Working on Purpose

Today many people hunger for meaningful work that feels satisfying, facilitates engagement, and allows them to make a difference. Steve Taylor has found his perfect match in a company that celebrates his competitive nature, rewards his strong service orientation to customers, fits his values orientation, and facilitates his own leadership development. Originally introduced to the opportunity at RDO Equipment Co. more than eight years ago, he finally agreed to an interview, and he hasn’t looked back. Steve is powerfully connected to the history and story of RDO Equipment Co.’s founding and revels in the pervasive company culture to bring out the best skills and talents in its employees in service to customers. And the results speak for themselves – Steve has been continually promoted over the years and enjoys leading his agricultural equipment sales team to exceed sales goals and operational initiatives. How about you – have you found your perfect match?

With so many possible careers available to us today, how do we ever choose which one to pursue? Whether we are transitioning from one field to another or just starting out, how do we notice when one opportunity somehow stands out among the others? Once we do make a decision as to a direction, we have to prepare for the field and get that first job. Then there’s the social aspect of the work – what will my friends and family think of my path? Will they approve of my decision and support me? Can I really make a living doing what I love? And what dreams do I have for my future – what do I hope to accomplish? In this episode, we will explore all these questions and more from the vantage point of a 24-year old just starting his career in the wine industry.

Does the Tooth Fairy still visit your house? We hope so! All the magic and wonder that alleviates the pain of losing a tooth comes with the promise of money – or perhaps something even more fun – when the Tooth Fairy pays a visit. This is exactly what two women from the Portland, Oregon area have discovered in their quest to start a business based on the childhood memories so many of us share. What a delightful and creative way to express their talents and earn an income. Tune in and learn how the women got the idea, why they’re in the business of delighting children and parents, and how they continue to develop and grow the business.

Is it really true that if we do not keep learning in today’s fast-paced international marketplace, we’ll fall behind? Everyone benefits from having a set of technical skills that ground them into their respective fields, whether those talents are in engineering, accounting, manufacturing, or marketing. But what about those soft skills, those abilities that allow leaders to be effective with and through other people at work? Today as more and more companies do business across cultures, having a set of strong people skills that enable leaders to empower, motivate, and continue to develop their teams is good business. Everyone wins – the team whose skills are continually being developed, the leader who now gets to do more and more interesting work because she’s empowered and developed her people to work at a higher level of output, and certainly the organization that employs them which now has a stronger culture of engagement, performance, and overall bench strength.

The workplace has radically been altered in the last 15-20 years and will continue to morph and change with technology and market trends. The manner in which people seek and apply for work, engage in their jobs, and whether they choose to remain in one field or with a single company is constantly evolving. The ground seems to be literally moving under our very feet, a phenomenon which can produce both tremendous anxiety while ushering in unforeseen opportunities. In this episode, we’ll gain insight from a preeminent career coach and counselor to learn how job seekers can set themselves apart from their competition, take a pulse on the general economy and see how people are feeling about the job market these days, and consider some future trends that will affect us all.

Croatia Dream is a tourism business in the city of Split in the country of Croatia, nestled along the Adriatic Sea. Founded four years ago as an agency for villas and apartments in Croatia, the nimble company now offers full service in seven languages for travelers to Croatia - amazing accommodation, all kind of transfers, excursions, and adventure tours. And each of the three principals work 15-hour days during the busy season and absolutely love their work. They then relax, travel the world, and recreate during the off season – a wonderful work-life integration. But how did this company run by three entrepreneurs all in their 30s come into existence? Built on a profound love for their country, the business was launched when a serendipitous opportunity to rent office space came available, and the three decided to leave their various other professions and join forces. As a tight-knit team, they take great pride that their professional solidarity makes them even stronger as a family.

Today’s dynamic international marketplace is driven by innovation. And that innovation often comes to us at the hands of entrepreneurs who somehow see an opportunity in the marketplace most of us simply can’t visualize. That is, unless you’re an innovating entrepreneur yourself. These enterprising business people have a special knack for the creation of a product or service - and here’s the important part - that people will actually pay for. It is one thing to have a great idea, quite another to have one that translates to value creation. And then there’s the strategy and operations skills required to get the business up and running. So much goes into creating a business, it’s no wonder the vast majority fail before they go on to realize success. This week, we celebrate innovators and entrepreneurs who keep at it and let their passion guide their next enterprise.

What’s cookin’ in Texas? Ask Dotty Griffith. Her humorous insights and instruction reveal what makes Texas cuisine so big, bold, and beautiful. This is a woman who not only knows her way around the kitchen but has also hob-knobbed with some of the most loved and celebrated Texas chefs. Whether it’s a simple grilled peach salad or a perfectly smoked beef brisket, Dotty knows the secrets to make food delectably memorable. She has enjoyed an extensive television and culinary teaching career and loves bringing food to life with flair.

Are you one of the lucky people out there who literally grew up in the business you’d ultimately spend your life as an adult? Blaine Wright, a professional horse trainer with his own racing stable currently working with 60 horses, has a story just about like this. Having grown up working in his parents’ horse race training business, he learned early that he had a real knack with animals and felt at home around them. Over the years he experimented with other kinds of work, though none could quite get him out of the starting gate like the sight, smell, and connection with horses. He simply could not resist the ongoing tug back to the race track and the magnificent animals who ran around it. Despite the challenges of working in a business that requires his near total focus seven days a week, Blaine has stayed true to his passion. And the results speak for themselves - not only is he very successful in his business but he has managed to cultivate a beautiful and rewarding way of life.

What would you do to make your dreams come true and live your life’s purpose? It’s certainly not an easy path for most. Would you restructure an incredibly well established and successful business? Start a PhD program in order to change fields? Move to a different continent? Start a brand new subsidiary from scratch? Erika Jacobi did all these things and more in order to live fully to her values and allow her true identity to emerge in her life and work. Leaving Germany, she started over in the United States where the opportunity to reinvent herself as a scholar, earn a PhD, and pursue a career in Organizational Change Consulting coincided. Tune in to hear about her lessons learned, what she did to forge ahead to realize her dream, and why pursuing this dream was so important.