Be a Tireless Adventurer
The most successful leaders refuse to be slowed down
For more than a decade, I have had a piece of art hanging on my office wall that simply says:
Dream. Explore. Discover.
That piece is near and dear to me for multiple reasons.
First, the background photograph was taken by my wife during a trip we took to Lake Louise and Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada many years ago. Second, I designed the artwork itself and had it printed on metal for my office.
Every time I look at it, I am reminded of something I have come to believe deeply.
It is not just a recipe for a successful life.
It is a recipe for an enjoyable life.
Whether you are a leader just starting out or you are a leader navigating unprecedented change and churn in the market… this is how you can be a tireless adventurer and use it to accelerate both success and quality of life.
Dream
Dreaming is an important part of life.
If we do not take time to think about where we want to go, we will either wander around aimlessly or eventually end up nowhere at all.
Read that again… I don’t know about you, but I have had many seasons like that in my life where I put in a lot of effort, but because I didn’t have a vision and dream that I used as my plumbline, it was more aimless than directional.
Dreaming gives direction to our energy. It creates a vision of what could be. It reminds us that our current circumstances are not necessarily our final destination.
Every meaningful journey starts with a dream.
Explore
Exploration is inevitable, but the quality of that exploration and the outcomes and results can vary greatly depending on how you approach it.
The moment we start moving toward something new, we discover roadblocks, detours, opportunities, and challenges we never anticipated.
No adventure ever unfolds exactly as planned. The exploration phase is where learning happens… if you allow it!
It is where we test assumptions, develop new skills, ask better questions, and gain experiences that could never be learned from a book alone.
This is often the hardest part of the journey because it requires curiosity, humility, and persistence. However, the payoff to doing it well yields massive returns on the investment
Discover
Discovery is often viewed as the payoff be cause we reach the destination, accomplish the goal, and find the answer. But I have come to believe discovery is also the beginning of the cycle all over again and if we do it correctly this is how legacy is built because we string those wins together.
One of the mistakes many leaders make is rushing past discovery and immediately moving to the next thing rather than utilize it as fuel and foundation for the next phase.
Also, sometimes we just need to pause long enough to appreciate where we are… before deciding where we are going.
Savor the moment a bit and utilize that to get your bearings and nourishment for the next adventure ahead.
Constant Change, The New Normal
Over the last five years, I have experienced five manager and role changes due to organizational shifts.
If you work in technology, you have probably experienced something similar. This is increasingly becoming the new normal. Every time a change happens, I find myself facing the same internal decision.
Do I embrace the Dream. Explore. Discover. framework once again? Or am I simply too tired of the churn and changes?
Usually it takes me a day or two to wrestle through it and it usually comes down to whether I want to maintain a learn-it-all mindset or do I want to retreat into what I already know.
Inevitably, I end up in the same place. I am hungry to learn. I am hungry to build. I am hungry to do new things, especially when I can see a vision that creates meaningful impact for customers and for the company.
Why AI Is Different
AI feels like one of those moments.
What fascinates me about this emerging market is that it does not discard the experiences I have accumulated throughout my career. Instead, it allows me to combine them.
Leadership.
Operations.
Technology.
Customer engagement.
Strategy.
Coaching.
Communication.
Problem solving.
None of those experiences become less valuable. They instead become ingredients in a new recipe.
No one has ever experienced this particular AI-driven market before. There is no group of people who have already mastered the entire landscape. Because of that, I do not believe the goal is simply to rely on what made me successful in the past.
The goal is to take everything I have learned and apply it to what is emerging. Not to become trapped as an expert in yesterday’s market. But to become a student and builder in today’s market.
A Message for Leaders
This is something I spend a lot of time discussing with executives and leaders I coach and mentor.
Many are struggling to contextualize decades of experience in a rapidly changing environment and some worry their experience is becoming less relevant. I believe the opposite is often true.
Your experience is an advantage if you position it correctly. The key is not allowing your past success to hold you captive. Instead, use it as a foundation.
Dream about what the future could become.
Explore through reading, building, experimenting, and conversations.
Discover what new opportunities might emerge when your existing strengths are combined with new capabilities.
Your Next Adventure
If you are wrestling with change right now, know that you are not alone.
If you have recently experienced a job loss, a role change, a reorganization, or uncertainty about where your career is headed, you are not alone.
You already possess valuable ingredients.
The experiences, lessons, expertise… do not leave those behind and bring them with you while you develop AI fluency.
Stay curious.
Keep building.
Keep learning.
Keep exploring.
Take all the ingredients of your career and use them as the foundation for your next season of growth.
Dream.
Explore.
Discover…… Then do it all over again.