I made a big mistake. A mistake I don’t want to repeat.
I don’t want you to repeat it either.
I work for a mercenary. And unfortunately, that makes me one as well.
I had a feeling something was off. For years we talked about our competitors more than our clients. We talked about margins more than mission. We were focused on all the wrong things.
If you mentioned the idea of customer satisfaction and progress, people looked at you funny.
We hired people who were money motivated, or so they’d say. That’s the answer in a sales interview, right? Coin operated?
If the job pays a commission, and you slip up by telling management you just want to help people, they’ll show you the door. Quickly. They can’t hire you if they don’t know how to motivate you. They want to control things, and it’s hard to control what you don’t understand.
They’ll say you are not our kind of guy. They’ll say she’s not a culture fit. None of that kumbaya bull shit, talking about helping clients build something great.
That doesn’t work around here. That’s just the means to an end.
The end? Making money.
But it could work around here. And it probably should.
What if the goal were to help? We could help make progress; help build. What kind of wealth and fulfillment would that create?
Providing a product or service that’s worth talking about is tough work, worthwhile work, and I think most people would happily sign up for it if given the opportunity. If they connect with that mission.
I finally shook off the daze. I finally realized that the spotlight and the money were not enough. They didn’t motivate me at all. It left me wondering if I was alone or if the others were still motivated by this dangling carrot.
I came to find that many felt the same way. They were eye rolling. Feeling misunderstood. Management kept it going. Consistent. Stubborn. Easier to pull those old levers of motivation than connect with your people and create a mission.
Change is hard.
Money is a short-term motivator. It’s a sugar rush. That’s why they run the sales contest, give out the quarterly bonus, and do the weekly spotlight. Management knows it’s short term, so they keep the motivation coming. Offer more rewards, more accolades, and more applause.
“People often say motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Zig Zigler
Zig is right — if you are a mercenary.
But what if motivation can last?
The pay day and the contests can be fun, but after a few years it feels like the last day of a Bachelor Party.
Washed out, torn up, ready for a nap. The buzz is gone. The thrill is gone, and you don’t want to chase after that bonus any longer. It’s shallow. It’s fluff. Empty calories. Junk. You want something that means something. You want a mission, and you want to be a missionary.
Mission is the complex carb of your work. Something that gets inside you. It’s what you think about all the time. No motivational speeches or contests are needed. You wake up and you are driven by your own interest and your own motivation to keep chipping away. It’s the hard problem you can’t stop thinking about.
Self-sustaining motivation.
And when a group of people pull together on that same mission, big things happen.
It’s the useful solution. It’s not just work for money, it’s not about payment and praise, the great motivators. It’s work for the mission, work for the way you see the world. And that can burn clean for a long, long time.
What we are talking about is the difference between a mercenary and a missionary.
“Mercenaries are driven by paranoia; missionaries are driven by passion. Mercenaries think opportunistically; missionaries think strategically. Mercenaries go for the sprint; missionaries go for the marathon. Mercenaries focus on their competitors and financial statements; missionaries focus on their customers and value statements. Mercenaries are bosses of wolf packs; missionaries are mentors or coaches of teams. Mercenaries worry about entitlements; missionaries are obsessed with making a contribution. Mercenaries are motivated by the lust for making money; missionaries, while recognizing the importance of money, are fundamentally driven by the desire to make meaning.”
John Doerr
Mission is harder and it’s slower, but it is so much bigger and better.
Mercenaries are money motivated, but they actually make less money. They win but they don’t win big.
You might think guys like Zuck and Elon are heartless robots, just out to make a buck, but they have been driving on their missions for almost 20 years. How long have you been chasing yours?
Peter Thiel talks about the day Mark Zuckerberg turned down Yahoo’s $1 Billon offer to buy Facebook.
“The most important moment in my mind in the history of Facebook occurred in July 2006,” he began.
At the time, Facebook was just two years old. It was a college site with roughly eight or nine million people on it. And, though it was making $30 million in revenue, it was not profitable. “And we received an acquisition offer from Yahoo for $1 billion,” Thiel said.
The three-person Facebook board at the time–Zuckerberg, Thiel, and venture capitalist Jim Breyer–met on a Monday morning.
“Both Breyer and myself on balance thought we probably should take the money,” recalled Thiel. “But Zuckerberg started the meeting like, ‘This is kind of a formality, just a quick board meeting, it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. We’re obviously not going to sell here’.”
At the time, Zuckerberg was 22 years old.
Thiel said he remembered saying, “We should probably talk about this. A billion dollars is a lot of money.” They hashed out the conversation. Thiel said he and Breyer pointed out: “You own 25 percent. There’s so much you could do with the money.”
Thiel recalled Zuckerberg said, in a nutshell: “I don’t know what I could do with the money. I’d just start another social networking site. I kind of like the one I already have.”
He found his mission. Lucky bastard.
And while Zuck has turned Facebook into the best advertising tool on the planet, Elon has been trying to leave this place. Fighting climate change and shooting rockets to Mars.
Missionaries.
Most of this talk about Missionaries and Mercenaries has been had, but I’d like to offer a slightly different take.
Missionaries are not a type of people or company, you are not one or the other, missionaries just happen to find that thing, that idea, that project, that they could not shake. And they sunk their teeth in. They have the tools, the talent, and they also get lucky.
Missions are not for life, most of them fail in spectacular fashion, or they chew you up and spit you out, but they are worth the effort.
And Mercenaries, for the most part, are looking for a mission or hiding from the ones they’ve already found.
Let’s look at some examples.
Tren Griffin has talked about the subject, he quotes some of the same sources in his blog 25iq, but better than anything he’s quoted is his own experience. Tren clearly understands the benefits of being mission oriented, and says “only once in my life have I felt a missionary calling. It was 1994. It was in the ramp up to the internet bubble, and I decided to go all-in. And for five years I was all in it on a startup.”
Teledesic was the “internet in the sky” and would bring broadband to the world. That is quite a mission.
So, Tren is a missionary, right?
Sure, for five years he was. That’s the only time. I’m sure he is still doing some great things for Microsoft today, but it’s not the same.
If you are lucky, you’ll find a mission too. But it’s not guaranteed.
Missionary is not a binary personality type as most suggest. It has more to do with time, and place, and luck, and courage.
If Tren was not convincing, maybe Han Solo can nudge you in the right direction.
Han: Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution. I’m not in it for you Princess. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money.
Princess: You needn’t worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that’s what you’ll receive.
That is Han Solo the mercenary.
But before Luke and the Rebels head into battle to destroy the Death Star, Han stays for the briefing. He understands what they are up against. Impossible.
Luke asks Han to stay and fight.
Luke: So… you got your reward and you’re just leaving then?
Han: That’s right, yeah! I got some old debts I’ve got to pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn’t, you don’t think I’d be fool enough to stick around here, do you? Why don’t you come with us? You’re pretty good in a fight. I could use you.
Luke: Come on! Why don’t you take a look around? You know what’s about to happen, what they’re up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You’re turning your back on them.
Han: What good’s a reward if you ain’t around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain’t my idea of courage. It’s more like suicide.
Luke: All right. Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?
Han: Hey, Luke… may the Force be with you!
Han tells Chewbacca that he knows what he is doing, but he is clearly conflicted. They depart, eventually turning back, engaging Darth Vader’s TIE fighter, and clearing the way for Luke.
Han: You’re all clear, kid. Now let’s blow this thing and go home!
I think most of us are a lot like Han.
Making a living. Paying our debts. But secretly searching for that mission.
And a lot like Tren.
Found the mission, and paid the price physically, mentally, and emotionally from going all in.
And very few are like Elon and Zuck. Lucky enough to find it, courageous enough to attempt it, skilled enough to accomplish it, and masochistic enough to keep on going.
And for me? I made a big mistake. A mistake I don’t want to repeat. And I don’t want you to repeat it either.
I’m still searching for that mission, but now I have a much better idea of what it is I’m looking for. I’m looking for the problem I can’t stop thinking about. The problem that’s a fit for my skills, where I can help make progress.
The bigger question, once I find it; will I have the courage to go all in? And the resilience to keep on going.
