On Reinvention

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   
    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
    And treat those two impostors just the same

Rudyard Kipling, If

We aren’t defined by titles and status. All of us are capable of reinvention at any age. Follow the purpose that calls you and you will find a new way to define yourself.

Towards the end of West Wing, CJ Cregg, Chief of Staff to the President tells Charlie Young ‘You know I’m living the first line of my obituary’. It’s understandable that a person at the heights of political world might think that there’s nothing more to be done. It’s always tempting to see a fancy role and title as a definition of our potential. Instead, CJ actually goes on to lead a foundation that aims to change world health and poverty.

We aren’t our jobs. They most definitely do not limit us. We are creative and capable people making our way in the world, collaborating and creating with others. It is those other people who draw us out of our own limitations and show us the way to reinvent ourselves. Working towards purpose with others will help you find the opportunity that is your next phase and might well be your next crowning achievement.

Surround yourself with great purposeful people. Trust in the quality of the people around you to help you to new problems and opportunities. Be prepared to walk away from all the trappings of success to start again. Recognise any path of reinvention is a long difficult and winding one. You may not end up where you expect or get there how you thought but you will be richer for the efforts.

Yesterday I was announced as Chair Elect of the Board of Bank First. That’s an opportunity I thought I had lost two and a half years ago. The acquisition of LanternPay had led to my return to the CEO role at HICAPS and I resigned from the board with a sense of loss.

If you’ve ever felt your legacy would be defined by a role, consider returning to one after a decade. After a great two and a half years leading HICAPS again, I left having learned so much more from customers and my people than I ever expected. Much of this experience is relevant to the challenges ahead for Bank First.

HICAPS was very successful. When I pulled up stumps in September, it was hard to walk away from a great business and team to create something new and uncertain. However because I was prepared to walk away from success and others were willing to support a transition, I have a chance of contributing in a different way with an energetic, highly capable and enthusiastic group of people at Bank First.

Life is full of surprises and twists and turns. They say luck is opportunity and preparation. Surrounding yourself with great people helps with both. So never lose hope that more is possible. Make yourself lucky. Start work on the next version of you today. Start with the people who will help make it possible.

I want to believe in the power of rosemary 
knuckled along the fence
even as the stars order themselves 
  to an unalterable and essential law.

Judy Jordan, Help Me to Salt, Help Me to Sorrow