Considering the end

It’s been 2 years since the pandemic closed down office work in Canada. I’m happy to report that Hostile Sheep has survived and most of our clients are have begun returning to office work. In fact, we conducted our first in-person workshop a couple months ago with one of our regular clients. It seems a number of industries have come out with ‘the fat trimmed off’; resulting in a shift in workforce, business strategy and organizational design.

Since Hostile Sheep is a small, nimble organization, we were able to remain open through the pandemic and only felt one dry spell (in terms of work/capacity). In many ways, Hostile Sheep was extremely lucky and came through the pandemic largely unchanged. That’s not to say we haven’t learned anything about ourselves during the pandemic or that we haven’t evolved. However, that’s not what this post is about. I want to share a couple interesting experiences I’ve had recently. Experiences that forced me to think about closing Hostile Sheep and starting a new chapter of my career.

Swimming in the same pool as FAANGs

I founded Hostile Sheep in 2012 and worked exclusively for General Electric for the first few years. Since our contract ended with GE, I used many of the connections I made to get us invited to pitch or participate with other great organizations. As the super-talented people I got to work with moved to Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Deloitte, etc.; Hostile Sheep got opportunities to work with many of these giants. Some of them became anchor clients.

During the pandemic, several of our big clients stopped working with international vendors and, thus, stopped sending us work. Since the beginning of 2022, as business returned to some semblance of normal, a few of our big clients have reached out to discuss our agreements and inform us of their changing needs.

Organizational changes and “the great talent migration”

The pandemic seems to have led to two big trends across the largest organizations we’ve been working with: (1) many of the biggest organizations were forced to reconsider their organization structure and how they create value, products, goals, etc. and, (2) many of the most talented people have left their organization, leading to massive recruitment efforts to fill vacant positions. This, in conjunction with organizational re-shuffles, has lead to a “great talent migration”… where whole teams are jumping from one organization to another. This phenomena isn’t a problem when the market has enough talent to replace vacating talent. However, when the market doesn’t have enough talented people to fill vacant positions, a big problem occurs.

How do we replace Erika? She built the entire practice. Who could even write the job description to attract a replacement?

Selling me on “Yes”

I haven’t looked for job in almost 15 years. I’ve been happy with my career. I’ve done a lot of business development; pitches, RFPs, speaking, training, teaching, gifts, case studies, stories, templates, frameworks, etc. but no real job hunting. It’s been a while since I even considered working for someone else. But late last year (about 6 months ago) I was contacted by one of our biggest clients who wanted to talk to me about “an opportunity”.

It began with a video call. It was very casual and I was told three things: (1) a senior vice president left and they’re looking for someone to take over her team of 100+ people, (2) the job description could be figured out by the right candidate as part of their responsibilities, and (3) the salary is almost 3 times what I make in a good year. I wouldn’t consider closing my shop for a better title or a better salary, but the recruiter knew exactly how to attract me.

The conversation revolved around how big the reach of their platform is, what their corporate vision is, what cultural values the organization embodies, how many talented people could be mentored through the role, how the role could directly impact the lives and livelihoods of the users. I agreed to an in person meeting, even though I wasn’t sure I could ever close Hostile Sheep.

No cigar

Since 2012, I was approached 3 times (by 3 very different organizations) wanting to acquire Hostile Sheep. None of those offers were as tempting as the opportunity this big client was telling me about. Meeting in person made it almost impossible to say no. It was all I could do to leave without signing on. But, I knew it was a big decision, so I told them I needed to think about it. I took the weekend to cool down and think realistically about what I want. I ultimately turned them down and returned home with a reenergized outlook and a vow to grow Hostile Sheep.

Head hunters calling

I knew how my client got my name; we worked together on a dozen projects. I don’t have a resume or a portfolio, so I assumed my foray into the world of job-seekers had ended. Wrong.

I’m not sure how, but my name made it into the hands of a number of large organizations seeking someone to join at a very senior level. Having one cool job opportunity was awesome, self-affirming, and a huge compliment. Having a half-dozen cool job opportunities that would have me doing deeply meaningful work has really made me re-think my current career strategy and what I want from life.

Is this the right time?

I’m not overly worried about closing Hostile Sheep; several opportunities included the option to hire my entire team. My biggest concern was getting to work on the meaningful work I’ve been working on. To have the power to choose who I work with; the small start-up, the government organization, the charity, or the Fortune 100. In the end, I need to decide how much value I’m offering to my clients. How much value could I offer an organization that impacts 100s of millions of users every week?

I probably don’t have to wait long before these opportunities aren’t available anymore. I really never thought these kinds of opportunities were available to me in the first place. But, it gives me something to think about. What is my end-game? How would I want to close Hostile Sheep? Everything ends (or changes) eventually… I need to consider the end.

This idea; the end of Hostile Sheep, has been something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I haven’t posted anything for almost a year because (for the first time) I’m not sure how I want the next chapter of the Hostile Sheep story to unfold. I really feel like I’m on the precipice of change and want to share how this story unfolds with my friends, colleagues, peers, and clients. Stay tuned as I figure out where Hostile Sheep is headed.