Consideraciones finales

“Probably the reason I started is—I thought that it was money. But no, it’s really not. It’s just one of the things you can score yourself on.” Marcus’ pragmatism leads him to focus on activities that will result in meaningful reward. In order to achieve meaningful reward, Marcus sets goals. Across time Marcus has

developed a broader range of goals. A goal is of more interest to Marcus if it is challenging and requires that he learn and adapt in order to achieve the goal. The reason for this is that Marcus finds the process of self-development very rewarding. I define self-development as

139 a process of change, where one begins to experience one’s life differently; or where one is caused to grow, or mature. For Marcus, the process of striving and self-development is more rewarding than achieving the goal: “Yeah, I don’t know whether it, like, you know … once the goal is achieved and I’ve kind of learned [shrugs]. I suppose that the hard yards are actually done when you’re at the bottom of the pile and you’re scrapping51; that’s where the hard work is done. Once you’ve convinced yourself that it can be done and you’re literally on the way there [shrugs]. When you finally achieve it, um, you’ve kind of moved on from there already.” Marcus pursues both internal and external reward: (1) internal reward, being inward or internal return that is gained as a result of the work done (such as positive emotion), and; (2) external reward, being external recompense or return that is gained as a result of the work done (such as economic gain).

However, it is internal reward that is more important to Marcus. While external reward in the form of validation from people “close” to him is experienced as somewhat rewarding for Marcus, it is his own assessment of his development that determines his perceptions of success: “It’s definitely internal for me. Yeah. I know the truth, you know? And the truth is something that only you know and someone else’s opinion—it’s just their opinion and they don’t really know what you went through. Well maybe people close to you do and that’s nice, but they’re really the only ones that have got the authority to say ‘well done’, or, ‘you lucky bastard, you just fluked that didn’t you [laughs]?’ Because sometimes you can just fluke something and everyone tells you how wonderful you are and you think what a lot of shit [laughs].” Another form of internal reward that Marcus values is positive emotion in the form of satisfaction brought by the “blood, sweat and tears” of “making it happen.” Marcus’ ability to focus on self-development, accept new ideas, and put them into practice has turned his need for learning from a potential weakness to a personal strength: “I think I’ve come full circle on that. But I definitely have to keep learning. I definitely have to keep learning [stated emphatically]. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing in itself anymore.” Marcus experiences self-development as transformative. The self-development process means that Marcus is, in many respects, a different entrepreneur today than he was at the beginning of his career.

This process of transformation is rewarding for Marcus: “I come out the other end different; for the better. It’s literally transformative. And there’s no way you can really do that, no way you can really learn like that without going through a transformational process

140 I think. Yeah. Transformation, that’s a big one.” Marcus pursues external rewards that are tangible or measurable and that validate his process of self-development. Marcus pursues external reward primarily through business and social development. Business development is perceived, by Marcus, as symbiotic with self-development: “Business and life, they’re not separate; they’re actually the same thing.” External business development measures such as profit, asset value, new contracts, successful prototypes and positive client feedback provide Marcus with validation. Marcus uses these rewards to assure him that he is “on the right track”, but also to reassure his partners that progress is being achieved: “Achieving a measurable goal confirms to me that I’m not a complete dreamer and the pain and

heartache was actually worth it in the end. But it’s especially helpful when dealing with other people to demonstrate that we are making progress.” Marcus is less interested in external rewards that subject him to external judgement such as business awards and community recognition as he perceives these as, largely, irrelevant: “Sometimes it can take two, three, four, five years before other people go ‘wow, well done, you did so well’ and you’re, like, ‘mate, I’ve moved on [laughs]. Sorry, and well, thanks, that’s nice, but I’m kind of on another mission now’, so” [gestures/hands up].

Conversely, the social development of those close to him is very rewarding for Marcus. Family is very important to Marcus and, in recent times, he and his wife have made the commitment to assist Marcus’ parents to prepare for retirement. Marcus’ parents want to ensure that their business continues and have found it difficult to contemplate selling. Marcus and his wife have become shareholders in the nursery, and Marcus’ wife is taking a role in its management. Although this was not originally in Marcus’ plan it is the reward Marcus experiences in participating in the development of a meaningful future for his parents that has driven his decision-making: “When I’m helping my Dad with his business— the goal is to have the business so it can run autonomously without him and he can be involved as much or as little as he likes until the day he dies—I can already see and feel the satisfaction it will give him in twenty years’ time. I can see [Dad] with a big smile on his face while he looks at the latest quarterly results for his business. Or, him with his walking stick helping out in the callusing room; talking with a handpicked young, smart horticulture graduate he is helping to teach the ropes and who’s study has been sponsored one hundred percent by Dad’s business.”

Marcus also experiences internal reward through applying what he has learned to assist the self-development process his father is undertaking: “With the nursery business, we’re

141 actually going through the E. Myth coaching again with that. So I’m there as somebody who’s already been through it before, watching and helping the coach on the other end of the line.” Marcus enjoys sharing his learning with his parents and being a part of their everyday development process: “It’s pretty unusual to do that with your parents in a business, but we got to the self-organisation part of the course which was so important in the transformation of me and I could see the same thing going on in my Dad’s head. It was bizarre. And that was cool, yeah, it was really cool. I was like, come into my office and I’ll show you. So I had my Mum and Dad [laughs] in my office having a look at my filing cabinet and how I do my Outlook calendar and how I plan my day and things like that.” Similarly, Marcus finds the development of his employees rewarding and has focused on improving his own skill set in promoting this area. At times this has been challenging: “I had a big realisation. I was running the vineyards and I went to a course. I realised that I was a shit manager [shakes head/frustrated]. I thought I was good but….” Marcus’ business was profitable but it had high staff turnover.

Marcus decided to find out what he was doing wrong. He went out to work with his teams in the vineyards: “They didn’t know who I was and I’d never wear a tie or anything. I’d just walk around in ripped clothes and whatever. I’d start pruning with them and they’d be like, ‘oh this guy’s a shit’, you know? And I thought, oh, somehow I’ve gotta change this.” Marcus began to apply what he had learned on his course by allowing his team leaders more freedom to self-manage. The experience was very rewarding for Marcus: “I stopped trying to tell them how to run the vineyard and instead encouraged them to get their teams involved in running the vineyards. They came back to me with their plan and rather than doing what I normally would do which would be, ‘Oh, I don’t think that’s gonna work’ I just said, ‘yep, that’s cool, are you happy with this? The team’s on board? Right, let’s have a go’. And it was amazing. The best thing I could’ve done was get the fuck outa there and let them run their own vineyard. That was just amazing and it was just so cool to see. I realised that someone who runs a company that thinks they’re the only smart one, that they’re the only ones that can come up with the bright ideas and that they’re the only ones that can tell people what to do—is an idiot [laughs]. And that was what I was.”

Marcus’ experience in opening himself to the potential of others and taking a role in their development has transformed his perspective. A particularly rewarding example for

142 Marcus is Eddie52 who suffers from anxiety and, at forty years old, had struggled with employment. Due to Eddie’s anxiety and history Marcus was reluctant to employ him in roles involving responsibility. However, when Eddie volunteered for a key role—with the support of the team—Marcus decided to “give it a go”: “I thought, shit, it’s a big job for Eddie, but he kicked its arse, absolutely nailed it53. And, it was just so awesome to watch him in his element, doing his own thing. Here’s a guy that everyone else had written off, including me, just absolutely nailing it. Eddie’s achievement helped Marcus understand how important it is to support his employees to find their own way to their potential: It shows you that if someone’s prepared, who’s got the balls54 to stick their hand up and say I want to do it that’s a very powerful thing, a very, very powerful thing. Because it’s them telling you that they want to do it, not you telling them. It’s a completely different equation.”

5. Being valuable—an ideal but temporary state where I am validated in the belief that I am being valuable.

“… they can bring more value to the world again and again.”

While facing judgement or critique, either positive or negative, from the wider community is not of interest to Marcus, he retains a focus on creating wider value by being aware of his actions and influence and their long term effects. To Marcus the process of learning

inevitably leads to betterment as that is the goal: “The crazy thing is that I guess for me the satisfaction comes from the learning process, which is cool. And then at the end of the learning process the result is inevitable.” Whether he is helping his parents to transition to their next life stage, assisting vineyard managers to cope with their “bloody tough job”, or focusing on Eddie’s achievements Marcus derives satisfaction from envisioning ways to be valuable, enacting them, and then quietly watching from the side-lines as things improve. Marcus’ wider social contribution is perhaps best described as subtle.

“I like the idea that if a person sits under the cool shade of a tree today; someone had to have the vision, investment capital, risk, sweat, blisters and nurturing work to purchase, plant and establish that tree ten plus

52

The name “Joy” is a pseudonym and an effort has been made to protect Joy’s identity by limiting information in relation to her business. I acknowledge this may cause some discomfort to the reader. Due to ethical considerations I have prioritised the stated wishes of the participant.

53

“Nailed it” refers to doing something extremely well.

143 years ago. The payback is the shade on a hot day summers day, but the

true investment and vision, blood, sweat, and tears required to create that payback has been long since forgotten.

The reward for the person that planted the tree is really their own personal satisfaction that they made a difference, and they got to learn about how to plant and nurture a young tree so they can bring more value to the world again and again. Without the ability to fast forward your mind and imagine the satisfaction of the people enjoying the shady tree on a hot day you probably wouldn’t have made the effort in the first place. By the time the acknowledgement comes from others I have already taken the satisfaction from their reaction in advance and in many cases the real thing is not as powerful as it was in my own head. In fact I’ve had

experiences when I’ve thought to myself, these guys are just being patronising.

But if the old wise grandfather of the kids that were enjoying the shade of the tree came up to me and casually struck up a conversation (not

knowing who I was) and said ‘wow whoever had the foresight and vision to plant that amazing tree right there ten years ago was a smart and generous person, we need more people like that in this world’. It would be the best compliment because it was real and one hundred percent

uncorrupted.”

144 Case Study Six - Reluctant Joy

Synopsis

Joy is an emerging entrepreneur who, the first time we spoke, had just taken over her first business. Soon after, Joy joined this study as a case study participant. Joy’s father was employed in the armed services and Joy’s family has lived in many different places in New Zealand for up to two years in each place. This led, according to Joy, to a close family bond. It was, in part, this bond that led to Joy taking a shareholding and the leadership role in her first business. For Joy, being of value to her family was an important part of her decision. Equally important was Joy’s need for challenge and self-development: “I was bored by the particular role I held. The tone and approach at the PHO55 in particular was incredibly restrictive. Having such confines and not having any space to move; having such a set routine that you become content with what you’re doing—there’s no drive.” Taking

leadership and ownership in the business placed Joy in a situation where she could strive to achieve and where she could potentially fail. The discomfort of being caught between the potential for self-development and her fear of failure, leads Joy to refer to herself as “the reluctant entrepreneur”: “I definitely have a combination of reluctance, fear and excitement about the unknown.”

Neither Joy, nor her family members, had previous business leadership experience: “That’s been a big challenge and I think it would be different for somebody who was brought up in a business. You’d inherit some knowledge, absorb as you go and feel more natural. But we’ve, as a family, not come from a business background.” On purchasing the business together the intention was that Joy and her brother would take active roles in the business. Overall strategic leadership would be Joy’s role, her brother would cover day to day

production operations and Joy’s mother and father would take on support roles. However, Joy’s grandmother became very ill shortly after the takeover of the business requiring care at home until she passed away. This was stressful and consuming for Joy’s mother and father. In addition, Joy’s brother’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and he made the decision to locate to a different city to be near his wife’s family: “My brother has based himself in [another city]. His wife’s family are up there and so they have decided to be close to them. As a result, [his] role is much more limited than the original intention was.”

145 Due to the changes in her family’s commitments Joy took on both the strategic leadership and operational management of the business as well as administrative work; a much larger workload than anticipated. However, these were not the only unanticipated challenges to arise in Joy’s first year of business leadership: “We had a bit of a baptism of fire in our first six months because, as well as the family stuff, there were lots of earthquakes.” Joy was not just contending with structural damage and pump failures caused by earthquakes; in addition the business was damaged by a wind storm and this was slow to repair due to issues with contractors: “When our roof blew off they were one of the reasons that our repairs didn’t happen straight away.” Unfortunately, Joy also found that her new

employees were not receptive to the change in the ownership of the business: “At the time I was still learning about the business, learning how the industry works and learning about my staff. Oh god [rolls eyes and slumps down in her chair]. Oh god. A so much bigger problem than I thought it would be.”

Despite these distractions Joy had already identified problems with the processes and market approach of her business and was feeling frustrated with these. Suffering a lack of support and almost overwhelmed by employee issues, Joy decided to reach out for external support to assist her to prepare her business for change. Joy engaged a business mentor