I have an addiction to change. So much so that I have a tattoo of symbols representing the balancing of “crisis” - namely, “danger” and “opportunity.” For me, I choose to overlook the danger - I just prefer to see that in any chaotic situation, there is a blank canvas of opportunity to create an answer. With that mindset, it’s no shock my career gravitated towards the continually evolving world of startups.
I’ve been at Rapid7 for over seven years now, and admittedly, I’ve considered leaving a handful of times. It was never because I didn’t love the company, respect the leadership, or embrace the future of the company. Instead, I had convinced myself that my measuring stick for success was building something from scratch, and then getting to scale. I feared that if I stuck around after an event (in this case an IPO), I would become bored, or worse, complacent. How wrong I was. My infinitely patient and understanding CEO said exactly what you say to a person like me, “Great job getting us to this point... but scale this to a few thousand people and still have it be an amazing place to work, and then you can call victory and move on.” So I have stayed. And I am happy I did.
There is some odd characteristic that those of us who are drawn to startups share. I’m guessing many of us might have run with scissors when we were little or touched the hot stove when we were told not to...just to see how hot it actually was. In other words, we are typically insatiably curious and are eager to learn.
During the last rainy spell we had, I was binge watching Six Feet Under, and there was an episode about a house catching on fire, which led to an advantageous twist of fate for the business of the main characters. I always identified with the notion of a firefighter - I love running head-on into the problem in front of me, and if it’s a little bit risky or dangerous, it’s that much more interesting. However, it never occurred to me I might connect with the mindset of an arsonist as well.
Now wait...what I mean is, if there is no readily available problem for me to work on, I’ll create one from scratch so I can become immersed in solving it. Obviously, I’m no arsonist, nor do I seek out illegal activities to keep myself entertained. However, the recognition of these driving behaviors was yet another confirmation about why the field I choose has proven to be a great fit for my passion around the startup community - I’m surrounded by similar profiles, all packaged differently.
Question to ponder: How well do you know yourself? Can you scratch below the surface of “I aspire to be a CEO someday” or “I’m a great team leader” and really identify what motivates and excites you? And if you can, are you in a role or environment where those areas have a chance to shine? Life is short, but careers that we aren’t passionate about can make it feel very, very, long.
I’ve learned a major factor to thriving as an entrepreneur isn’t just having a great idea or assembling a stellar team; it’s about doing that one thing you just can’t live without doing.
Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator