Enriching your personal, professional and community life, based on principals from the world of finance may seem incongruous, but that is exactly what Ian Pollard has proposed in his book Investing in your life.
The book is based on an analogy that likens our lives to a financial entity, to be invested in and made the most of, with measurable returns from wise use of our personal "life capital".
This may all seem unlikely, but Pollard says “Good”. He insists that the strength of the analogy is that it doesn't seem like a natural fit. His purpose is to “transform people’s way of thinking” by using a concept that will really stand out in the mind.
He sees that it is “the power of the analogy itself” that will really convey his message and empower his readers.
How could financial transactions possibly describe my life, you say? In business you invest to make money… the same is true in life says Pollard “you have to invest in your life first to get the rewards”.
Pollard used the example of a simple conversation. “You can’t really measure the impact of not listening to a conversation … by using the analogy you can quantify losses in a kind of way”.
A colleague mentions something in passing that could really help you out, but you decide not to go off on a tangent, interrupt and bother them with questions. What did that just cost you? What sort of fantastic advice could they have given?
Making that connection could have increased your life capital by leveraging theirs. The transaction could have added to their life capital too.
Pollard’s goal is not to direct people in any particular way, telling them how to become a better sales person or CEO. Instead, he wants us to look at our day to day lives, as a series of potential opportunities to improve ourselves and our lives. Pollard hopes to open our eyes “to where opportunities lie in life” and “quantify” the cost of ignoring them.
Pollard is not just focused on our careers, he hopes to “encourage and empower people to make bigger investments in their personal and social capital” too.
The book is aimed at “anyone who is interested in getting more of the things that matter in life, be it pleasure, money or helping others.
What investments could you be making in your life to get the highest possible returns?
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Investing in your life, aims to teach people to “look at conversations creatively and strategically” What more could you learn or contribute with each interaction you have every day.
This edited extract comes from chapter 12.
Principle 12 Conversations and opportunities
Any engaged conversation offers you multiple potential benefits, most fundamentally the opportunity to leverage others’ Life Capital.
A communication that has a clear objective, such as arranging a meeting, conveying information or making a decision, can arguably be considered a success if that objective is achieved efficiently. A seemingly successful outcome may, however, leave many other opportunities unrealised.
These lost opportunities may have emerged through face-to- face rather than email contact, a little more planning or a little less rush. Deeper engagement may have offered to all participants the chance to raise other issues, to give or receive feedback on ideas or to enhance their relationships.
Conversations offer a significant opportunity to leverage others’ generosity with their Life Capital — their ideas, contacts, market knowledge and experiences, their judgement … and their knowledge of you.
In this context there are two concepts of leverage at work:
- multiplicity of issues
- leverage off another person’s Life Capital
12.2 Leveraged conversations and job search
These days, most people change jobs on average every three to five years. While premium opportunities emerge unsolicited for some lucky few, most people carry out at least five to 10 job searches in a career. The career upside is enormous if you can achieve the compound benefits of an average 15 per cent better ‘job fit’ each time — perhaps also with commensurately higher remuneration. This is a realistic goal if you commit to a disciplined process each time, by:
- understanding your own priorities and objectives, including family and work–life balance issues
- generating a number of opportunities that potentially suit you
- modifying some of those opportunities to better suit you
- fully understanding the alternatives and deciding which is best
- effectively negotiating the basis and expectations of your employment
Let’s look at this example. John, an experienced Wall Street mergers and acquisitions adviser, is looking for a new job in the financial markets.
His mate and former colleague Bill moved two years ago to work for a private equity manager. While phoning Bill is an obvious next step, John is concerned about taking up too much of Bill’s time. He knows Bill is busy on a couple of new deals and has been travelling a lot for meetings with portfolio companies. He phones Bill:
Take 1: non-engaged and minimal leverage
‘Hey Bill. I’ve decided its time to look for a new job, maybe a move into private equity, and was wondering if there’s anything on offer down at your shop.’
‘I’m not aware of anything right now, John, but I’ll keep on the lookout. I’ve been working round the clock and Jane and I and the kids are off to Acapulco tomorrow for a week. I’ll see if we’ve got anything going here when I get back.’
Take 2: fully engaged and fully leveraged
‘Hey Bill. I’ve decided it’s time to look for a new job, maybe a move into private equity. It would be great if you could spare me an hour or so to really chew this over — any dimensions on this you can think of. From my point of view, the sooner I get your input the better as I’m about to fire up this search. You know this territory and the players so well that I’d really value it.’
‘Great. Don’t know whether I can be of help but you never know. Let’s make it breakfast on Saturday at the Grande so we’re not rushed. Send me an email with your CV so I can think about it a bit beforehand. If you can add a couple of paragraphs about what you’re looking for, that might help to get us focused.’
John and Bill meet at the Grande. After a chat about the weekend football:
‘John, your CV’s great and private equity is a big growth area, so there should be lots of opportunities worth chasing. But before we get to them, let’s focus a bit on your current job.’
‘It’s going very well but I just get that feeling it’s time for a change. I’ve been in the same position for three years and something’s urging me to see what other opportunities are out there.’
‘At least your current job takes away the time pressure for finding something new, and provides a strong benchmark for any new opportunities.’
‘I‘d like to have a number of choices — and preferably at the same time!’
Bill introduces his well-tested theory on job searches: ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head! The way I see it, if you can have five jobs to choose from rather than just one, the fit of the ultimate job is likely to be 10 to 50 per cent better, perhaps more — and maybe the remuneration as well. You’ll have a far better idea what you’re worth and be better placed to negotiate.’
‘It’s not much different from the big premiums on the contested takeover bids (see Wealth Insert 12C) I work on seven days a week — the more competition for the prize the better — only in this case I want to be the prize!’
‘There is one important difference, John. Everyone hears about the public companies that get takeover bids. In your case, you’ve somehow got to find out who the logical bidders are and let them know that you’re available and interested.’
From this unorthodox start, their chat has many dimensions. John elicits from Bill a whole range of ideas of potential employers and they examine some possible changes in direction for John — including some thoughts about job opportunities in overseas markets. Bill also comes up with some ideas on what new experiences might complement John’s previous work.
John remembers reading that more people fi nd their jobs through people they see occasionally, rather than the people they see often, because the latter generally operate in much the same information pool as they do.
This prompts John to ask Bill the obvious question about who else he should be talking to (potential employers, other contacts of Bill’s and head-hunters). These questions prompt a few ideas from Bill and he notes a few specific introductions he is happy to make for John — at his own firm, at another private equity firm and to a close head-hunter contact.
He reminds John that when you’re searching for a job, the head-hunters are the gatekeepers. He even suggests a couple of contacts at some hedge funds, just to give Bill a broader perspective on the options.
It’s been a very productive start but John senses that Bill’s good for more: ‘Have you got any other advice?’
‘Just a few suggestions I’ve marked on your CV. You come over really well from both your CV and your presentation. It’s clear what you stand for and what you’re looking for.
You’ve obviously reflected on those qualities quite deeply. There are also a couple of books you might find relevant. I found them valuable to test my thinking when I made the move to private equity. One helped me clarify my preference for private equity; the other gave me some ideas about how to craft and negotiate the actual role and expectations to suit my sweet spots. I’ll email you the titles.’
‘Bill, thanks for all those thoughts. It’s been particularly helpful. One last request: would you be happy to be a referee for me?’
‘Delighted! No doubt you’ll let me know where you’re tossing your hat in the ring so I can anticipate a call. Let’s have a chat about the specific targets at that stage. It might be worth asking Fred too. He’s told me a couple of times how highly he regards your work.’
John leaves with pages of notes, confident that he has made a great start. Across a number of dimensions he has heavily leveraged Bill’s Life Capital.
Bill has a few introductory calls to make on John’s behalf and is confident that his time with John has not been wasted. He feels good about being able to help his old friend. John’s command of the situation was impressive and objective, so Bill is very comfortable being a referee. The more he reflects on it, the more he realises how well John has milked their chat for everything he can — and Bill is delighted that he has!
This is an edited extract with permission of the publisher John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. from Investing in your life , Copyright 2009 by Ian Pollard. Available from all good booksellers from May 2009 RRP $39.95.
