Share and Share Alike

A handful of years ago, I gave away a huge part of my company. I just woke up one day and gave it away. No strings attached. For some, no “vesting, no “waiting”. I just gave it to them. And it was the best business decision I have ever made.

It was all mine. I could run around and say, “Look at me!” I could have OWNER on my business card. I can’t say that anymore. I couldn’t be happier.  

Tonight, I went for a walk tonight by myself. I saw a deer up on a hillside. He was a young buck and was amazing. All I wanted to do was share what I was seeing. All I wanted to do was share the feeling I had looking at an animal on a hill. I wanted folks to experience what I was seeing and feeling. I didn’t have a phone or social media. It was just me… alone. So now I am compelled to share it with you in words. 

There is so much joy in sharing. I think it is why I love my career so much. It also might be contagious. If you are reading this, you are likely in the business of sharing. When you feel like it’s just a job, slogging in some network closet someplace, or bashing out the umpteenth quote of the day, remember what we do. We facilitate sharing. And if we do our jobs right, even if we are the warehouse guy at a big contractor, we are helping people share. We are in the business of letting people share ideas, images, faces, music, and equity. It’s pretty amazing. I cannot imagine doing anything else.

I am pretty certain that my team feels the way I do. We are a team united in the same mission. Some of the work is brutal. The expectations are over the top. But when we execute, which is almost always, the result is someone not even noticing what we have done. They just share.    

There have been many moments where I question whether I am making a difference. I try to get people to use my stuff instead of some other stuff that’s probably also pretty cool. What good is that? Why is my “Conference 5k” system better than the other guys “Meeting Deluxe Super”? It might not be. Maybe it is… but it turns out that’s not the point. Your stuff is only as good as the people behind it.   

Some say that The Farm is lucky. We get to work with great brands. We are not lucky. We choose to work with people. The gear? Whatever. It’s the people behind the gear. We are good pickers of people. The decisions we make are about people and sharing. The companies we work for are the most generous and amazing in the industry. That is how we select. They share. We share. And if you are not sharing, you are missing out on the best parts of work.