ARE YOU LIVING IN BUSINESS UNREALITY?

Some of you may have seen the movie, The Matrix. If you did, you might remember the main theme of being “unplugged from unreality” and introduced to amazing new levels of truth and life. Neo, the main character, meets a faithful mentor, Morpheus, who offers him a distinct choice: either take the red pill, representing the suppression of truth, blindness, and, ultimately, failure, or the blue pill, representing a choice of process, training, and, ultimately, victory. Neo chooses the blue pill, and follows a difficult but glorious path to his destiny as the dynamic savior of the planet.

Despite the inescapable Hollywood tint, we have found this to be a useful allegory for business owners. Indeed, running a business has many surreal aspects. Among them:

• Incessant fear of people discovering the true you
• Wondering how you’re going to make ends meet
• Knowing in your heart that your people care more about their paychecks than your vision
• Working 16 hour days with a non-stop onslaught of priorities
• Ignoring what’s most important in your life for the sake of your business
• Having more tasks to accomplish than time will allow
• Doing everything it takes to stay ahead of the competition

Do you identify with some of these? If you answered no, stop reading. This isn’t for you.

If you can identify, then that’s ok! You’re in the game. But listen carefully: I suspect that you, like Neo, are suspicious of your environment. There seems to be a system at war against you. It’s tough to describe, and you can’t quite place your finger on it, but you know it’s a force that is making every attempt to keep you from winning. It’s invisible, but its effects are everywhere, and it’s driving you nuts.

It occurs to you that it might not stop until it kills you, or lets you kill yourself.

What’s happening here, and why? May I suggest that by starting a business you’ve slapped the face of convention? Yes, you’ve upset the apple cart. You’ve started a revolution, and you’re actually so idealistic that you envision a world where:

• Your life and your business integrate beautifully
• Your revenues are a reflection of your work, not your appetite.
• Your people have inherited your heart, and they know what you mean by “success” - and their work shows it.
• You nourish your family with plenty of income and plenty of personal attention
• Your values are imprinted upon the world as a result of your business; your work and your life make a monumental difference in the lives of many

You’ve dared to dream all of this!

The world needs idealists. In fact, I love idealists, because they aim high. The sheer “altitude” of their goals calls for an almost reckless faith . . . and it’s usually in order to produce amazing outcomes. But here’s the problem: you are in charge of making these successful outcomes a reality. While you have a vague notion that you’ll have to be really “on the ball” to accomplish all of them, you fall back only upon your sincere hopes that it will all fall into place because you’re working hard. In all likelihood, this lack of strategy will be your downfall.

Just as Morpheus clued in Neo about the war, you, too, must open your eyes to the war. What you seek - unilateral prosperity, happiness, and balance - is viewed as thievery from the invisible enemy.

Did you hear that? You are stealing from the enemy. That’s why he’s ticked.

You see, when you started your business - whether you realize it or not - you were dropped into a war behind enemy territory. While you volunteered for this mission and had admirable skills to do certain jobs, you found that you were ill-equipped to accomplish your goals completely. You might have even undergone certain training to fight your adversaries. But, not being sure of what was coming next, you defaulted to a reactive posture. Your enemy sensed your weakness, and launched his attack.

Now, bombs are exploding. Supplies are being drained. Your followers are showing signs of doubt. The scariest part is that you now realize that lives are truly at stake: yours, your loved ones, your staff, their loved ones, etc.

Apart from keeping you in the downward spiral of the daily grind, the main goal of the enemy is to convince you that success is impossible. His strategy is to get you to focus on the strife - in your operations, relationships, finances, etc. - as indicators of failure. His aim is to bury you in hopelessness and to stay “plugged into” his paradigm of ultimate failure.

In short, he wants you to believe the untrue.

Once you realize this, you may become confused or fearful. But fear is simply a false identity. To alleviate fear you need communion. Communion here means relationship with those who are laying down their lives along with you - your spouse, close friends, mentors, God, etc. These ‘stakes around the tree’ are the source of life, of true perspective, and keeping you unplugged. Only here - with constant encouragement and love, will you be well-equipped enough to stay unplugged; to live in reality.

To summarize: in the heat of battle, we tend to forget - even lose - ourselves. The constant ‘mirror’ provided by our key relationships is indispensable.

Mentorship

Every star athlete needs a coach.

Every student needs a teacher.

Every Neo needs a Morpheus.

AND, every business needs a mentor.

Truth is, we are not designed to unplug ourselves. In The Matrix, Neo was mired in the web of the mundane - stress, performance mentality, and the daily grind - yet knowing all the while that something better existed ‘out there’. It took someone from the outside to unplug him. Had Morpheus not reached out to Neo, it was unlikely Neo would have ever escaped his nauseating existence. Although Neo was in a sorry state, he had one thing on his side: he was searching.

Key Questions

Who could unplug you? Are you searching for someone and willing to let them in? Or are you resigned to a fate of drudgery?

Who can you unplug? Can you enable someone to be great? Will you reach out and train someone at a great cost to yourself?

I believe these questions are at the heart of true service and integrity; the stuff that great biographies are made of. There’s a great proverb that goes, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” As we’ve seen, putting people first involves fighting a war. You’re already in it so you might as well train!

Jeff Timpanaro is the president of Oberata Consulting, a 2007 Certified Total Integration firm, based in Kingwood, TX. Oberata is a consulting firm founded on the principles of strategy, process, and transformation, and utilizes the Total Integration^TM system of business consulting. This system has helped business owners and professionals in the Fortune 100 with definitive, measurable operating strategies that produce unprecedented growth and profitability. For more information about Oberata Consulting call 281.570.4676.