Page 32 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
MICHAEL: Do you think there’s anything in your past that would explain this desire?
ANDREW: It’s hard to analyze myself. Why do I like bringing order to struc- ture? I can only speculate. It could have something to do with control. I re- member growing up and even as a young adult that if our parents or others were not nice to me, I would take it very hard as I was, and still am, very sen- sitive. Growing up, I realized that I had no control over these people. I’ve just got to avoid these people or avoid the situation where they are criticizing me by being as much in control as I can.
The desire to feel like you are in control is the driving emotion of most other emotions. When do I feel happy — when all is right in my world and when do I feel angry, depressed or upset, that is when I don’t feel like I can exercise autonomy or agency, which is being in control of yourself. Pink’s descriptions of Mastery and purpose also plays into this emotion.
MICHAEL: So you are sensitive to people who are negative towards you or not pleasant towards you or, say, with office politics or certain behaviours?
ANDREW: Yes, and it stems from a lack of confidence. I know if I’ve been as- signed a project or something to work on, and the person giving it to me said we give you free rein to do what you want, that’s great because I have total control over that, and I can fix it up, and I feel accomplished doing that. But subconsciously, it’s because I don’t want to upset them or be criticized. To me, criticism is worse than death.
This is a destructive paradigm. Criticism is a key to continuous improve- ment. Utilizing Stop, Challenge, and Focus in these situations can be extraordinarily empowering, pushing you on to even greater heights.
MICHAEL: Do you think that making mistakes at the printing places was also something you carry forward? Or do you just kind of isolate those as just a learning curve?
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