I went to the grocery store at around eleven o’clock last night. Wearing my Arizona basketball jersey, I stood in line annoyed at yet another first round exit from the March Madness tournament.  A Sun Devil fan walked by in a t-shirt with that horrid yellow color, which to Wildcat fans, has the same effect the color red does on a raging bull. My matador smirked at the sight on my jersey, smugly walking by to let me know his side of the rivalry won this round.   I hate what UofA basketball has become.  I’ve come up with five tips, all of which could be applied to the workplace if you so choose, for the Wildcats to consider if they want to keep that twenty-three straight seasons of postseason appearances alive next year.

1)  We all know about the candidate, player, or recruit with the perfect credentials.  Degree from Harvard, 4.0 GPA, quick first step, a McDonald’s all American.  Very rarely do these types of people have the impact on an organization or team that you’d like them to.  They are the individualistic and/or egotistical that play for the “I” in team. 

Tip: Make them (aka Jerryd Bayless) humble.  Don’t allow them to put themselves on their own pedestal.  Teach them how to play as a part of the team, and don’t allow them to play until they learn that lesson.   

2)  To be successful in any organization you need a leader with a vision.  A vision gets everyone on the same page.  A leader empowers others to work towards that vision.

If a leader kinda has a vision, or if they are leading with the mindset they just want to get by without making any mistakes so they can really get em next year, then they will never be able to lead others.  

Tip: Find a new leader (aka head coach. Sorry Kevin)

3)  Companies pride themselves on culture.  The culture of an organization can greatly enhance, or severely hinder people in their success.  If the culture of a company relies on name or buzzwords alone, that is not culture.  A culture exists within each and every person that operates in an organization.  

Tip: Just because the name Arizona is labeled across the chest of every jersey does not mean other teams fear you.  If anything, it fires them up.  Opposing teams can sense the lack of heart and leadership within the culture, and know that if they are able to bring just one person with heart or talent down (Fendi, Jordan Hill, Nic Wise) the rest of the culture will crumble.  Build a new selfless culture that puts emphasis on the word “team.”  Maybe have everyone write “I will play as a team” a thousand times on the blackboard.

4)  An organization cannot exist without clear communication.  Especially when that communication is coming from the top.  This year Lute Olson temporarily resigned, then resigned, then was coming back, then wasn’t.  It left the team in limbo all year.   

Tip: Lute, I love you.  I don’t know what happened this year, but I hope that you communicated with your team, because it didn’t look like they were ever on the same page.

5) Life deals all types of things that are unfair.  Things we don’t agree with.  Things we would dispute.  But it all comes down to the same thing: you have to deal with it.  

Tip: So what if the ref didn’t call a foul.  Maybe it was a block instead of a charge.  Control what you can control.  Shut up and play.

You should not be happy with yourselves as a collective whole right now Zona.  The committee put you in the tournament instead of the Sun Devils (who deserved it more, btw) and you did not give them any reason why they should let you in next year.  There’s a lot of work to do.   

Have a good off-season, gentleman.

I have been a fan of Kahlil Gibran since I first picked up the Prophet at age sixteen. Every once in awhile I pick up the book and flip through its pages. Yesterday I landed on “Reason and Passion.”

Here’s the opening passage on the topic:

“And the priestess spoke again and said: speak to us of Reason and Passion.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

That last line sums up the last year of my life. Reason (aka my risk averse accounting job), was my force that confined. My passion (aka the four month tour that I dreamt about executing for a year and a half) was unquestioned by anyone. Therefore, as the trip progressed, the end goal that I had in mind (a resource for people to turn to for career guidance) fell short of my expectations because it was driven by passion alone.

Which puts me in a unique situation now, proceeding forth with a book and documentary. If our crew approaches it with reason and executes with passion, I believe that we have the rudder and sails to lead us to land.

But for now, we’re at mid-sea.

Today is my birthday. I turned 23. I’m celebrating it in Nashville, Tennessee.

I got to thinking about how crazy my life has been over the last year, touring the country and what not.

To sum it up, last year I celebrated my 22nd birthday trapped in a cubicle, secluded from life, isolated with a computer and a calculator. Only one co-worker wished me a happy birthday. It was depressing.

Now I’m in a RV, reaching out to life, using a computer to reach out to others. The calculator still keeps me in check. And only my girlfriend and mom have wished me a happy birthday, so if you want, comment below and tell me what you wish.

As I write this, I am sitting on a couch with four girls at the University of Delaware. The RV is parked outside in their driveway, sticking out ever so slightly in the street and edging up against the gutter of Klondike Kate’s, the restaurant in which we just devoured three orders of nachos with five other female students.

Life is good.

We spoke to an entrepreneurship class of fifty-five students tonight. Considering that we wrote most of the presentation at 2am in a bar last night in Philadelphia with two professional hula hoopers, it could not have gone better.

Walking towards Alfred Lerner Hall with Jay and Zach, about to deliver our unrehearsed, soon to be improvised “speech,” I asked the guys what moment they were more scared of. Was it this moment, just minutes before facing a room full of our peers to see what the response was to a project we’d devoted the last three months to? Or was it when we were about to enter the Sheridan Correctional Facility to sit amongst a hundred prisoners and listen to an AA motivational speaker.

The unanimous answer was this moment.

Inside the classroom we had some technical difficulties that delayed our presentation ten minutes, nearly forcing us to deliver our message without the aid of pretty pictures on powerpoint. We finally prevailed and opened by showing our introductory video, which can be seen below.

As we got into the core of our story, we all became more confident in what we said. It was the first time we had shared it in a public setting. And it felt good. Jay shared stories about Class Project, living on my couch for two months, and group dynamics. Noah talked about how funny it was that a Spanish linguistics and creative writing major was standing in front of a business class, sharing entrepreneurial lessons gleaned from the road. Zach’s naturally beautiful voice put the class at ease as he talked about how the students sitting before us should take advantage of every opportunity in school. I just tried to speak from the heart.

An hour and thirty minutes later we had students in the RV signing our ceiling and talking to us about how energizing it was to have four guys their age talking about issues on their mind. Questions that had not been shared in class came pouring out as we talked with students one on one. All the fears that we had going into the class, and even at the conclusion of the presentation, were relieved after seeing the jubilant reaction of the students.

The fifteen minute break the professor allotted the students to come chill with us came and went, students scurried back to their class, and we left with Noah’s long lost cousin and her two friends.

It was a good thing we were a part of last night, and I’m down to do it again.

Yesterday I came across Whitney Johnson’s “Dare to Dream” blog. She had an interesting point on one of her posts that said, “for all your readers know, you may be daring them to dream, without having dreamt yourself.”

This quote frightened me. I’m scared that you, the reader, think that I, the author, am just some 22 year old kid telling you to follow your dreams. I am going to share with you how, and why, I am pursuing the passion so you do not get the wrong impression of this site.

My Story:

I chose accounting when I was deciding what my major should be in college. My step dad told me that accountants made the most money and had the most opportunity out of school, and since I was insecure and money driven at that point, I chose accounting.

I never planned on being accountant, but that was the path I was led down by default. All of my classmates either were continuing their accounting education by obtaining their masters degree, or were accepting offers at Big 4 firms for fifty thousand dollar salaries in the fall semester of 2005. I was stuck in the middle. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

I had twenty interviews with potential employers that fall semester, and one thing became apparent. Not everyone had it figured out.

But that damn question of “what should I do with my life” lingered over the heads of everyone I talked to in the interview waiting rooms. Even after I accepted an offer with an accounting firm that fall, that question still remained on my mind.

In my very last interview, I got this funny feeling. I was overcome with fear that this would be my last interview. As I watched my interviewer ramble on and on about how much she loved her job, I realized that I liked interviews. I discovered that I liked interviews because I liked people. And what I enjoyed most about people was talking with them about their passion.

I went home that night and thought about what I would do during the summer between graduation day and my official start date in Corporate America. I got out a pen and paper and jotted down the things I wanted to do. I wanted to travel. I wanted to be close to sports. I wanted to better myself. Most of all, I wanted to continue having the feeling I had when I talked with people about their passion.

These desires that I wrote down is what you now see with Pursue the Passion. The RV came as a necessity because we had nowhere to stay, and I actually thought that when I bought Maggie Miracles (the first RV), that I was making a sound investment. Three hours into the first trip, broken down with green liquid spewing from the engine, I quickly realized that it had not been such a financial savvy decision.

That summer I interviewed 75 amazing people. I traveled 10,000 miles by RV, my mom’s 4Runner, plane, and train for 2 months. I went to places like Nike, Microsoft, Playboy, many sports stadiums, the homes of welcoming strangers, and cities I had only read about. It was the time of my life.

The summer also had an inadvertent effect on my Corporate America experience. It completely soured it before I even stepped in the door. I knew, that after being exposed to all different occupations and possibilities, that I had made the wrong choice to go into accounting. I was selling out by going into a secure, stable, well-paid position because it just wasn’t me. But because I was contractually obligated to show up on September 4th, I was going to show up on September 4th.

On August 23rd, two weeks before my anticipated start date, I reported to a “real job.” The corporate lifestyle benefits came throughout the week, ranging from extravagant lunches to all types of corporate goodies. I temporarily forgot about all that I had gained and gleaned during the summer.

But as the months passed, I began to revisit the advice that was given to me. I began to write a book about the pursuit of a passion, despite not working with a passion myself. This was troublesome to me, and even more so as I continued to receive emails from people around the world who were inspired by this site.

I felt not only like a corporate sellout, but also a hypocrite. I thought to myself, “how can I have a site that says to pursue your passion when I’m not pursuing it myself?”

I guess that was my “aha” moment where I said to hell with this. I started to get by on a PB & J diet, sacrificed Saturday nights, and saved up so I could go on a second PTP tour. I sent out over twenty carefully crafted sponsorship proposals to corporations, schools, and small businesses to see if they’d be interested in sponsoring the tour. No luck.

One day I received an email from the boss saying that she wanted to see me. I made the decision that it was now or never for me. It was time to quit the job I despised.

I walked into the office belonging to my boss at the scheduled time on the scheduled date with my heart pounding and my roommate’s co-worker’s resume. My boss was seated on the other side of the desk with two envelopes. Much like a classic western gunfight, I drew first. I quit. BAM!

I left the two envelopes on the table, one containing a raise, the other a bonus, and said goodbye to steady paychecks and corporate security.

With no paycheck, I scrambled to get by. I hired my friend Jay, who graduated in December with a college degree and is now on the tour, and paid him minimum wage to help me get things in line with the Pursue the Passion tour. He crashed on my couch, and we ate free Hot Pockets and Stouffer’s products, given to us by Nestle, until we couldn’t take the taste anymore.

Every day I would rise at 5am, wake Jay up at 8am, and we’d work until 9pm or 10pm. Then we’d bounce back the next day, looking for sponsors, passionate people to interview, and couches to crash on.

It wasn’t until I focused all my time on Pursue the Passion did I start to see results. After all those hours of writing sponsorship proposals, we found a sponsor in Jobing.com right in our own backyard. We went from having four people visit the site a day to an average of two hundred people per day. We made a pact not to eat Hot Pockets again.

Things started to click and hit full stride come July 1st, the official start of the second Pursue the Passion tour.

We’ve been on the road for over a month now, pursuing our passion, and the question that I frequently receive is “so, are you any closer to finding out what you want to do yet? What you going to do after this?”

People don’t realize that I am a passion pursuer and a crazy entrepreneur that will not stop until the bank account says zero. My goal is to turn this website into a resource that will help people who are in the same situations I found myself in as a student, and in the working world.

I am whole heartedly and no longer hypocritically pursuing my passion, and I invite you to join the journey as well.

What’s been the highlight of the trip? It’s a question I frequently receive, and it’s one I frequently struggle to answer.

About six months ago, when I was persisting to get this idea off of the ground, a community member at StartupNation offered the advice that the passion is the pursuit.

He couldn’t have been more dead on.

I could point to Seattle and say that it is a highlight. The highlight could be appearing on TV. Meeting thousands of new people, creating something that matters, cruising in a bad ass RV, being treated like a celebrity every time we step foot in a Jobing.com office…at the end of the day, the highlight has been the journey itself.

It has been developing this simple idea of talking with people for advice, and turning it into something greater, something bigger than I could have ever imagined.

And we have two more months of the tour to go, with endless possibilities waiting for us thereafter.

That my friend, is a highlight in and of itself.

One of the joys in my life is reading the stories that come in every day through our “Submit a Story” page. On average, we receive about fifteen to twenty a day. These stories range from a native american flute maker to a woman prison guard in Sweden.

Every once in a while I read a story that sends tingles through my body. The story below is one that I read yesterday, and I thought I’d share it with you.

Here it is:

During my career I never played a very active role in where I headed. The promotions and job changes were spaced out well enough to give me the illusion of progress, but in reality I simply ‘floated down the river’ letting life take me from one place to another. None of it truly felt like it was my ‘right’ work. I was unhappy, but moderately comfortable.

I was doing an interview with the Chicago Tribune last week about the role passion plays in entrepreneurship when the journalist sprung a question on me that caught me offguard.

Does passion have its limitations?

The question made me realize that I had focused on what passion can do for you, not how it could work against you. I decided to put in some thought in the question and came up with two solid ways passion can work against you.

1) When you are so passionate that you will give everything you have to an idea, both physically and financially, even though the idea is a deadbeat.

2) When you are so passionate that you act unethically to realize your goals.

So how do we avoid these valleys and find our peaks?

The answer to number one is to seek feedback. Matt Flannery, the CEO and co-founder of Kiva.org, told me that the best way to test an idea (or a passion) without pouring money, time, and effort into it is to seek feedback from people. Once that feedback is received, whether positive or negative, the seriousness you have for the idea will either strengthen or fade.

It is better to know early on in the process whether an idea (or career) is right for you so you don’t make the financial investment only to find that resources like time and money were wasted.

My answer to number two is that passion can drive people over the edge sometimes, but integrity is the only thing you can control. Passion can only be limiting if you allow it to be.

What are some other limitations? Or thoughts?

People want to know how we are finding passionate people to interview. They want to know how we judge passion in people. That is a million dollar question I’m hoping to answer with your help.

I think passion is something that is so ingrained inside us that there is no difference between where work life ends, and where real life begins. I’ve been told passion is like the Supreme Court…you know it when you see it. I know from experience that passion breeds productivity. Passion is infectious, and people recognize passion within others.

I have booked interviews based on the following criteria for the first few weeks on the 2007 Pursue the Passion tour.

1) They must be referred by someone that knows the local community very well (i.e. a reporter, president of an outside organization, family, friends, etc.).

2) When I talk to prospective interviewees on the phone, via email, or read their story submittal, they must be positive, because passion is typically synonymous with “positivity.”

3) Lastly, I look to see what a person has done that exemplifies their passion. The phrase “passion breeds productivity” is the truth, because passion overflows into other things like getting involved in organizations and creating programs around that passion. Extracurricular activities and achievements are an excellent judgment of passion.

Now that I’ve given you the keys to the kingdom to tell you how I “judge” the passion of a peer, it’s time to ask for your help.

What am I missing?

How do you judge passion? How would you go about finding passionate people?

Let me know.

School teaches students about how to write a resume. School teaches theory. And vocabulary. And accounting (in my case). And many other great things, like beer pong.

But not passion. School will not teach you how to find your passion, and there’s a reason for that.

Only you can find it.

But if I were to give a general lesson plan and to teach passion in school, this is what I would teach.

Read the full interview »