Oppurtunity Maker….

Today on my Grandfather’s (William E. Ryan Sr.) birthday, I had lunch with a former Professor and current Friend. The topic was reviewing my development of my values, vision statement &, mission statement. We came to the conclusion based on my written words and mental rambling that my Mission is to be an “Opportunity Maker” 

As usual I researched what this means in the wired world of the internet. After Googling the term “Opportunity Maker” I was amused as well as felt a bit of irony to see the top search item. It was this book here: The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development By Ari Kaplan.. You might think why is this ironic? Well recent soul searching has found me with the desire to chase my suppressed dream of becoming a Lawyer. As you can see from the title of the book how appropriate my lunch time conversation coordinates with this use of “Opportunity Maker”

For further detail review the book’s description:

This book is designed to help you harness your potential for business development and empower your legal career from law school through partnership. It provides techniques for defining your personal brand, leveraging your creativity, and maximizing your success. Rainmakers, public relations experts, elected officials, marketing masters, in-house counsel, business executives, career advisers, associates, law students, and others who have walked in your shoes offer perspective on issues ranging from networking, mentoring, and blogging to hosting your own television show, starting a charity, and getting published. Each chapter addresses genuine strategies for connecting with people and establishing meaningful professional relationships.

What I find most interesting is that the term I was at a loss for this afternoon was “Rainmaker”. Which is what I think would be most appropriate as a descriptor for what I wanted in my mission statement as a synonym for opportunity maker. I feel that my nature & nurture has brought me to this point. I think that the characteristics I am drawn to in people and the values I hold important to myself make up the DNA of a person meant for Corporate Law.

What are these values I continue to reference with vagueness? Well I am glad you asked. Here are the 5 core values and the 5 supporting values that I have identified.

 

Core Value: Achievement Winning Problem solving Doing things successfully Sense of accomplishment	Supporting Value: Adventure Risk taking Entrepreneurship Challenging Experiences Trail Blazer
Core Value: Discipline Self Control Commitment Hard working Determination	Supporting Value: Responsibility Accountable for results Reliable Dependable Liable personal initiative
Core Value: Friendship Close Relationships Unity Partnership Mutual Appreciation	Supporting Value: Family Happiness Relations being together Community Team work Sense of belonging
Core Value: Integrity Honesty Standing up for beliefs Courage Candor	Supporting Value: Quality 1st Class Maintain High standards Having real worth Do it right the first time
Core Value: Personal Development Commitment to learning Pushing limits Utilize and improve potential	Supporting Value: Advancement Opportunity to improve Progress Upward mobility Promotions

If you overlay my values with the people that I admire, you will begin to see the composite of how I see myself.  

Name:	Because:	Stood For:	Difference Made:
1. Warren Buffet	Motivating, Dedicated, Focused	Capitalism	World’s Richest Man
2. William E Ryan Sr.	Protective Father, Networker, Strong, Charismatic, Sharp mind	Family, Strength, Truth	Rock of the Family
3. JFK	Irish Catholic, Charismatic, Leader, Change maker	Brought people together to fight for a common cause	Sent a man to the moon, President, Broke the WASP President chain, Cuba
4. Bill Parcells	Ability to turnaround losing cultures/operations Develops Performance	Discipline, Hard work, team building, hazard Mgmt	Rebuilt 4 teams to a winning culture
5. Richard Branson	Took Risk, Failed, Rebuilt himself	Entrepreneur	Record Label, Airline, Author, Plane to the moon

How do these two matrixes align? How would I define myself in the search of my “Mission Statement”? The same way Merriam-Webster dictionary does (option 3):

rain *mak *er

Show Spelled Pronunciation [reyn-mey-ker]

–noun

1.	(among American Indians) a medicine man who by various rituals and incantations seeks to cause rain.

2.	a person who induces rainfall by using various scientific techniques, as the seeding of clouds with silver iodide crystals from an airplane.

3.	Slang. an executive or lawyer with exceptional ability to attract clients, use political connections, increase profits, whose influence can initiate progress or ensure success, etc.: The president has several rainmakers among his advisers.

 I always thought I wanted to be an Investment Banker in M&A. I read every book, watched every movie and looked under every rock to understand the life of an Investment Banker. None of it scared me away. It actually made me more passionate about my childhood dream. I have been carrying this torch from the first time I watched “Pretty Woman” with my Mother. I saw the look in her eyes of the thought of a girl making her way from the difficulties of city streets to finding her fairytale in life of love & success. As a comic is infected with laughter as a child, I was infected that day with the M&A/Rainmaker Dream…

In the pursuit of this dream some might say I have taken a wandering road. First out of undergrad I stay in Upstate New York instead of finding a finance job in Manhattan. Second I move to California to pursue my MBA, once again shunning NYC. I went to UCI, not UCLA because I felt the culture was the best fit for me. After successfully chasing down my MBA which I thought would be the keys to the castle of M&A luxury, I find myself with the keys but no door.

This recession has closed many doors and has forced me to re-evaluate my intestinal fortitude to see my dream through until the end. With this recession’s cause as well as most devastated sector being financials, I do not see it growing back to the gluten stature it once was. Well at least not in the near future to enable me to pursue traditional career path of Banking at this point in my professional career. So what does that mean to me? Well less jobs because of more unemployed experience talent along with more MBA graduates. Needless to say more regulation by the government to establish safety nets with the intention to prevent this type of financial meltdown in the future. How do I stay a step ahead of these dominos as the layers of onion continue to be peeled back? How do I do this on my terms? LAW SCHOOL!!

As did my two matrixes came together, so did these economic factors for me. More regulation means more OPPORTUNITY! What are life’s constants? LAWS, death & taxes. How are all three of these constants always changing? They are based on the interoperation of the people that use them and protect them. They are applied by the logic and constructive arguments set by the best and brightest in the field. This is why there will be an influx need for Lawyers in these coming years. Especially in M&A while the banks redefine themselves through the new layers of regulation.

The irony of all of this is that I write this post on the Birthday Day of William E. Ryan Sr. a person I greatly admired. For the same reasons of why I want to be a Corporate Lawyer: dedication, determination, rainmaking ability and trail blazing legacy.

I leave you with this. No matter what your dream is, no matter how long your path is. Stick with it and do it on your terms. The purpose of one’s mission statement is to become the person you want to be. So no matter the goal, no matter the challenge; keep your vision statement in mind to ensure you keep your eye on YOUR prize. I might not have the most conventional way of doing things, but I have a drive and a focus that I feel is unmatched when I decide to do something.

The Nth year plans….

What is the appropriate timeline?  Is there an appropriate timeline?

I felt having a timeline was the most important part.  I still feel a person needs to decide for themselves what their most appropriate timeline is.  It does not matter if it is 5 days or 5 years.  Set personal bounds and then stretch them.

I was sitting here tonight attempting my 5 year plan.  Five is my “Nth year plan”.  Why because I heard it in a movie.  And no I don’t have old balls and yes my plan is not to die.  (I digress)  As I worked through my 5 year plan, I realized that 5 is not my bound.  Your plan needs to be dynamic, elastic even.  Now I feel you need a combination of detail and broad strokes.  Some things can be 5 years, some things can be 2 years and, others can not be bound by time.

Tonight I began to tweak my 5 year plan.  I was able to pencil large trips for the next 5 years.  I was able to set 4 years of financial goals.  I was able to set 2 years for personal goals. I was only capable of setting a year of professional goals.  I began to hit road blocks as I tried to stretch them all to 5 years.  It reaffirms that “The Nth year plan” is really just an outline.

I now feel that this outline is only one of a few steps.  I have not yet figured out what my correct number of steps will be, but I do have a starting point.  As all go ideas are; I stole my current evolution.  I am going to start with three layers to begin my “Life Foundation”.  Like the strongest geometric shape the triangle, it will represent my foundation being made up of:

1. a dense base consisting of a living vision statement (written in the first person) that will reflect the person I want t be and will be reviewed weekly
2. the body will be made of the Nth year plan identifying milestones that will help me achieve my vision.
3. capped off with the concise tip of the mission statement (no longer than a sentence) representing my call to order. 

This triad has been test on some, but is not uniform for all.  I am going to slowly incorporate it into my life.  To ensure that it is not reckless or shallow.  I have always had floating thoughts of the person I could be.  It is now time to put pen to paper and start to flush out the person that I will attain to be. 

This is a process and needs to be a living document.  It will grow and evolve as I do.  The foundation needs to be egoless and humble or else it will fail.  I think a person is only as good as their willingness to achieve as well as fail.  Like any other elastic item or cycle; you can only drift as far from center as the restrictions set by your boundaries….