I won't lie. There are no right people. Not for all of us there aren't.
There are people who are right for me. There are people who are right for you.
And what's right?
Well, in the Creative realm, that would be the people who bring out your best. Your very best. They're also the people in whom you bring out the very best as well. And in active collaboration, you're able to achieve something neither of you could've done on their own.
Neither one.
In the personal realm, it's sort of the same thing. There are people who help make us better than we are… and there are people who make us worse. Just as in the Creative realm there are people who can hold us back through inadequacy. Through incompetence. Through discouraging ability. Through mismanagement.
Through dysfunction.
Turns out there are lots of ways to ruin the growth of a Creative. Just as there are lots of ways to ruin someone's life.
The right people, is what I'm saying.
The right people make all the difference to your life and to your career. As they've made in mine.
Oh… don't get me wrong. We all take turns working with the wrong people. We all take the opportunities we get no matter what the subtext of those jobs are. No matter if they're good for us or not. Healthy for us or not.
Those early choices, however, don't have to define us. They do not represent a mold into which we need to fit in perpetuity.
They do not obligate us in any way.
Things are the way they are if we choose to allow that state of being. If we choose to indulge that mindset. Otherwise, it's both fair and necessary to not just pursue the job… but to pursue the people. Relentlessly, if necessary. Your people. Your professional tribe. The ones who share your passions. The ones who encourage your best work. The ones who are Lennon to your McCartney or vice versa… but without the eventual animosity and resentment. Just pure inspiring each other to new creative heights.
And constant growth.
If I had to guess who the right people are for me… I'd say they're people of good humor. People with the ability to really enjoy the moment. I'd say they're people with an eclectic range of experiences. People who have plenty of stories to tell. I'd say they have some connection to the performing arts, no matter how slight or tangential that connection may be. And…
They're talented as hell. Work ethic. Craft. Raw ability. Passion. Execution. Everything.
Everything.
They challenge me through sheer expertise to meet them where they're at… and then to see if I have the capacity to nudge us further.
That might seem counterintuitive, by the way, to pursue the people and not the job… but it makes all kinds of sense. Jobs don't typically challenge us to new heights of professional ability. They typically challenge us to just keep our heads above water.
It's people, the right people, who help lift us up to where we can be. Who provide the opportunity to shine. Who come alongside…
And show us the way.
🙂
