I almost never talk to people that I sit next to on the plane. I talk to enough new people in my job that by the time I get on a plane, I'm pretty much ready to get into my paper, my book or my e-mail.
The guy in the seat next to me saw that my mac was running parallels and we struck up some small talk. He, like me, doesn't usually talk to the guy next to him either. The conversation went from macs, to where we're from and where we were going to the standard 'what line of work are you in' conversation. It turns out he's a professional climber. Seemed like a conversation worth continuing.
I had no idea what this entailed, so I started asking questions. Lots of them. When Chris was 12 he had five goals that he wrote down, including: Having a big house with a pool, a Porsche, a million dollars, a dog and climbing Mt. Everest. Four years ago, Chris left a VP level job with American Express to fulfill his dream to climb Mt. Everest. He's since scaled 6 of the 7 tallest peaks in the world, including K2. He gets just enough sponsorship and the occasional speaking gig to pay the bills. He told me about the difficulty levels and what's involved in a climb in terms of endurance, risk management and decision making. He told me the story of his K2 expedition where 11 of the 24 people in his party died. He had decided to turn back on the final ascent, the other 11 did not. Wow. Great choice, in hind-sight. He showed me some pictures from the peak of Everest along with pictures of one of the guys who got frost bite on all of his toes (the before picture) and had to have them all amputated (the after picture).
He had some great stories about his travels and expeditions, and even his training (running and biking at Island Lake and Kensington when he's in Michigan). Great guy, very humble, very interesting to talk to. I'd love to bring him in to come and talk at a corporate event around teams, risk and goals.
What struck me is that he left his job to do something he loves. While we were talking, his story reminded me of Thoreau's line about how "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." (this is about the only line I can quote from Thoreau). We talked about the people that we know in corporate america who live their lives only looking to get the bigger house or car, their worlds revolving around their jobs, their success and acquisition. Neither of us want to be that guy.
I like to think that I'm the kind of guy whose world is bigger than his job. As a result, I don't always take myself as seriously as some would like in a company where people typically take themselves very seriously. I have some senior management in my company who look at me as a bit of an anomaly and are at times hesitant about putting me into certain roles because of this. At the end of the day, the results that I'm able to drive with the teams that I'm given speak for themselves. My world is not my job and as a result, some people are drawn to that and others don't know how to deal with me.
It made me think about how thankful I am to have a job where I wake up every day loving what I do. I'm thankful for the people I have in my life who are willing to give me a reality check when I think I'm getting too big for myself. I'm thankful that I get to work with a bunch of junior high kids in my church that could care less how much money I make, what my title is, whether I can close a $20M deal or have a conversation with a Fortune 50 CIO.
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