Existentially Speaking: A Comedian's Take on Engagement

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five, it's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to

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the Working in a Purpose Show.
Thanks for tuning in again this week.

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I'm your host, Alise Cortez,
joining from Dallas, Texas, which is

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home base for me. This program
is all about helping people more meaningfully and

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productively connect with their work and equipping
organizations to do the same for their employees.

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So I bring on guests to have
a particular perspective or experience that I

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think expands the conversation, and I
often draw on the meaning of work research

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I've been doing over the last fifteen
years, as well as my own experience

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can including the work that I do
today at a siding, which is a

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global management consulting firm. I'll get
to the program and my guest in just

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a second, but first a thank
you to my media partner and sponsor,

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jobbing dot Com. They are the
leading locally focused job board in the nation

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and they are dedicated to helping employers
find quality talent in their own backyard while

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giving job seekers control over their search
they can find work close to home.

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Great partnership. Thank you jobbing dot
Com. If you missed the show live

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last week, you can always catch
the podcast. We were on the air

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with doctor Owen Lynch, who was
an associate professor in the Meadows School of

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Arts at Southern Methodist University. He
also serves as a director of Get Healthy

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Dallas, which is a nonprofit organization
he helped form that is dedicated to address

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in the lack of healthy food options, adequate education, and economic development opportunities

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in Dallas, with special focus on
the South Dells and the Farr Park area.

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We talked about his passion to address
food deserts in urban areas and what

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he and his students and other associates
are doing to improve economic development along the

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way. With us. This week
we have Greg Kite, who is a

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former eighth grade math teacher. Today
Where's the Hats He is the co host

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of a monthly podcast that you have
never heard of, he likes to say.

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He is a regular blogger for the
Thrive All CPA network and creates a

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week biweekly cartoon for Going Concern,
and over the last twelve years, he

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has established himself as a unique voice
in the world of stand up comedy.

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We'll be talking about the ideas he's
come to develop about the importance of play

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at work and how that translates to
engagement, among other things. Greg Joyce

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today from Provo, Utah. Greg, welcome to Working on Purpose. Thanks

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at least, I'm totally excited to
be here and to talk about everything.

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We You and I met in a
very serendipitous way, what like almost exactly

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a month ago, or was it
two month? Maybe it was October.

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I think it was October. Already
was October, that's right, Yeah,

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And so you just kind of crashed
the party of Another Voice America's show.

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I did write about the time when
I was given my presentation on playing at

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work and we found out that what
you do and what I'm what I'm developing

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line up pretty tightly exactly. And
let me presence that for our listeners.

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And by the way, Greg,
I'm happy to share that I do get

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to enjoy listenership all over the globe. We have a lot of listeners in

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China, Thank you China. We
have a lot of listeners in Japan,

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Thank you Japan, and of course
the United States and all over the rest

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of the world as well, And
so I wanted to be sure that they

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knew how it was I found you, So listeners, this was really fun.

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I did crash this party. I
was invited by my producer here at

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Voice America to join this Various age
symposium. And not very long after I

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arrived, who shows up on stage
but Greg, and he's talking about this

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thing that I love, which is
about you know, how to play at

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work and how to engage ourselves and
about meaning and existential meaning and all this

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stuff that was just yummy for me. And Greg, I will never forget

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when you said you open it up
to the audience and you said, what

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do you think? Is this just
all like ridiculous? Have you all heard

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this before or what is this?
And I grabbed the mic and said,

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I have heard some of this for
but the way you bring it to life

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is so fantastic. Do you remember
that? I do? I do remember

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that, And that is that is
one of the things with this, And

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I think, like a lot of
my thoughts about about engagement at work,

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I don't think it's like, you
know, like I broke some new code

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and I found something that's brand new, but it's it's maybe a more of

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a unique shift in how you look
at work and how you approach work.

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But but yeah, and yeah,
I do remember that, and that was

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incredibly uh you know that that gave
me a lot of of of courage,

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I guess to move forward and to
take the take these take these concepts forward.

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The other weird thing too about it
is that the the so it was,

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it was the what got the spirit
of enterprise was the show, which

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is run by a former accountant and
a guy who works for an accounting software

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company, and their main the main
goal for them and for various age is

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to abolish the billable hour model in
professional service firms. Here you are coming

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to like arguably the lamest party,
well at least on the surface. They're

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a great group and I love it
and I get so much out of the

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symposiums that they can. But if
you're just looking at it, going wow,

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this is a group of accounts and
lawyers who don't want to build by

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the hour anymore. It's like yawn
path. But that's where you came.

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And then I'm a fellow with the
Various Age Institute, which is again it's

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it's devoted to abolishing the billable hour, and we all the fellows when we

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have these symposiums, we talk about
basically our latest greatest thinking that we've been

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incubating since the last symposium, and
mine had absolutely nothing to do with the

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billabile hour model or any store accounting
at all, and was still the other

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things. So yeah, it was
kind of a strange coincidence flash in the

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pan, lightning and a bottle kind
of thing. Well, a couple of

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things on that kind. Man.
First, as you and I have spoken

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before we were supposed to meet,
there was kismet. However you want to

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say this, if you want to
say it's God's plan or the universe coming

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together, whatever it is that however, people tend to believe. I am

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convinced that you and I were supposed
to meet, and I had an amazing

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time. And in fact I did
also have Kirk Bowman on the show on

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December six talking about value pricing.
We talked about that very thing. The

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whole show is dedicated to that.
So I learned a ton about that because

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I missed some of that presentation.
So that was fantastic. So I do

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want to I want to hear about
this, I mean, and I also

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want to talk about the fact that, you know, among other things,

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you're a funny man, and I
want to hear about how that, how

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that experience has informed your perspective.
But you're writing a book called Playing at

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Work, and I want to understand
where some of your ideas have come from

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and what are they? What are
you what are you conjuring about playing at

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work as it relates to engagement and
meaning? Gotcha? Well, the the

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ideas came from a kind of a
weird place, like the inspiration to for

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like my muse for these ideas came
from a book that I was reading called

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play Anything. And and it's a
book I should I should look it up

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real quick on the computer. Here
it was. It was a book that

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I read about in a magazine that
I was reading, and it had a

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really great write up. And yeah, the author's Ian Bogost, who's a

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computer pro, like a video game
developer. And the idea was that you

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could no matter where you're at,
no matter what you're doing, is that

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it's something that you can play.
And so I read this book, which

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is super high hopes that it would
be this, you know, this great

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thing about how how you can take
work or anything in life and you can

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you can change, you know,
by changing your viewpoint on anything. You

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can transform whatever that task is that
you're working on into play of some kind.

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And I read through the book and
honestly, I was super disappointed in

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the book because it was not what
I wanted to read, like I had

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this and I realized that I was
reading through this book, I realized that

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I had all these expectations for what
I wanted him to say, which was

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the weirdest like realization in the world. That It's like I wasn't reading this

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book to like, not so much
to get ideas, but to almost like

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to have someone put into words like
thoughts and feelings that already had like brewing

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up inside of me. So I
get done reading this book, and funny

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thing I was part of why I
was reading the book is for my podcast.

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It's called the Thrivecast, which is
also part of the Thrival CPA network.

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Once a year for our podcast,
we do what we call Jason and

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Gregg's Book Club. Jason Blummer is
the co host on that podcast, and

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so we where we just review two
of the two books that we've read that

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year. And this was one of
the books that I had chosen to read

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and to basically give my my review
in my summary of during that podcast.

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And so I was just going,
this isn't saying what I wanted it to

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say. And I have this right
when I was finished reading it and getting

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ready for this podcast, I was
like going, you know what, I

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know what I wanted this book to
say. Maybe I just need to write

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a book that says what I wanted
what I need to write the book that

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I wished that I had just read. Does that make sense? It makes

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perfect sense? And how brilliant is
that? Well, if that doesn't give

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the listeners some some something to think
about for themselves, who they might be

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considered writing a book, I think
that's a great idea. You actually expected

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to get something from this book,
did not get it, and so figured

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hey, I'll write it myself.
I think it's brilliant, right, And

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that's exact. And so then the
funny thing is in the podcast, what

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I did what I did because,
like I said, we each have two

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books that we reviewed during this podcast, we kind of alternate ba and forth.

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So when it came back to me
to review Play Anything by Ian Bogost,

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I did not review his book,
but instead I gave a thorough explanation

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of the book that I wish it
was the book that I that I'm in

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the process of writing, and and
and so the whole time my co host

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is thinking, I'm telling him about
this this book Play Anything, And at

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the end I tell him and actually, maybe maybe ten percent of what I

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just said actually came from that book, and the rest of it is actually

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what I wished that the book had
said. And that was sort of the

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launch of these ideas. So that's
not really an explanation of what I'm thinking.

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That's more like the origin story of
these ideas. But to get into

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I guess basically what I mean,
there's a there's a couple of things,

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and I'll get to the existential stuff
later, but really the beginning part of

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this whole idea of playing at work
is that I love to be engaged in

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what I'm doing. You've you've heard
of and I'm not going to I have

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no idea how to pronounce the guy's
name, but there's the office. Yeah,

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you've got to be talking about chiz
In Mahali, right, the flow

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guy. Yeah, the flow I
knew it. Yeah have you? Have

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you gone into his stuff before?
On your on your show, not on

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my show, but I have read
his works over and over again. The

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flow concept. Yes, I'm completely
with you, Greg. See you and

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I can finish each other's sentences.
That's a scary thing, totally. Well

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so with Flow and and Flows an
interesting book because it's it's one of those

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books that it's like the the the
concepts pretty straightforward and in you know,

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and maybe a brief conversation people get
that. And that's that there's these flow

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states that we get into where we
kind of lose track of time. We're

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completely engrossed in whatever the task is
that we're working on, and we're you're

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it's almost like this, it's almost
it's almost I don't know, it's not

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spiritual, it's not mystical, but
it's just this complete engagement with whatever's happening.

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You're not necessarily like feeling euphoric,
but you kind of. But but

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then at the same time you're working
to your strengths, you're trying to you're

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challenged to just the right amount in
this in with whatever task you're achieving,

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flow in. And that's that's like
the level of engagement that that that we

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that we want, that we that
we aspire to, that we that we

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want to get to. And that's
why I think flow by the improv the

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guy with the impro name, is
so compelling because everybody goes, I've tasted

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that before. Everybody in their life
has been there before, right, you've

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been yes, yes, I'm sure
every listener has has been in a place

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where they just go, yeah,
I was working on my strengths and I

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was and I was, you know, climbing new hills and it was the

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best. And I would have done
it forever if I could have, I

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could have, I would have stayed
in that place. And and that's where

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we want to be. That's the
level of engagement that we want to get

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to. And so we're playing at
work. I specifically look at three different

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types of play that will achieve that
that kind of engrossing engagement that'll that'll help

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you get more engaged with what you're
doing at work. So there's three types

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of play that I've identified. One
is competitive play, one isn't is artistic

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play, and then the third is
what I call pure play. And those

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are the three types. So competitive
play that's basically like sports, and whether

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it's an individual sport or a team
sport, it's all competitive play and and

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and that, and really there's not
a whole lot I can add on to

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that to increase people's understanding, but
I'll explain how we can start building competitive

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play into our workplace. The second
type of play is artistic play, which

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is more like you're playing you're playing
the violin, or you're playing the guitar,

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or you or even any kind of
fine arts that you're involved in.

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If you're a painter a sculptor,
that's artistic play that you're working with there.

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And then the third type of play
is what I call pure play,

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and that's just where you're screwing around
and with that, and that's probably of

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the three types that's the most controversial
aspect of play because I think a lot

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of people, especially a lot of
managers might look at that and go,

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no, I'm trying to cut down
on people screwing around at work. But

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what they don't understand is with mature
people, if you have if you hire

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the right people and you allow them
to the freedom to pursue pure play within

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the context of getting their work done, that that can be an incredibly engaging

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form of play for anybody who's at
work. I like it. I like

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it. Okay. So those are
three types of play and then and we

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can and the strange thing is is
that they're all very different. I think

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if people think if they if they
hear the idea of playing at work,

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they'll probably gravitate their mind will just
go to the pure play to messing around

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kind of playing at work. But
we find that each of these three different

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things is very very different. When
you're in competitive play, you're trying you're

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trying to achieve a very specific goal. It's a goal oriented thing oftentimes.

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And actually, if you're really going
to leverage this to the best of your

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ability, you're going to have someone
that you're competing against in that often that

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whoever you're competing could against could be
yourself. But even if we get back

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to like some of the basic business
strategies you know that we learn about in

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in you know, in our MBA
school, kind of education. One of

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the ways to build a strategy is
to identify a competitor, to basically identify

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an enemy that you'd like to beat. So competitive play means into that artistic

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play is more like you want to
be a world clay You want to be

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world class at what you do.
You want to be the best, you

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know, just just like a violinist
wants to be the best violinist on the

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planet. You want to be the
best at whatever you do. And then

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and then pure play, that's where
you're just trying to find the fun in

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whatever task is at hand, whatever's
before you, You're going to find a

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00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.039
way to and not just to make
it fun. Because I'm not talking about

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00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.919
like Hawaiian Shirt Day, you know, on the on the last Friday of

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the month, because that I mean, that can be something that does engage

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people, but typically that's more of
a forced I mean, I would look

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at if we had Hawaiian Shirt Day
at my work, I would look at

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00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:52.240
that as like obligatory fun where I
had to like fake it to make to

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00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:56.679
make whoever to make. You know, Kevin who thought up Hawaiian Shirt Day

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to make him not feel bad about
his idea that I'm really not into.

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00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:06.240
But with pure play, the trick
there is to make it something that you

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00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:11.319
really are interested in, and that
is really going to you know, to

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to blow your skirt up and make
it, you know, make work just

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and it's almost like you're being subversive, but not in a way that's going

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to blow your company up. I
want to comment at a couple of things

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00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:27.759
real quick, and then we'll have
to go on break here shortly. But

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Greg, one of the things that
you said about the whole uh, I

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think you said artistic was the second
kind of play. Is that right?

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Yep? Artistic? Okay, So
when you talk about it, you know,

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being the best at something, right, that's that's it. What I

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know from my meeting and work research
is that people have there's a way for

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people to experience meaning in their work
around competence. It's this feeling of being

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competent in something. I'm good at
this, and there's something about that feeling

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that when we feel that it's very
it's meaningful to us and therefore it's engaging.

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So I wanted to connect which the
research that I've been doing. I

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just wanted to catch that real quick. The others didn't stand us as much

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to me as the research that I've
done. But that one was like,

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ah, I got that one totally
crisply. And here we are already ready

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to go for a quick break.
Yeah, I think I think we're kind

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of where we need to. Okay, good, they shut you down.

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If we didn't write, well that's
pretty much yet, Cortez, stop talking.

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I'm your host. Elis Cortez.
We've been on the air with Greg

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00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:29.240
Kite. He is the co host
of a monthly podcast and he's a regular

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00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.680
blogger for the Thriveall thrive Ball how
do you say that rival? It's like

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00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:38.559
survival but okay, trial regular blogger
for the thrival CPA network and it creates

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00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:44.519
a biweekly cartoon for a going concern
interested today from Provo Utah. We've been

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talking a bit about his interest in
playing at work and how that translates to

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engagement. After the break, I
want to hear more about risk taking as

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well as his thoughts about the existential
piece of it. Stay with us,

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We'll be right back. Friend us
on Facebook to keep up with what's empowering

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00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:17.839
the world. Voice America empowermentson Elise
Cortez is a speaker and engagement and development

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catalyst. She designs and delivers professional
development, leadership and engagement workshops and can

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bring her expertise to your organization.
She will help ignite meaningful development within your

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Elise Cortez dot com. She would
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To reach our program today, please
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Se at Elise Cortez dot com.
Now back to Working on Purpose. Thanks

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00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:32.880
for staying with us, and welcome
back to Working on Purpose if you're just

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00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.160
joining us. My guest is Greg
Kite. He is the co host of

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a monthly podcast and he's a regular
bloggraph for the Thrible CPA network and creates

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00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:44.599
a biweekly cartoon for Going Concern.
Over the past twelve years, Greig has

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estabbed himself as a unique voice in
the world of stand up comedy as well.

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I'm your host, Elise Cortez.
So Greg, before the break,

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we were talking about your three kinds
of play that you've you've discovered, and

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00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.200
you give some examples of those.
For this next segment, can we start

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by talking a bit about the existential
piece. I couldn't resist bringing that in.

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There's that's the meaning piece of what
we've been talking about here. So

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00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:10.440
let's get your perspective on the existential
piece of things, and then I've got

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00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.200
a couple of questions to follow on. Okay, fantastic. Well, the

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00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:19.079
way of the existential piece comes into
play is this is that you can look

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00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:25.119
at employee engagement or just your own
engagement at work. I guess I was

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00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:30.640
starting to look at this from a
like, from a managerial perspective within any

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00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:34.440
organization, and it's like, why
would we want to encourage play? What's

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00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:40.079
the purpose of playing at work?
Why would anyone want to, you know,

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00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:45.880
have implement these different ways of playing
within their job? What's that going

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00:22:45.960 --> 00:22:48.240
to do? And some of it's
pretty obviously, I mean, it's it's

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00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:51.799
going to increase your bottom line if
you if you you know, part of

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00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:57.079
competitive play is having very clear goals, showing people this is exactly what you

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00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:02.839
need to do in your position to
win, and and then actually even having

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00:23:03.319 --> 00:23:07.839
making whatever you can of the competitive
side of your work, make that public.

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If you're doing that, if you're
having public competition and clear goals,

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you're going to end up reaching your
company's goals, and then that's going to

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00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.279
make you more profitable, which is
fantastic. There's also you know, I

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00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:23.839
know my arena in the world is
accounting, and there is a huge lack

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00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:30.759
of qualified staff in the accounting world. So some of this you could also

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00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:34.400
say if you're if you're implementing these
these different types of play, you're going

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00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:38.559
to be able to attract and retain
the staff that you need. With artistic

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00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:45.079
play, if you have an entire
firm, that's or company where everyone is

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trying to become the absolute best they
can in their one specialty within your firm.

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Because again, if you're a if
you're a world class violinist, you're

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probably not also going to be a
world class floutist at the same time.

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So there's there's this real specialization.
But if everybody knows their specialization and is

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becoming the best in the world at
that specialty, then your firm's gonna gonna

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make a lot of money as well. There. So there's you know,

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00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:15.119
there's plenty of reasons that you can
come up for, plenty of business reasons

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that you can come up with for
for implementing play at work. But for

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00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:25.160
me, that's not that's not really
what does it for me. What does

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00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:30.000
it for me is engagement is basically
engagement for the sake of engagement. And

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00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:34.000
one of the things that I do. I mean, I think if a

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00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:38.759
lot of people were going to look
at at kind of my my curriculum vita

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00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.920
and look at the different things that
I do with my life. I'm an

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00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:47.720
accountant, I do stand up comedy
and I and I very much enjoy reading

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philosophy and psychology. And so with
that philosophy and psychology side of things,

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it brought me to an author and
his name is Irvin d. Yalem,

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00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:04.279
and he in a book called Existential
Psychotherapy, which sounds like the worst beach

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00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:08.680
read in the history in the history
of the world. But this book was

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00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:12.799
recommended to me. I mean it
was it's well, this is something that

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00:25:12.839 --> 00:25:17.480
we that you and I talked about
in Texas as well when I was out

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00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:22.759
there was I went through a divorce
early earlier this year. My wife,

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00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.880
my ex my now ex wife,
and I we spent a couple of years

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00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:30.359
going to a marriage counselor. Obviously
it didn't it didn't salvage our marriage.

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00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.400
But my marriage counselor recommended this book
to me, and this was actually one

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of the best takeaways I got out
of my two years of marriage counseling.

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Was this existential psychotherapy book and what
And basically, so he's coming at it

350
00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:48.559
from a from a psych from a
practicing psychologist standpoint, and he's saying,

351
00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:56.599
there's these existential problems, you know, particularly meaning meaninglessness in the world,

352
00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:00.200
and that that's a problem everybody has, not just crazy people who need you

353
00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:06.599
know, psychiatrists, but it's it's
every single person. It has this problem

354
00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:10.920
with meaninglessness in the world and finding
meaning in the world. And it's it's

355
00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:17.759
fantastic because he says in this book, he says that engagement is the antidote

356
00:26:18.039 --> 00:26:22.160
to meaninglessness. So he says,
so here's just some of the great quotes

357
00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:23.759
that I have from him. I
mean, this it's a long book.

358
00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:27.079
It's you know, five hundred,
six hundred pages long. And it's dense.

359
00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:30.519
So there's there's about a billion quotes
I could have pulled out of it,

360
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:34.599
but some of them that are directly
tied to engagement. He says,

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00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:41.839
meaningless is intricately interwoven with leisure and
with disengagement. And what I love about

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00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:48.519
that quote is that if you don't
want meaninglessness, then you should avoid leisure,

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00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.039
which means you need to work,
and you need to avoid avoid disengagement,

364
00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:56.920
which means you need to engage.
And playing is a way for you

365
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.319
to engage at your work. He
was kind of saying just the con verse

366
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:04.880
of what I'm saying, is that
through engaged, playful work, you're going

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00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:10.519
to find meaning in what you do. And then later in the book he

368
00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:15.519
says meaning like pleasure, must be
pursued obliquely. A sense of meaningfulness is

369
00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:19.400
a byproduct of engagement. So again, if you just if you're just going,

370
00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.759
I need to find meaning in things. I need to find meaning.

371
00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.759
What's the meaning? What's the meaning? You get and you get locked into

372
00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:29.480
that of going I don't feel like
I have a meaning or a purpose in

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00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.039
what I do, which is what
we talked about right before the break.

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00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:36.680
You're not going to find that meaning
directly. What you need to do is

375
00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.880
you gotta go, Okay, how
can I get engaged with what I'm doing

376
00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:45.960
right now? And then by finding
that engagement, you're going to find meaning

377
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:51.119
through engagement, which I think is
a I mean, that was one of

378
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:53.799
the biggest takeaways that I got from
this whole book. Does that how does

379
00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:57.319
that line up with some of the
research and studies that you've done on meaning?

380
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.319
I love it and it's wonderful,
and you know this just jazz is

381
00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:03.680
me to no end. So a
couple of things. Yes, I know

382
00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:08.000
y'ellam's work as you and I've talked
about, and I also get that meaning

383
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.920
is a byproduct of engagement and what
I want to now recognize and the three

384
00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:15.519
levels of play that you just came
up with, I just kind of put

385
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:21.880
the dots together for my own researches. I looked at I can't remember now

386
00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:25.400
how many buckets of meaning I coded
for, but I did actually look at

387
00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:27.880
them along Maslow's hierarchy of meaning.
And so you know, if you look

388
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:30.880
at there's the safety piece of things
of having a stable job and money,

389
00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:36.440
and then there's the emotional stuff,
and then there's a steam stuff how you

390
00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:40.240
feel about things, and then there's
you can look at the value and the

391
00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:45.039
purpose c above that. What I
think is what I see and what you've

392
00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:51.599
identified, Greg, is that you've
identified a set along the feeling spectrum,

393
00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:56.920
the emotive spectrum, so you're competitive
aligns what I found for my research around

394
00:28:56.920 --> 00:29:03.200
winning and success. I feel success, and that feeling then is the cascade

395
00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:07.279
of being engaged. Right, that's
the byproduct you were talking about. And

396
00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:11.160
the artistic has I've already said,
is the notion of feeling competent. Also,

397
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:15.799
I feel, so it's still emotion. And then the fun piece is

398
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.920
still the feeling of fun. So
you what I see that you've done there

399
00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:26.160
beautifully is you you have found a
compliment along what I call again this is

400
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.480
my research. You ask about research
is along the emotive scale. What I

401
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:34.039
also know now when you think about
this, you know existential stuff and even

402
00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:40.039
you all another other stuff is that
above that, maybe even in a deeper

403
00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:41.759
vein, you get into values and
some people say things like, well,

404
00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:45.880
I joined this organization because it aligns
with my values, and that can actually

405
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:53.000
be a really really strong, compelling
source of engagement, which then you know

406
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:57.000
cascades to meeting and then above that, of course is purpose. And then

407
00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.200
I know we're going to talk about
purpose a little bit further here when we

408
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.119
get into the risk piece of things. But when you ask about how does

409
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.279
that align, I think the way
that you describe that is just such a

410
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:11.119
yummy way to situate it and to
be able to bring it to a life

411
00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:14.400
in a way that almost anybody can
understand. It was gorgeous. Greg.

412
00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:18.079
Well, thanks, and I think
that's it too, because, like what

413
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.839
you're saying, if someone's trying to
find a company that the purpose of the

414
00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:25.960
company aligns with their purpose, I
mean that really does tie in both.

415
00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:30.880
I mean it can tie in with
competitive play with like like I think of

416
00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:33.359
the Gates Foundation and them wanting to
rid the world of malaria. Well,

417
00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:38.880
there you go, that's an incredibly
clear focus. It's gotten incredibly clear who

418
00:30:38.920 --> 00:30:42.599
your enemy is. It's malaria,
and you know when you win, and

419
00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:48.119
that's when malaria isn't a thing anymore. And that's incredibly competitive play. And

420
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:49.640
so your purpose lining up with that
purpose, you go, heck, yeah,

421
00:30:49.720 --> 00:30:52.880
that's what I want to play.
It's kind of like me, I

422
00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:59.240
really enjoy playing foosball and volleyball,
but basketball, forget it. That's I'm

423
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:03.480
not I don't enjoy basketball at all. So you've got to find the right

424
00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:07.319
thing for you to play at work. And if and if what you're doing

425
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:11.480
right now isn't something that you can
translate into competitive player, artistic play,

426
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:18.079
everything can be translated into pure play, I believe, But maybe it's time

427
00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:22.119
to look for a different position or
just to do some soul searching and figure

428
00:31:22.119 --> 00:31:26.559
out a way to change your your
own attitude towards your position that you're in.

429
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:32.480
One of the things though, too. You you mentioned feeling successful,

430
00:31:32.519 --> 00:31:34.119
and I want to I want to
put a little bit of nuance on that,

431
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:40.680
because everything that we do, all
three types of play, there is

432
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:44.799
success that's involved in that. But
there's also risk that's involved in that.

433
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.079
And I know we're going to talk
about risk in the third break, but

434
00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:52.200
this is actually a good intersection of
all those things, because when you're when

435
00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:57.400
you play something competitively, there's times
where you are going to lose, and

436
00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:02.559
if you never lose, you're probably
not really playing the game. If you

437
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:07.319
are an artist and you don't,
you have the only way you're going to

438
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:13.160
become world class at being an artist
is to take risks with your art.

439
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:17.039
You have to find your own voice. That's incredibly true with stand up comedy,

440
00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:22.160
which is my artistic outlet, but
that's true with whatever. You know

441
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:28.279
what, If you're the if you're
Angus Young, Angus Young plays the guitar

442
00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:32.880
in a way that Angus Young from
a CDC. It's his signature style of

443
00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:37.200
guitar playing. He's found a way
to make that his authentic voice through that.

444
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:42.400
But you're gonna have to risk by
throwing your authentic voice out there.

445
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.079
And there's going to be people who
don't like your music, or your sculpture

446
00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:49.960
or your art. And there's ways
where you're going to if you're doing all

447
00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:52.440
this stuff right, you're gonna fail. There's gonna be ways where you're gonna

448
00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:58.440
try to have some playful, subversive
things that you do at work and it's

449
00:32:58.519 --> 00:33:00.880
just not going to be funny.
It's not going to go over well,

450
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.240
or somebody's going to be offended and
you didn't intend that. And that's where

451
00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:09.680
I live all day long, because
I accidentally piss people off regularly and it's

452
00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:15.000
never my intent to. But that's
how that's the risk that I take from

453
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.480
playing at work in a pure play
kind of way. But here's the here's

454
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:23.119
the interesting thing is that I believe
that you can become incredibly engaged in what

455
00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:29.160
you're doing despite whether you are successful
at it or if you fail at it.

456
00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:31.880
Here's and here's the reason I know
this is this is absolutely the case.

457
00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:37.240
And it comes back to stand up
comedy. Stand Up comedy is a

458
00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:45.960
very very interesting a performance medium to
engage with. It has been for me,

459
00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:50.359
and it wouldn't not everyone to have
the same experience. Then let me

460
00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:53.640
explain what what's happened to me through
stand up comedy is that when I go

461
00:33:53.680 --> 00:34:00.160
on stage, either I either I
hit a home run and I feel fantastic

462
00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:04.799
and I go that was a wonderful
feeling. I want to get back up

463
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:08.679
on stage as soon as possible to
do that again and to have that,

464
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:15.440
to repeat that wonderful experience of me
expressing some things that are important to me,

465
00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:17.599
things that I find funny, and
an audience to click into that and

466
00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:22.960
to respond in the moment in an
authentic way that makes me understand that they

467
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:28.000
really are appreciating what I'm doing.
That's that's a wonderful experience. The other

468
00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:31.280
thing that happens on stage is I
go up and it's and it's horrible.

469
00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:36.039
Like I like, for whatever reason, I don't connect to the audience.

470
00:34:36.039 --> 00:34:38.239
Whether that's because I have some new
jokes that I'm trying out that don't work,

471
00:34:38.519 --> 00:34:42.760
whether that's I'm on an off night, I'm not in the right headspace.

472
00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.559
Maybe that's the fact that this audience. I just did a show last

473
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:50.639
week for an accounting firm, and
right before I get up, but like

474
00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:53.440
one of the one of the partners
of the firm, basically is yelling at

475
00:34:53.440 --> 00:35:00.119
everybody at the Christmas party to like
work harder during this major transition they're doing

476
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:01.920
in house, and I'm going that's
a horror. It's like, it's like,

477
00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:06.320
so when you guys are doing file
transfers, you can't just sit there

478
00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.119
and think that you're working. You've
got to do something else while the computer's

479
00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:13.039
jugging along. So stop screwing around
and work harder. And now welcome to

480
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:16.239
the stage. The guy who's gonna
make us laugh Greg Greg. Yeah,

481
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:22.159
exactly. And now fortunately I started
off by just basically making fun of him

482
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:25.559
when I went up there, which
also was a risk because I'm going this

483
00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:30.480
guy could maybe hate me, but
fortunately I knew that I personally know the

484
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:32.400
partner who was just up there talking, so I knew he'd take it well.

485
00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:37.719
But but you know, you can
have your audience. But here's the

486
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.639
thing that happens with stand up comedy, Like if you well one of the

487
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:44.760
one of the stories I also have. I got to open for weird Al

488
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:49.559
Yankovic to a sold out crowd of
thirty five hundred people. This was back

489
00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:52.159
in two thousand and four, I
believe, and I thought that was going

490
00:35:52.199 --> 00:35:54.960
to be my big break with stand
up comedy, was opening for weird Al

491
00:35:55.039 --> 00:36:00.159
Yankovic. And I went up there, and weird Al Yankovic sold out the

492
00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:05.880
thirty five hundred seat stadium to mostly
thirteen and fourteen year old boys who were

493
00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:10.360
dressed up as Jedis. And they
didn't really They're not really my target audience

494
00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:15.559
for this comedy that I do.
They didn't really have a concept that anyone

495
00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:19.559
was going to be at this concert
except weird Al singing his song parodies.

496
00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:22.800
So when I went up there,
I was just something that was in the

497
00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:27.159
way of them and what they were
really there for. And they hated me

498
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:32.239
at that concert and it, and
it beat me up emotionally to have that

499
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:36.760
bad of a show like it was. I felt horrible about my show.

500
00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:42.239
But but here's the thing. So
I was not successful when I opened for

501
00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:45.000
weird Al Yankovic. But what happens
to me with that as I go,

502
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:50.320
Okay, I wasn't successful. I've
got to get back up and do another

503
00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.960
show to be able to like to
like wash the funk off of me of

504
00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:57.960
this bad show. That is.
So, whether I'm successful or whether I'm

505
00:36:57.960 --> 00:37:01.800
not, it drives me back into
doing what I'm doing to be the best

506
00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:06.360
in the world at what I'm doing, to go I'm not going to lose

507
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:07.679
the next time I get up on
stage. I'm not going to have a

508
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:14.639
crappy show that sort of stuff.
And that's where you can get incredible engagement,

509
00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:17.960
regardless of whether you're actually succeeding or
whether you're failing. I know that's

510
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:22.039
the same case with sports teams.
They can go out there and they can

511
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:25.119
get their butts handed to them by
their opponent, but at the end of

512
00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:28.880
it, they can either go,
oh, we stink or you can go

513
00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:32.719
nope. This doubles my resolve next
time to go out and be amazing and

514
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:37.719
to not ever let this happen again. And when you get in that mindset,

515
00:37:37.000 --> 00:37:42.760
success or failure doesn't matter. You're
engaged. Okay, I gotta say

516
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.400
one thing to that one that's just
gorgeous what you just said. I completely

517
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:50.079
agree with that, because you know, we as human beings are meaning makers.

518
00:37:50.159 --> 00:37:52.599
We have the ability to assign the
meaning that happens for us in life.

519
00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:55.400
That's just how it goes. It
doesn't just float into us, right,

520
00:37:55.440 --> 00:38:00.360
We create that. So yes,
there are you have the ability,

521
00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:02.440
and maybe that will change over time. It depends on the situation to be

522
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:05.599
able to change your mindset, to
be able to say, Okay, I

523
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:08.679
flopped. However, I'm going to
use that to steal myself and resolve myself

524
00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:13.599
and do something different in the future. For other people, some of us

525
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:16.079
need coaches. We need help,
right, And I'm a big fan of

526
00:38:16.119 --> 00:38:20.519
having coaches, not just because I
provide that service myself, but I have

527
00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:25.000
two coaches myself who work with me, and those people help me resituate sometimes

528
00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:30.079
opportunities or challenges that let me see
it as an opportunity and not as jeez,

529
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:32.840
you know, yeah, Okay,
you're really messed up. Their cortest.

530
00:38:32.920 --> 00:38:36.400
There's no other way to frame that. You really mucked it up.

531
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:42.559
However, do you realize that there's
a whole arena of possibility that comes with

532
00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:45.880
being able to address that if you're
willing to take quote that risk, and

533
00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:49.119
we're going to talk about that next, I know, but being able to

534
00:38:49.159 --> 00:38:52.119
get to that place of mindset where
we can turn it on a dime like

535
00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:54.719
you talked about, it might take
something. It might take some outside help

536
00:38:54.760 --> 00:38:57.920
to get there. And I appreciate
when we can do it on our own,

537
00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:00.880
but sometimes we need help absolutely,
and I and the funny thing is

538
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:05.400
so again, all of these things, it's nuanced. You can't just say

539
00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:07.800
go out there and play work like
a sport because I remember when I was

540
00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:10.920
in fifth grade, I was on
the community you know, I was on

541
00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:15.800
a community baseball team and our and
it seemed like no matter what sport I

542
00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:21.719
played, my team was always like
the worst and like I was never we

543
00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.239
never went to None of my teams
ever went to state. We never did

544
00:39:24.280 --> 00:39:30.320
anything like that. And with this
baseball team that I was on in fifth

545
00:39:30.360 --> 00:39:34.079
grade, I remember feeling like it
didn't matter what position the coach put me

546
00:39:34.119 --> 00:39:37.599
in. I was horrible at it, and I didn't see a path to

547
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:40.960
getting to a point where I could
be amazing at it. And so you're

548
00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:47.559
exactly right. Competent coaching. If
you're trying to implement competitive play into your

549
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:52.519
workplace, you have to have coaching
in there because people you'll because you'll get

550
00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:58.159
the opposite. I was incredibly disengaged
as a baseball player because I just didn't

551
00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:00.880
know how to get better. And
you're going to find that and work as

552
00:40:00.920 --> 00:40:04.840
if you're trying to set up this, uh your job as though it were

553
00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:07.400
this competition. If people going I'm
never gonna win, they're totally going to

554
00:40:07.519 --> 00:40:12.199
check out, and you're going to
completely get the opposite result than what the

555
00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:15.800
opposite of. You're gonna get disengagement
if people just don't feel like they can

556
00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:19.760
get better or they can win.
That was my first year in accounting at

557
00:40:19.800 --> 00:40:22.960
the firm I was at. I
just I didn't know how to make some

558
00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.639
partners happy, and it seemed like
I constantly got pulled in and they were

559
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:30.880
telling me how you know that I
wasn't meeting their expectations. But there wasn't

560
00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:32.920
a clear path of if you do
these things, you will get better,

561
00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.079
and that made me go, I
need to get another job because life's too

562
00:40:37.159 --> 00:40:42.280
short for this one. I got
that. Okay, hold that thought.

563
00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:44.920
We're gonna go on a quick break
here, Greg, I'm Elise Cortez,

564
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:46.800
your host. We went on the
air with Greg Kite. He is the

565
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:51.599
co host of a monthly podcast and
he's also a regular blogger for the Thriveall

566
00:40:51.719 --> 00:40:55.719
CPA network and creates a biweekly cartoon
for Going Concern. You join it today

567
00:40:55.760 --> 00:41:00.440
from Provo, Utah. After the
break, we're gonna talk about intentional taking

568
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:02.000
in some of the merits that come
with that. Stay with us. We'll

569
00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:16.440
be right back. Friend us on
Facebook to keep up with what's empowering the

570
00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:23.760
world. Voice America Empowerment. Elise
Cortez is a speaker and engagement and development

571
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:30.519
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional
development, leadership and engagement workshops and can

572
00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:35.360
bring her expertise to your organization.
She will help ignite meaningful development within your

573
00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:39.559
workforce that will increase employee engagement,
performance and retention. To learn more or

574
00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:45.039
to invite a lase to speak to
your organization, please visit her at www

575
00:41:45.119 --> 00:41:49.679
dot Elise Cortez dot com. She
would welcome the opportunity to help get your

576
00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:54.039
employees working on purpose. We are
making it easier to listen to the Voice

577
00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:59.280
American Talk radio network wherever you go. In addition to listening live, you

578
00:41:59.320 --> 00:42:01.880
can check out information about your favorite
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579
00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:07.400
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580
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581
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582
00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:30.000
tune in the Voice America Mold Black
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583
00:42:30.480 --> 00:42:37.239
blackc Get inspired, encouraged and connected
on our Lively Award winning Healthy Living power

584
00:42:37.320 --> 00:42:43.719
our Star Style Be the star you
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585
00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:47.840
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586
00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:52.239
Tune into the Power Party for positive, uplifting, life changing talk radio.

587
00:42:52.519 --> 00:43:09.800
Visit Star Style Radio dot com.
Follow us on Twitter for more great ideas

588
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:23.320
at Voice America Empowerment. This is
working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To

589
00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:28.400
reach our program today, please call
in to one triple eight three four six

590
00:43:28.719 --> 00:43:32.360
nine one four one again, that's
one triple eight three four six nine one

591
00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:37.639
four one. You may also send
an email to Elise A. L i

592
00:43:37.079 --> 00:43:46.639
Se at elise Cortez dot com.
Now back to Working on Purpose. Thanks

593
00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:50.360
for staying with us, and welcome
back to Working on Purpose. If you're

594
00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:52.280
just tuning in. My guest is
Great Kite. He is the co host

595
00:43:52.360 --> 00:43:57.400
of a monthly podcast and he's a
regular blogger for the Thribal CPA network.

596
00:43:57.679 --> 00:44:00.760
He also creates a biweekly cartoon for
Going Concern. Over the last twelve years,

597
00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:04.639
he has established himself as a unique
voice in a world of stand up

598
00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:07.880
comedy. As if that weren't enough, I'm your host, Alice Cortez.

599
00:44:07.559 --> 00:44:12.360
For this last bit here, Greg, I loved the idea of talking about

600
00:44:12.400 --> 00:44:15.519
intentional risk taking and how that could
be a path to profit, passion,

601
00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:21.199
and robust corporate culture. I you
had me right there, So let's get

602
00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:23.920
into it for this last bit here, intentional risk taking. What do you

603
00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:28.800
know? Well, one of the
things I know is that I'm an accountant,

604
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:32.440
and accountants are known for being very, very risk averse as a as

605
00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:37.320
a species of human being. This
is true, yeah, absolutely, And

606
00:44:37.400 --> 00:44:40.440
so when I speak to accountants One
of the things that I like to tell

607
00:44:40.519 --> 00:44:49.360
them is that we as accountants have
we're amazing at handling change, the change

608
00:44:49.400 --> 00:44:52.159
in complexity, two things that we
do because I mean, just just today

609
00:44:52.840 --> 00:45:01.199
the both Congress passed the new tax
overhaul bill, and and what with eleven

610
00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:07.159
days left before tax season starts,
they're changing the entire framework with which we

611
00:45:07.280 --> 00:45:10.880
do our business, and we didn't
know a whole lot about it, and

612
00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:15.039
we definitely didn't know the final presentation
that until today. But we're amazing at

613
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:21.719
just handling that and rolling with it. We've got we have an incredible high

614
00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:25.280
amount of confidence of dealing with change
in complexity. What accountants don't do is

615
00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:32.440
we don't take risks. But what's
weird is that intentional risk taking is just

616
00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:37.519
self imposed change. And so when
I entered accountants, I go, we're

617
00:45:37.559 --> 00:45:43.480
amazing at handling change. Taking a
risk that isn't being rammed down your throat

618
00:45:44.039 --> 00:45:49.320
is I mean, implementing change that's
not being rammed down your throat is the

619
00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:52.280
same as taking risks. And then
I get into it with I'm like,

620
00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:58.760
why why why should we take risks
as accountants? And the three things that

621
00:45:59.079 --> 00:46:02.360
you just mentioned, those those are
the three things that I think are incredibly

622
00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:07.880
important about about taking risk, And
and the first one is the easy one,

623
00:46:08.119 --> 00:46:12.239
and it's profit. I mean,
that's just the standard. You know,

624
00:46:12.719 --> 00:46:15.840
that's almost not even noteworthy, is
that profit comes from taking risk.

625
00:46:16.119 --> 00:46:22.440
If that's why if you know penny
stocks, they're they're not very expensive because

626
00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:28.480
they're a huge risk, but if
one hits, you're doing you're doing amazing.

627
00:46:29.000 --> 00:46:32.480
So so we find that even with
pricing that the more if you're willing

628
00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:37.039
to take more risk, things are
going to be less expensive and you'll end

629
00:46:37.119 --> 00:46:40.400
up with a bigger profit when they
do hit. So that that's almost not

630
00:46:40.400 --> 00:46:45.320
not that interesting to talk about,
but it's also there because when you talk

631
00:46:45.360 --> 00:46:51.119
to accounts or anyone in business,
one of the main things that they're that

632
00:46:51.159 --> 00:46:53.920
they're trying to accomplish with their business. Not that it shouldn't be the purpose

633
00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:59.199
of the business, but it should
be a function of the businesses is to

634
00:46:59.199 --> 00:47:01.400
turn a profit for yourself and for
your shareholders. And that's only going to

635
00:47:01.480 --> 00:47:06.719
happen with risk taking. But then
some of the more interesting things that come

636
00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:14.159
out of risk taking is that risk
taking is a path towards discovering what you're

637
00:47:14.239 --> 00:47:19.079
passionate about. And we hear so
much and we read so much about how

638
00:47:19.119 --> 00:47:22.559
important it is to be pursuing the
thing, you know, pursuing your bliss,

639
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:27.320
finding those things that really make you
want to jump out of the bed

640
00:47:27.360 --> 00:47:30.239
in the morning and get going on
your day. The problem is most people

641
00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:38.239
are Most people struggle at even identifying
what they are passionate about. And what

642
00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:44.000
I've found is that if you're intentionally
taking risks, you will discover your passion.

643
00:47:44.039 --> 00:47:46.239
And here's how, and it's basically
what we just talked about before,

644
00:47:46.760 --> 00:47:51.719
was if you take a risk on
something and you fail at it, but

645
00:47:51.840 --> 00:47:55.800
you're still excited to go and do
that same thing again, you just found

646
00:47:55.880 --> 00:48:00.639
something that you're passionate about. I'm
passionate about comedy because if I kill it,

647
00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:05.440
I'm excited about doing it again.
And if I totally thank I'm excited

648
00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:08.800
about going and doing it again.
My prople obviously I want to do it

649
00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:13.119
better. But that's how I discovered
that that was something that was a passion

650
00:48:13.159 --> 00:48:17.119
of mine. So if someone has
difficulty identifying their passion, they need to

651
00:48:17.159 --> 00:48:21.920
start trying things. They need to
start taking these risks. And if you

652
00:48:22.039 --> 00:48:23.639
take a risk and you fail at
it, but you still are like,

653
00:48:23.719 --> 00:48:28.440
I gotta go do that again.
You're on the path of finding what you're

654
00:48:28.440 --> 00:48:30.599
passionate about. Oh my gosh,
hold on, Greg, hold on,

655
00:48:30.760 --> 00:48:35.719
hold the phone. Really great because
I hear it all the time that that

656
00:48:35.840 --> 00:48:38.119
was stellar advice. Greig. My
listeners asked me all the time. At

657
00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:40.400
least, how in the world I
want to find my purpose? How do

658
00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:44.159
I do it? Well? Trying
new things? That makes a lot of

659
00:48:44.199 --> 00:48:47.440
sense. And if if along the
way of trying those things that they don't

660
00:48:47.480 --> 00:48:51.400
quite get it, but they recognize
they want to go after it again that

661
00:48:51.840 --> 00:48:55.119
there's something there. They hit a
vein. You have really isolated something that

662
00:48:55.239 --> 00:48:59.880
is yummy and gorgeous for our listeners. Thank you for that, right well,

663
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:01.519
And i'd want to and I'd want
to make a very clear caveat because

664
00:49:01.800 --> 00:49:07.079
to what you said, it's not
I think I mean it's it's a caveat,

665
00:49:07.159 --> 00:49:09.400
or at least it's a different texture
to what you just said, because

666
00:49:09.440 --> 00:49:14.639
I don't think it's just trying new
things. I think it's you pushing yourself

667
00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:19.000
outside of what's comfortable. Because I
could go and I could, you know,

668
00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:22.360
I could try that I could try
the donut at the bakery that I've

669
00:49:22.400 --> 00:49:27.400
never tried before, but that's not
that's not that's not the same thing.

670
00:49:27.519 --> 00:49:30.280
I need to When you're when you're
on the hunt for passion, you've got

671
00:49:30.280 --> 00:49:34.599
to do things that are making you
uncomfortable. You're gonna go this is kind

672
00:49:34.639 --> 00:49:37.760
of stupid, this is kind of
this is this, this even makes me

673
00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:43.280
feel foolish that I'm going at that's
go to go try that. And if

674
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:45.000
after making a fool of yourself,
you're like, I could do that again,

675
00:49:45.320 --> 00:49:49.480
then you then you did it.
You found it. You found something

676
00:49:49.920 --> 00:49:53.920
that's gonna that's that's that's right there
for you. With passion, that lines

677
00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:58.119
up with your purpose, your meaning, all that stuff. It all folds

678
00:49:58.159 --> 00:50:00.800
together. When you take a risk
and you fail, but you want to

679
00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:06.320
get back up on that horse again
because because something about it speaks to to

680
00:50:06.519 --> 00:50:08.280
the core of who you are.
I love it. Okay, go out

681
00:50:08.320 --> 00:50:10.760
of your comfort zone. Thank you
for that. The donor's example was fantastic

682
00:50:10.760 --> 00:50:13.920
because you're right, on any given
day, we could probably get a donut.

683
00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:16.440
You're right, okay, got it. Thank you. It's got to

684
00:50:16.480 --> 00:50:20.280
make you uncomfortable because and that's that's
the risk. It's not you know,

685
00:50:20.400 --> 00:50:23.239
and I'd say, you know,
don't well, I'd say, don't you

686
00:50:23.280 --> 00:50:28.039
know, don't take risks that are
maybe going to you know, you've got

687
00:50:28.119 --> 00:50:31.760
you've got to choose the right risk
as well. But at the same time,

688
00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:35.639
you know, and that's the other
thing. I just spoke with a

689
00:50:35.679 --> 00:50:39.119
guy and he was like, you
know what, in our age with the

690
00:50:39.159 --> 00:50:45.800
Internet and social media, you can
monetize any passion that you have. It

691
00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:50.320
might not be something that you get
to immediately, but if you're consistently putting

692
00:50:50.320 --> 00:50:53.960
out content related to whatever you're passionate
about, you're going to find the other

693
00:50:54.000 --> 00:50:58.760
people in the world who are passionate
about that as well, and they will

694
00:50:58.840 --> 00:51:04.239
pay to hear you talk about your
passion that you share with them. So

695
00:51:05.320 --> 00:51:08.039
it's possible to turn anything. Even
though if you go there's no way anybody's

696
00:51:08.079 --> 00:51:12.119
going to pay me for this,
that you're wrong, people will you got

697
00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:15.039
to You got to just be consistent
with your content creation around that thing you're

698
00:51:15.039 --> 00:51:20.559
passionate about now, because I know
that our hour has whipped by most it.

699
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:23.400
Then the other thing that risk taking
can do is it can help you

700
00:51:23.480 --> 00:51:30.079
build a robust corporate culture and here's
what and this is also the way to

701
00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:37.239
structure risk so that it's so that's
a no fail risk. Like if you

702
00:51:37.280 --> 00:51:42.519
succeed, great, If you fail, that's actually also great. And what

703
00:51:42.559 --> 00:51:45.840
it is is if is you got
to look at your core If you go

704
00:51:45.920 --> 00:51:52.480
to your company, hopefully you've already
done the job of trying to identify your

705
00:51:52.519 --> 00:51:55.840
core values as a company. And
if you've got a list of core values,

706
00:51:57.079 --> 00:51:59.559
you need to go through there and
go, do I have a story

707
00:52:00.119 --> 00:52:02.599
that backs up every single one of
these core values? Because if you don't

708
00:52:02.639 --> 00:52:08.079
have a story where you have you
where you have risked something based on those

709
00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:13.000
core values, then I call BS
and that's not really a core value.

710
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:19.400
Like, for instance, if you
say that your company a core value is

711
00:52:19.960 --> 00:52:24.039
being incredibly ethical with everything that you
do in all your business dealings, that

712
00:52:24.159 --> 00:52:27.920
you are an ethical company, and
that's a core value to you, I

713
00:52:27.960 --> 00:52:31.400
would say, tell me a story
of the time where you did you have

714
00:52:31.440 --> 00:52:37.039
you ever fired a client because you
thought that client might be doing something that's

715
00:52:37.199 --> 00:52:40.159
that's uh, you know, below
board. Do you think that did you

716
00:52:40.199 --> 00:52:45.280
fire somebody just because you're like going, they're not maybe doing anything illegal?

717
00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:47.719
But we just don't feel comfortable with
them. I want to know a story

718
00:52:47.800 --> 00:52:54.159
about how you you are, how
you risk you how you intentionally gave something

719
00:52:54.280 --> 00:53:00.800
up because because you because you're so
committed to that core value, So taking

720
00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:06.039
risks that are based on your core
values, any risk that you take,

721
00:53:06.639 --> 00:53:08.360
or you could say, hey,
I risked with this core value, but

722
00:53:08.400 --> 00:53:12.760
we totally that launched us into a
whole new thing and we ended up winning.

723
00:53:12.800 --> 00:53:15.519
I want to hear those stories as
well. Every single core value that

724
00:53:15.559 --> 00:53:19.840
you have, you should be thinking, how am I taking a risk for

725
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:22.840
that? If innovation is a core
value that you have, how are you

726
00:53:22.960 --> 00:53:28.039
risking on innovation? Are you still
playing with scared Are you still like a

727
00:53:28.119 --> 00:53:30.559
startup who's going we got these big
ideas and we're going to throw it out

728
00:53:30.559 --> 00:53:34.119
there and see if we hit a
home run? Or are you starting to

729
00:53:34.119 --> 00:53:37.000
play with scared money where you're going, well, we're only going to really

730
00:53:37.039 --> 00:53:40.239
throw out something new if we have
focus grouped it and if we've if we've

731
00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:43.880
gotten to the point where we're sure
where it's gonna. I mean, those

732
00:53:43.920 --> 00:53:46.280
things are good, but I want
to I want to see how you're risking

733
00:53:46.719 --> 00:53:51.360
to be an innovative company, because
that's going to turn me on. And

734
00:53:51.440 --> 00:53:53.760
that's how you that's how you go. If you want to have an ethical

735
00:53:53.800 --> 00:53:59.440
company, tell all your people about
how you fired your biggest client because you

736
00:53:59.480 --> 00:54:01.559
were worried that they weren't being ethical
and what they were doing and you didn't

737
00:54:01.599 --> 00:54:07.079
want to be associated with an unethical
company. That's a culture that you just

738
00:54:07.280 --> 00:54:12.199
built in a powerful way by taking
a risk by firing them, because that's

739
00:54:12.199 --> 00:54:15.039
a you risk. They're your biggest
I mean, even if they're not your

740
00:54:15.039 --> 00:54:19.079
biggest client. If you fire a
client, that's revenue that you just kissed

741
00:54:19.079 --> 00:54:23.159
goodbye to stand by your principles.
So again you're if you if you are

742
00:54:23.320 --> 00:54:29.719
risking based on your core values,
that's how you really create those turn those

743
00:54:29.760 --> 00:54:34.039
core values from a document that you
put on a wall that people kind of

744
00:54:34.079 --> 00:54:37.639
look at every now and then to
something that's vibrant and robust and is really

745
00:54:37.679 --> 00:54:42.559
what your company's all about. Oh
my gosh, Greg, that was gorgeous,

746
00:54:42.840 --> 00:54:45.840
really gorgeous. Great points. And
here we are close to the end

747
00:54:45.880 --> 00:54:49.480
of the show here and I'd like
to give you the last word as you

748
00:54:49.639 --> 00:54:52.800
as you probably know, so in
say thirty to forty five seconds. What

749
00:54:52.840 --> 00:54:57.400
do you want to leave our listeners
with today? I think what I'd want

750
00:54:57.400 --> 00:55:01.760
to do is that I want to
I guess i'd want to encourage people in

751
00:55:01.800 --> 00:55:07.760
the area of pure play. And
there's a few ways that people can engage

752
00:55:07.760 --> 00:55:12.400
in pure play at work. So
first thing, there's three things that I

753
00:55:12.440 --> 00:55:17.559
think you need to implement pure play
in a very engaging way at work.

754
00:55:17.599 --> 00:55:22.239
First, as, you need courage, because if you're going to be doing

755
00:55:22.280 --> 00:55:27.840
something where you're kind of screwing around
at work, it's it's it's a it's

756
00:55:27.840 --> 00:55:30.599
a challenge that you may fail,
and you have to have the courage to

757
00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:34.360
do that. The other thing is
you need you need courage. You also

758
00:55:34.400 --> 00:55:39.159
need creativity because I've also done improv
comedy, and we talk about improv comedy

759
00:55:39.480 --> 00:55:44.920
finding the game within the game.
So it's like there's a particular goal you're

760
00:55:44.920 --> 00:55:49.639
trying to get to as a company. Seconds to have fun with that while

761
00:55:49.639 --> 00:55:52.440
you're pursuing that goal. So sorry, and I just spoke over what did

762
00:55:52.440 --> 00:55:55.599
you say that I missed? I
said, just you got ten seconds,

763
00:55:57.039 --> 00:56:00.599
okay. And then you also need
to be a little subversive, So you've

764
00:56:00.639 --> 00:56:02.280
got to you've got to be well, not where you're trying to throw over

765
00:56:02.360 --> 00:56:07.199
the you know you're trying to tank
your company. But it's pure play.

766
00:56:07.320 --> 00:56:10.159
There's a there's kind of an impishness
to pure place. If you've got courage,

767
00:56:10.199 --> 00:56:15.000
creativity, and just the right amount
of subversiveness, that's how you're gonna

768
00:56:15.079 --> 00:56:17.360
that's how you're going to implement that
pure play at work. Wait to finish,

769
00:56:17.360 --> 00:56:20.880
Greg, I thank you so much
for being my guest. I've thoroughly

770
00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:22.960
enjoyed you and I'm so glad our
passive crossed you will beat my life for

771
00:56:22.960 --> 00:56:27.159
a while. Thank you for being
with me. Thank you for having you

772
00:56:27.239 --> 00:56:30.159
with the Blast. So if you
want to learn more about Greg Kite and

773
00:56:30.199 --> 00:56:32.400
all he's up to, there's much
go to his website. It's Greg Kite

774
00:56:32.559 --> 00:56:37.960
dot com. That's g r E
g k y t E. And we'll

775
00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:40.599
be on the air next week.
We're another nourishing conversation. Catch us in

776
00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:44.400
and remember that work is at least
one day of our lives, So let's

777
00:56:44.400 --> 00:56:53.039
work on purpose. We hope you've
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to

778
00:56:53.079 --> 00:56:59.000
tune into Working on Purpose featuring your
host A last Cortez, every Wednesday at

779
00:56:59.000 --> 00:57:02.760
six pm Eastern time, preep on
Pacific time on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

780
00:57:04.159 --> 00:57:06.880
This week, find your life's purpose
at work