Thank you for visiting Level 5 EQ! The opportunity to share a bit of insight into the journey that made this work possible is appreciated.
It started from humble beginnings. Raised in a rural, blue-collar town in the Midwest, I joined the US Navy within a year of leaving high school. It wasn't a patriotic decision. A young man was simply looking for more from life. Following six years of service I entered the workplace with an honorable discharge and a high school diploma.
The climb would start from the bottom. Initial salary...$24K.
The ascent included eight promotions over a twelve year period. I was 36 when I reached the top.
The (CEO) role was 4,000 miles from home and 115 miles Northeast of London, England. This stage of the climb would take place in a different role, industry, country, and culture.
The $24k salary was replaced with more than $1MM in annual compensation. The American sedan with European luxury cars. McDonald's with some of London's finest restaurants.
Two truths emerged from this ascent. Firstly, the view from the top is not as grand as one would imagine it to be. Reaching the pinnacle of success as defined by what you do for a living, what you are in your job and social titles and what you have in money and things is much less grandeur than it appears from afar.
The second truth...it wasn't even the right mountain. I was searching to find something in a place where something doesn't exist. Peace, joy, fulfillment, and (true) success cannot be acquired. You cannot fulfill from the outside that which must be nourished from within.
The correct path was lit shortly after returning to the US. God woke me in the middle of the night to a room filled with the glow of his spirit. The light, soft and warming, illuminated everything. In that moment God gave me my purpose in life; a reason for being and an understanding of human behavior that would transcend everything I had come to know about business and life. I was now in possession of a gift that would help others with their climb; an understanding that would transcend what others had come to know about how work and life are meant to be lived.
That was more than 20 years ago. Thousands of individuals and numerous organizations have since benefited from this gift. The most recent recipient is a Fortune 50 company; an organization where the integration of this work resulted in one of the highest rated, widely used and most talked about training initiatives in the firm.
However you come to know the best of your individual self (or the collective self of your team or organization), the hope is that you spend your days experiencing the joy, growth and fulfillment that can only be found within; that you experience work and life as they are meant to be. As Emerson famously noted, "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Welcome to Level 5 EQ!
Wishing you the best!
Doug