The Pursuit of Wisdom

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Mark Missigman, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

And somethings you wish you did not know.

In today’s world having information is not a competitive advantage, because everyone with a cell phone, iPad or tablet can get information.

How does marketing work?

How do I make a soufflé?

What is the capital of India?

What is the distance between Earth and Mercury? (The distance between the planet Mercury and Earth can range from 77 million km at the closest point, to as far as 222 million km at the farthest. The reason for this is that the planets have elliptical orbits and none of them are perfect circles.) So now you know, and won’t you be the popular one at parties now. I know, you are thanking me. You’re welcome.

How can a person set themselves apart from the rest of the herd? To be the black sheep in the herd of white sheep. Do sheep run in herds? Or packs? I should Google that.

Being the black sheep is not a bad thing, in fact it is desirable if you want to get ahead, to be seen as a value and get the promotion.

Black sheep have wisdom. They value information but do not let it rule, information is just an input into the machine of decision making. Wisdom is the machine language that the 1’s and 0’s gets organized around to make the output make sense and lead to a decision. A decision may be to take action, craft a response or learn.

How does a person gain wisdom? In your mind you may see that “seasoned” person who sits back behind a big desk, commanding the room, looks over his or her glasses to throw pearls of irrefutable jargon at you. Well no, wisdom is not like the Wizard of Oz.

Wisdom does come from experience, evaluated experience. But you do not have to wait until you are 90 to cultivate wisdom. As Alford Lord Tenyson says “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”

Wisdom also comes from learning about yourself, how you tick, why you do this or that. This will allow the lens in which you look at the world become clearer and sharper. Wisdom also comes from learning about others. It leads to self-control; emotionally, mentally and in your actions. Do you want that? Is that valuable?

A path to wisdom is taking and using the DISC personality model. What is D I S C? DISC is a methodology that accurately predict and identify personality of people based on the responses to questions that are scenario based. The D, I, S and C are the four categories of differing personalities. Each of us have at least 1 category where we are dominant in, usually 2. However, we all have each of them in us, but some are less pervasive.

As part of the John Maxwell Team, I am licensed to use our version of the DISC assessment. The Maxwell DISC assessments and reports will raise your awareness by helping you understand:
• Your DISC communication style (Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator)
• The communication style of others and how to connect to them
• The ideal environment where you can bring your best forward
• Your strengths in 7 key areas of influence
• And how you can grow into their potential

My Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator Report provides insight into your key DISC areas. The accompanying application guide, which is embedded in the report, offers an opportunity for me as your Maxwell DISC Consultant, to give guidance as your move into new levels of growth and awareness.

My colleague, Holly is an executive assistant to a president of a multimillion-dollar company. Below is her experience and effect on her life that DISC has had. She describes this on Facebook and with her permission I am able to share it with you:

“I don’t think I have actually officially shared this on FB… haha… so here’s my official declaration. I am NOT naturally gifted in organization and administration…lol….I know this may come as a shock to some of you who knew the “old Holly”… but let me share a little more…
For those of you who are familiar with DISC personality profiles, I grew up all my life (until about a year and a half ago) believing I was a C – meaning I believed I was cautious, calculating, reserved, organized, analytical, administratively-inclined…. And I really truly believed this… and you know, I always kind of felt a little grey in this great big beautiful colorful world around us… I felt drab. I felt boring and uninteresting."

“This is what I THOUGHT about myself, this is the BELIEF I held about myself, and so this was how I operated… and I felt stuck. I felt like there was something inside me crying to get out, and I didn’t know what it was, or how to release it. I knew I had dreams of what I wanted to be, do, and have, but they didn’t line up with this image of who I THOUGHT I was.”

“Well, long story short, it turns out, I am a HIGH I – basically, outgoing, creative, people-oriented, persuasive, an influencer, (disorganized as hell….lol)… and as I have started to embrace this “real me” – the wiring that God created me with, this creativity, this desire for freedom, this natural gifting of relating and inspiring, everything in my life as changed."

“And if you ask anyone who knows me now, they would say there is a night and day difference between the “old Holly” and the “real Holly”. The “old Holly” was quiet, shy, lacking in confidence… this “real Holly”…..yeaaaaah nooooo lol. Things have changed."

“And I love it… And you know, it all began with my thoughts… what I believed about myself. I operated from that old place of belief, and when I realized I could change what I believed about myself, and I could step into this authentic self, EVERYTHING changed – and in every good way.”
Is that remarkable or what? "

If you notice, she said It all begins with your thoughts. DISC takes your thoughts, how you answer the questions to reveal to you who you really are.

Do you want to be happy like Holly? And find your true self?

Well I do and did but my story was a little different. My journey had different twists and turns. Here is my story:

I made $145,000 a year as a Cyber Security Consultant.

But it didn’t make me happy. Why?

I know, you may be saying how in wide world of crazy can you not be happy making that? But it is true.

Allow me to explain. Towards the end of my Naval Career, I was assigned a duty station and assignment where I was to be the Information Systems Security Manager (Cyber Security). As it is common for the Navy, there was a school to teach me about this new job. At the school I learned all about it from contracted civilian instructors who owned their own company which was contracted to teach this course. Among the many things they told me about this new “industry” of Cyber Security, was that it was relatively new and if you got certain “credentials” it could be lucrative. I was interested.

Fast forward to 2014, I retired from the Navy in 2004 to embark on my career of Cyber Security, I was making $60,000 right out of the Navy. Over the next 10 years, I learned everything there was to know about Cyber Security as it related to compliance. The process, the policies and the technical. I built a team, became a program manager, business development manager and had a corral of clients from across the Navy. I was my company’s employee of the year in 2006 for IT.

I was doing well. But in 2014, despite my success and my now impressive salary of $145,000, which I never dreamed I would be making; I was not satisfied. I was not happy. To be more exact, I was not fulfilled. I was restless.

Luckily for me, I found the reason for my dissatisfaction. In August of that year, my high school girlfriend and I found each other through Facebook (now that is scary right?). We found after 30 years of not seeing each other, we lived within 1 mile of each other now. How coincidental is that? We decided to have lunch to catch up. After about an hour of catching up, I was relating to her about my restlessness. She said, “You seem happy, what do you like about your job, there has to be something?” This was a great question; I was stopped in my tracks. I had to think and be honest with myself.

This question, I was thinking could be a life changing one.

After what seemed like a lifetime of reflection, sitting there at the table at lunch with my friend physically but traveling through time in my mind; searching memories, events and emotions. I finally had the answer to this profound question; what makes me happy in my job. What made me happy in my job is seeing how my teammates, the people who shared in my success and were responsible for it; had grown and became successful also. In their own right. One of my teammates I was most proud of; let’s call him Joe.

Joe came on my team as a young guy. He was recently married and was making $35,000 a year. He came to me from another part of the company, I did not originally hire him but recruited him to my team. I was appalled when he joined my team and heard how little he was making in comparison to his skills and attitude. I know everyone starts somewhere. I started making $700 a month at my first job, in 1984. I know. But $35,000 for his work ethic, skill and care for the job was ridiculous. A long story short, he worked with me for about 7 years, he left the team because travel for the job with now 2 children was too much. When he left the company, he had obtained 2 certifications and was making $85,000. I taught him everything I knew, and he was running my team for about the last 2 years he was with us. It was a big hole when he left but I couldn’t agree more with his decision. Family comes first. (I miss him)

This kind of thing, developing and helping another person succeed, is what got me out of bed in the morning. And my DISC profile points to that!

My DISC profile is not even close to pointing to a career like Cyber Security.

You may be asking, “What harm did it cause you?”. A lot of people have jobs they do not like. That maybe you and is true. In short, it harmed my life. I know we all are not the same, and I own my mistakes. But I know now, it was a factor among several with the destruction of my life.

My DISC profile says I am an influencer, inspirational person. One who likes people. It does not say I like details, processes and routine.

Can you guess which profile Cyber Security aligns? Yes, the latter. I was working in the wrong career. No wonder at times I felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I was going in circles. It was hard.

I was not working in a career that aligned with my strengths or personality. I was in a constant state of conflict. Life was very hard. I think about it now and wonder how I survived. I am kind of impressed that I did for as long as I did. That is not bragging but a realization.

Thank God for that lunch date, it literally saved my life. It led me to John Maxwell, finding my true identity and to DISC. After 35 years of a professional life I have figured it out. It explains so much about events and struggles of the past. I feel relieved and unburdened of confusion.

I found that the biggest problem in my life was the person in the mirror. That is what DISC taught me. I did not fully understand me, which severely affected how I made decisions and interacted with my world. I was confused.

That is why DISC matters to me. And why I want to share it with you. For your life, so you too can flourish, succeed in your personality and strengths; in your gifting and live your best life. DISC will wipe away your confusion. What keeps you up at night, will stop.

What keeps you up at night?

Ask me about DISC and let’s pursue your wisdom.

Mark Missigman
Mark.Missigman@gmail.com
757-285-5508