Stay “Blissfully Naïve”

Years ago I was described as “blissfully naïve” and by the older coworkers on my team - and while it was not meant as an insult, today I reflect back on what a powerful perspective I brought to the group. In the very early part of my career (when I was “20 and a minute”) I had the opportunity to work on an entire team of people who had children roughly my age. They were somewhat jaded by the corporate world and would smile and laugh in the most loving way when I assumed things would go according to my plan. They never told me I was wrong, but they would joke that they wished they could be as blissfully naïve as I was.

Today, I am in the same age bracket as those early “older” coworkers and I sometimes catch myself smiling and laughing when I see those 20-somethings assume everything will work out according to their plan. It is the simple confirmation that we are lucky enough to be in that stage of blissful naivety for only a short period of time. But then there are other times when I catch myself in the blissful naïve state like the areas of my career where I have pivoted in this stage of life. I simply don’t know any better and therefore there is still the possibility things will work out according to my plan.

As leaders (and those more seasoned in our careers) a challenge each of us to look out for those times when our cynicism creeps in, those times when we just know it won’t be that easy, those times when we smile and laugh when those younger than us think that the plan has a chance of success. And when we find those times, I challenge each of us to find a way to embrace that seemingly naïve perspective and allow ourselves to believe (if only for a moment) but life is still that easy.