The business of herding cats

I'm a novice cat herder.

Most of the cats I'm trying to herd are larger than me. Much larger. OK, we all know how much cats love to be herded . . . try herding the big ones. Exactly. Success isn't easy.

Where am I going with this? Well, as you know already, I'm a cog. Now you know that I'm a cat-herding cog. I think those of you in health care can picture this . . . a cog attempting to herd cats.

And cats have ideas, if you know what I mean. LOTS of ideas. Sometimes cats have good ideas (like sleeping in a warm spot), but some of their ideas are not so good (sleeping in a warm spot which happens to be under the hood of a car). OK, none of my cats' ideas are THAT bad, but still. The real problem is the problem of all cat herders--ALL of my cats seem to think that they are in charge. ALL of them. And they all want to go with their own ideas, but their ideas aren't necessarily compatible. Cats!

OK, enough about cats . . .

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I've noticed a few things about people, and I'm taking notes. Some of the most successful people I know are also some of the most humble.

A year ago, I sat down and created a strategic plan for myself and my career path. I wanted to move forward, but I wasn't sure how to go about it. Thus, I began with a list of people whom I know and admire and asked them for advice. The kindest and most helpful person also happened to be the most successful person on my list. He is the retired CFO of a large, publicly traded company. This man reviewed my resume, asked me lots of questions, and gave me advice--and he spent a lot of time doing this. He also contacted a buddy of his who is the retired CEO of another large, publicly traded company. Both of these men were very humble about their careers and offered me useful advice. They both contacted other folks within their circles of influence in order to aid me--a cog! But they didn't treat me like a cog. The treated me like a student or a novice . . .

Other people on my list weren't at all interested in helping me. They were too busy, too important, too whatever (too busy being cats?). And some of them had been cogs like me in their recent past. But I learned from these folks as well--they just weren't aware of what they were teaching me.

I don't know where I'll go from here. Perhaps I'll always be a cog. Actually, I know I'll always be a cog, no matter where I end up--cogs are useful. But I'll be a humble cog, a cog willing to help another cog move forward . . .

Maybe some day I'll be able to help another cog learn how to herd cats.

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