Choosing Your Wave
How do you choose your next wave in business? Well, it takes skill. And, in many ways, your wave picks you.
Choosing Your Next Wave in Business
First start by knowing the kind of wave (company) you’d like to ride. Know yourself. Maybe you know yourself as someone who loves numbers and people, like I do. Then, a natural wave to catch would be one at a particular beach (say, the financial industry). Knowing yourself will lead you to riding waves with generally like-minded people, leading to freedom and abundance.
But that only gets you so close. Next, you have to develop yourself so you can keenly observe what’s happening. Train yourself to see and hear the waves. Do they resonate with you? Can you imagine riding them? Study. Then, really study hard some more. Does the wind blow for a long time (predictable duration of lasting ideas) leading to big waves? How long is the fetch, that is, the distance from this beach to land opposite it (another industry limiting possibilities)? The greater the fetch the bigger the waves. Walk the beach. Find and talk to a grommet (new surfer / a recent hire) or a beach bum (industry spectator). Are the conversations and recent past results at this beach and these specific waves leaving you amped? Think from there. Read everything you can about this beach, all its waves, and all the professional surfers (C-suite leaders) involved. If you are a wahine (female surfer / leader) confidently interact knowing you are the future. If you aren’t a wahine, talk to them to get a complete perspective on things. Keep engaging with this beach and keep studying until you are clear this is your beach and it has waves you want to ride.
Next, create a strategy for successfully getting to the line-up (where all the surfers wait to catch a wave / interview process). If the waves are too gnarly, you may need some more schooling (pursue an MBA or PhD) so you aren’t dangerously out there like a kook (a bad surfer / downer at work). Understand the rules such as Right of Way so you fit into this group and don’t get ahead of yourself. Watch out for Localism or territorial protection by locals (respect who is already there). Find a way to be invited in, otherwise things can get quite unfriendly with the locals. It is going to take a vision and a commitment to get to your wave. Have a well-thought out, researched plan that is within your skill level, because wiping out is no fun. No one is going to hand your wave to you, you’ve got to take it by creating your strategy diligently and executing, executing, executing.
Picking your wave requires trusting the people there. If you can’t trust them before you hop on, it just never gets better, no matter how good your ride may feel at the moment. Working with trustworthy fellow surfers leads to future waves at other beaches. Trustworthy surfers do invite you to future waves.
You also have to envision the future with the limited information you have. To get the most out of it, before going out write down what is likely to happen (past wave riding experiences) on a piece of paper and read it closely. Then rip it up and throw it away. Then take a new blank piece of paper and write down who you are, who the surfers around you are, and how you plan to make the most out of this wave. Do that and read it over and over every day, even after you internalize it. Maybe show other people so they really know your commitments and it starts to become real in the world. Live true to what you write and then watch the wave you pick become a wave you’ve created. That is the highest level of surfing your wave.
The moment you pick a wave to ride, it transforms. You have to learn how to be creative with it. If you are masterful, you and the wave become one. There is no distance between you and it. Picking your wave is done at a moment in time. What matters more is what you do on the wave you have chosen. Imagine your best self being flexible and adaptable as you balance, shift your weight, turn, and get the most out of your wave. Can you feel the freedom and abundance just by thinking about it?
What If?
You have a plan, an invitation, skills, schooling, trust, a big wave, and everything else you need. Then, conditions change. What if the wind stops blowing for a long time? What if your plan isn’t turning out? What if you are no longer invited? Your skills aren’t a match? Your schooling isn’t enough? Your trust of those around you has diminished?
Go back to knowing yourself and repeat the process looking at this beach again with fresh eyes. This time, do so while letting go of your emotional attachments, past successes and failures, and unfulfilled vision. Start newly and ask yourself, is this the beach I still want to be at and is there another wave to ride? You make the call courageously. Just realize that the you that came to this beach some time ago is not the you that you are now. Accept that and take all the great lessons into your future, whether you stay at this beach or not. You can’t go back in time. You can only surf moving forward into your future. That is the way, and it’s up to you to make it fun.
So, if you are not experiencing freedom, joy, and abundance with the wave you are riding, I wonder which aspects of choosing your wave you will start with today? Your wave awaits you. Will you boldly catch it?
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers