All Work and No Play…

All work and no play makes Jack (or Jill) a dull boy (/girl) (as the saying goes).

In the course of my day-to-day technology career as a business development professional, I meet a lot of great people all the time. It never ceases to amaze me how many of them seem to have noticed my heli ski lifestyle business from my Linked In profile. (I sometimes wonder how we survived in business before LinkedIn existed). These people often prefer to talk to me about their passion for skiing/boarding or experiences heli skiing first- then the business-at-hand, second. I love that. Why? Not just because I may one day make a sale for Total Heliski with them. But, in my humble opinion and experience it’s a far better connection if you can connect with another individual on a personal level first (in this case around a shared passion) than just on the business you share alone.

Secondly, I believe that having passions and hobbies that we care about and love, make us much more well-rounded and happy people, and this in turn affects how we go about our daily career- (where our job is often the economic enabler for our passionate pursuits). So, whether I’m interviewing a candidate for a position, or meeting a business contact for the first time, I’m always looking to understand what drives them. “What are they passionate about?” makes a great topic for discussion (to break the ice). And, I ask you now “What are you passionate about?” “What are you doing to balance your life with fulfilling your passionate desires in the present to keep you invigorated and balanced in your professional life? Being a little cheeky here…if it’s powder skiing/ boarding heli skiing then how about jumping in feet first, and joining me and others on this chopper above in Alaska USA in our tech leaders tour in a few weeks time?