Morgan Massie

When I was young, my dad, who is a federal judge (he's since passed), had to hear me tell him at some point that I wasn't going to go to college and be a lawyer and follow in his footsteps, and I was really afraid of that conversation with him. When I finally told him I was going to get a degree in something very different from law, he said, 'Well, that's okay, Morgan. Even if you did go to the same law school, get the same degree, become a judge, and do everything that I did, you still wouldn't be as good as me' - he said it funny, not in a mean way. He said, 'because you're Morgan. You bring your own unique set of skills and strengths to the table, and that creative flair that you have. You can't follow in someone else's footsteps, you have to create your own path,' and that stuck with me. I remember earlier on in my career trying to follow other people's paths because they said you need to do this to be successful, you shouldn't do that to be successful. And when I tried to follow other people's ideas of success, I always hit a wall. But as soon as I had the courage to set off on my own direction and do what I felt was right for me, the whole world of opportunity opened up. So I attribute my success to really leaning into my dad's saying I'll never be as good as him - meaning I had to be myself and create my own path.

The best career advice I ever received was actually from the author Steve Farber (F-A-R-B-E-R), who wrote the book Radical Leap a number of years ago. We hired him to come in and do a book club with the organization when I was the Leadership Development Director at the time. There's a quote from one of his books that he talked to us about. It says, 'Do what you love in the service of those who love what you do.' I didn't think anything of it at the time, but especially when I began my own entrepreneurial journey, that really helps you keep your focus, because there's so many opportunities out there, and if you have a little bit of ADHD like I do, you can go a thousand different directions when you realize you're not really doing anything in support of growing your business - you're just taking on different types of passion projects. So really focusing in on, okay, with this group of people, with this client, with this individual, am I doing what I love in service of someone who actually loves what I do? Is there that synergy there? Then yes, let's move forward. Otherwise, how am I being of service to someone that is not appreciative of what I bring to the table? So that has really helped keep me in alignment and has helped me grow and scale the businesses and the partnerships that I've been involved with over the years.

My advice is don't wait until you feel completely ready to start. One of my downfalls was I had to try to wait until I was completely ready. Some of my biggest opportunities came before I felt qualified, before I felt prepared, and you just have to act on the opportunities as they present themselves. So don't wait until you feel completely ready - what is one small thing that you could do today towards what you want to achieve? And just do it, like Nike said. Just do it.

I think one of the biggest challenges for people in my field definitely has something to do with AI. People are - AI is here to stay, it can be used as a tool, it does not have to be a challenge. But what I think that means for people in my field who are speakers, coaches, thought leaders, and people who help others maximize their skills and strengths, is really going back to the basics around making sure you still stay connected. AI may be a great resource for many people and continue to get its tentacles out in everything that we're doing from a workplace perspective. But at the end of the day, humans are still humans, and so we have to make sure that we stay connected with ourselves. I see connection in three ways. We need to be able to stay connected with ourselves - know what we stand for, what our values are, what our strengths are, what our challenges are. We need to see how we can connect with others, because no AI can replace that. So how can we connect with our teams, our communities, the people we mentor, those that mentor us. And then how do we stay connected with the broader context that we're in - that situational awareness. AI is going to continue to be a challenge, so how can we really focus in on how we connect with ourselves and those around us to make the most impact with whatever it is that you're doing in your day-to-day life. I see connection as more of a need today than even it was before the pandemic started. There's such a need for it in the work that I do.

Authenticity, human connection, service, community, and creating flexibility to balance family and work.