Greg's Right FIT #452

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Labor
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Labor

• "The end of labor is to gain leisure." –Aristotle
• “Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life.” –Dorothy Height
• "Power goes to two poles: to those who’ve got the money and those who’ve got the people." –Saul Alinsky
• "A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor." –Victor Hugo

Being Human - Work

"Work is no disgrace; the disgrace is idleness."
- Greek proverb

In the USA, we're celebrating labor this weekend. Celebrating the achievements of American workers by observing Labor Day. 

Years ago, I was visiting a client, and he took me to a fish taco shack near the beach. As we made small talk, he asked how this work I was doing became my "passion." I didn't know how to answer. Looking at his company, it was clear he had built something from the things he liked to do most. Through his eyes, everyone else must be doing what they were passionate about too. 

I almost apologized for admitting that my work wasn't a passion. It was something I took pride in doing well, but it was work. As I used to say to my direct reports, it's worK, with a hard K. Do the worK well, and then get to the living life part. It's a means to an end. I didn't look to it for meaning. That was in the 90s. Around that time, the talk of being passionate, making work a calling, and doing what you love became a thing. I think it's probably when talk about company's being a family and such was taking hold too. Then again, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life," Confucius said. 

This Labor Day, I am going to think about this some more. I have heard people say successful work is taking your interests, what people need, and what people will pay for, and combining them. This feels like a way to explain why we work versus what we should be doing with our lives. 

Anyway, if you're in the USA, enjoy the long weekend. If you're outside the USA, have a good day of worK on Monday. 

Random Stuff

"I'm ridin' in your car, you turn on the radio
You're pullin' me close, I just say no" – Pointer Sisters, "Fire" 

The big news of the week, as far as I can tell, is the reuniting of the 90's band Oasis. The brothers announced a reconciliation and a series of concert dates. 45-55 year olds from all over are thrilled. I'm sure other age groups are too, but that has to be the sweet spot right? 

The brothers' feud was/is very public, and their relationship is famously contentious. The joke is if you are going to spend the money on seeing them, your best bet is to buy the early concert dates because they'll probably break up again before the tour ends.

About the same time Oasis was topping the charts, I was working in sales for a company with hundreds of salespeople. The 25th anniversary of the founding was coming up, and the founder was throwing a big party. The founder loved the Pointer Sisters and secured them for the evening's entertainment. In preparation, there was a company-wide contest with the grand prize being backstage access to the famous Sisters after the show. 

I wasn't a big fan of the Sisters, but I grew up with their music and the contest was set up in such a way that I had a legitimate chance to be one of the winners. I won. As the contest was coming to an end, I started telling people that I was going to get my wife to do a "Jump" for the picture and we'd send it as a Christmas card with the caption, "We're so excited!" (The Sisters are famously tall. My bride is not. I had to do some selling to get her on board.)

The concert was surprisingly good. The Sisters brought an impressive stage show with them and played all the hits. As the show was ending, my lovely bride and I, plus the other winner, were brought to the side of the stage where we watched the encore and saw the Sisters run backstage. It was getting exciting. I was excited for the pic, but the other winner was a super-fan of the Sisters. She looked like she was going to pass out. This was really going to happen.

The minutes stretched. Something was clearly wrong. The representative came out with one of our company VPs and apologized profusely. There would be no picture. The Pointer Sisters were on their plane heading back to Vegas. 

Actually, they were on their planes, plural. The VP hung back and told us that it turns out the Pointer Sisters were hating on each other. The owner didn't know it when he booked them, but they didn't even talk to one another in this period. They refused to take pictures together.

I was sad, my wife was relieved, but the poor superfan was inconsolable. Looking back at it, like the movie "The Sixth Sense," they never came near one another during the show. It was almost like there were 3 boxes they performed in. 

My point to the Oasis superfans is they don't need to worry about the reunion shows being canceled. Probably.

I just wouldn't count on any sharing of the mic moments.