Tesar-Reynes

One of my greatest strengths is also one of my worst weaknesses. The problem is hobbies.

My father loved to motor around in his little 12-foot boat and garden in the summer, hike in the fall, ski in the winter and paint/repair the boat in the spring. He planned his work (he sold ad space) around these activities. He also dabbled in photography and loved to travel. He also took up golf in his 60’s.

As opposed to some of his peers who got bored with golf and became a burden around the house, he loved to get up every day. Today, I frequently meet a bunch of very successful executives who I think are secretly scared and bored. In the darkest corner of their intellect, they realize that they are only defined by their career.

I talked to a guy last week who got laid off with a nice severance package. I asked him what he was going to do to recalibrate before looking for another C-level job. He looked at me blankly and had no idea; he had no real hobbies or outside interests. His life was defined by his job; his kids were grown and his wife had restarted her own career.

We all need the balance of outside interests. It keeps us from getting stale and one-dimensional. Maybe I would be more successful if I did not have so many hobbies. I seem to cycle through emphasis on each one of them. At one time it was sea kayaking, at another it was crewing on sailboat races and at another it was home construction.

Right now it is photography. I shoot over 10,000 images a year.  The good news is that it is something I have in common with a number of candidates I interview. It allows me to see them with multiple dimensions. The bad news is that I have the temptation to be drawn to photo web sites during the day.

Maybe I should just realize that part of my passion for owning a search business is that it allows me the ability to passions outside of the business.