpose, vision, missions, and values. Then, answer the questions above. The On-Purpose Person provides the method and steps to lead your life on-purpose.

Why Am I Fearful?

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Does fear interfere with your life, business, or career?

What’s your fear? What are you fearful of? Where in your life do you say, “I am afraid of … ,” yet you know it is a hang-up—not a danger to your life or limb?

Would you like to be at a place where you can say, “I am not afraid” … and mean it? Read on!

Fear, like pain, is partially designed to be our friend, not our foe.

  • Fear keeps us from being in harm’s way.
  • Fear protects us from injury, peril, and even death.
  • Fear provides for self-preservation.

This is our good or helpful fear.

Bad or harmful fear debilitates our inherent motivation and destroys our confidence. The ripple effects beyond oneself can damage relationships, opportunities, jobs, finances, and more.

  • Fear can be an occupying foe taking up unjust strongholds in our spirit, mind, and body.
  • Fear can lead to anxiety that spawns a panic attack that triggers the fight or flight reaction.

This fear is unhealthy in every aspect.

Fear is not to be necessarily avoided; it is, however, to be understood.

Fear is a God-given guidepost to growth and healing. Facing fear, however, is not a solitary endeavor. Be wise and seek the help of a professional counselor or therapist skilled in working you through your fear in a progressive manner.

Why bother?

If you’re locked in unhealthy fears, your aspirations and dreams are muted.

When fear prevails it is hard to be on-purpose.

How Do I Become A Leader?

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In a conversation with a very financially successful woman she confessed to me “I am not a leader.” Her sincere, albeit inaccurate, self-assessment stunned me. Not only did I respect her as a leader, I knew a number of others who shared my opinion of her. 

It didn’t matter what I or others thought of her. She didn’t see herself as a leader, so she wasn’t. But I did have a long conversation with her to share some of what is in this On-Purpose Minute video and text.

Just as I believe we’re on-purpose persons in creation, I believe we’re all leaders in creation, too. Image of two hands with one finger of each touching, with the quotation "Every person is a leader in creation."

Here’s why: We are all leaders at some place, in some topic, at some time, or with some people. Clearly, there are those of us who are more naturally front and center in visible positions of leadership. 

The conversation with the woman got me thinking about those who don’t see themselves as leaders. With this On-Purpose Minute, my hope is I can awaken you to your leadership in small areas so you can leverage these as building blocks to grow your personal leadership.

Here are Five Tough Shifts in your thinking to become a leader:

  1. Recognize where you presently lead
  2. Relabel yourself as a leader
  3. Know yourself better
  4. Practice your leadership skills by leading your life better
  5. Realize you won’t please everyone

Feel free to add your suggestions in the comment section below.

This is a classic On-Purpose Minute. The On-Purpose Leader Experience is NOT being offered this May. Below is a link to a preview of one from May 2012. 

 Here is a link to a preview of The On-Purpose Leader Experience.