The Breakfast Club

I really like working with exceptional professionals. They are interesting, smart, talented, switched-on and fun to be around. They have a vibrancy about them and unless it is knocked out of them, they are courageous and not afraid to speak out. Those working in the more creative industries always seem to have attitude and a fresh angle to offer up. 

‘Cock your hat, angles are attitude’. – Frank Sinatra.

These professionals are doing really well in their consulting roles, their internal leadership roles, their CEO roles and their freelancer roles. There is a tension though. Yes, they are vibrant and courageous but at the same time like most people carving out a crust during modern times, they water down who they authentically are and take on a role in an attempt to belong and in an attempt to generate a decent income. These are the unspoken rules. In my experience, the fall-out from this affects exceptional professionals the most.

It takes energy to play a role. It takes energy not to take the true you to work every day. Whether the role is self-assigned or whether others have assigned the role, it doesn’t matter, the consequences still play out.

‘You see us as you want to see us—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions’. – Brian Johnson. The Breakfast Club. 1985.

What an iconic and unforgettable movie. The brainchild of John Hughes a Mid-Western American Filmmaker and Patron Saint of adolescents. Hughes had a unique ability to connect with youth and to raise the themes closest to their hearts. In this case, the movie explored dissatisfaction, identity, stereotyping, relationships growing due to rebellion against authority and the clincher, we are all outsiders and we all feel alone.

Are our exceptional professionals not grappling with the same issues? Replace the Chicago High School Library (a converted Gym in a real school for the purposes of the movie) with a Board Room or a Co-working Space and replace the Saturday morning detention characters with a mix of exceptional professionals across industries and have we not got the same scenario?

Both groups grapple with who they are as people and where they fit in society’s groups. Our Breakfast Club characters come to realise the value in coming together as a group and slowly, slowly putting down the roles and appreciating the safety of the group and the power in recognizing no-one is perfect and that flaws are okay.

Exceptional professionals recognize the power of coming together in support groups, mastermind forums with like-minded souls and appreciating the safety of the group too. I have been facilitating mastermind forums with this demographic for around five years now and I would have to say, it is my favourite work. The highlight for me (and why I keep offering them) is the look on participants’ faces after about session 1. After session 1 the roles drop and the ‘true souls’ come out to play. Then it is down to work – real work not work wrapped up in roles and personas. Suddenly there is an energy in the room that wasn’t there before.

Cut to the final scene in The Breakfast Club. It is not dissimilar. Bender, the rebel walks out onto the football field, vibrant, alive and raises his authentic fist in defiance (not scripted apparently) whilst Simple Minds’ ‘Don’t you Forget about Me’ hums in the background.

Seeking out a Mastermind forum, a safe forum, for dropping the roles and getting down to some serious authentic work is one way to make sure the world does not forget about you.

All Good Wishes - Wendy - the Human Architect