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Volume #35:
Managers, just like Monks, leave a life of comfort behind to pursue a calling.
Managers, just like Monks, are all sold out for their calling and pursue it radically.
Managers, just like Monks, pursue a role in society that is vital to ensure its continued flourishing.
Managers, just like Monks, foster education and the intellectual development of society.
Managers, just like Monks, gather people around them to create something bigger than themselves.
Managers, just like Monks, master the art of interruption (monks have a practice of being interrupted in their daily lives).
Managers, just like Monks, face being misunderstood.
Managers, just like Monks, ought to spend an unusual amount of time facing their inner demons.
Managers, just like Monks, are people of the desert more than they are people of the city.
Managers, just like Monks, organically are gatherers of people. Not always because they are trying to build a community, but because the community is forming around them.
Table of Contents
Attention Is Our Currency
I often share on podcasts or in 1:1 conversations that besides my “day-job” I also established a church as a pastor. I love leading a bi-vocational life. Working while also pastoring. One thing I like to focus on as an LP is to see the person I am investing in for who they really are. We all deal with a false self - the person we tell ourselves and other people we are, but in reality often are not.
We also all have our own struggles. We make sacrifices. We have families, friends. Some are lonely, some people are anxious. Some people feel like nobody hears them.
Venture Capital is an industry in which people are dependent upon external validation. Daniel Kimerling wrote an excellent section on this in his quarterly LP update (we backed Deciens as an LP).
Emerging Managers do not get a lot of external validation. Less than founders. I think as LPs we need to also be invested in the emotional well-being and the journey of the General Partners we back.
Sometimes that’s nothing you can quantify. But it’s as simple as making sure that you are a safe space for things that go beyond business.
So, I would say, I always try to be a pastor - but I am not always an LP.
Path to my cell in the monastery
Last week I got to spend 3 days with orthodox monks in Arizona. I adapted to their rhythms and way of life. Wake up at 4am. Pray. Lots of silence and reflection.
I was as much “offline” as my life affords me during these days. I was not trying to be away from work or my phone for the sake of it. Just so that I could be attentive to my heart and mind.
Many things beckon for our attention. Attention actually is the only currency we have that we are also in control of. What I give my attention to is what I grow towards. Attention creates presence. Attention creates devotion. Attention creates expectation.
I can’t promise my children my time with a 100% guarantee. My time is not mine to control. But I can promise them my full attention.
Same at work. When I am on a call with an Emerging Manager, I can give this GP my undivided attention. Attention leads to the right questions. And open conversation. Attention disarms people gently. Not to extract, but to connect meaningfully.
I learned a lot about attention and several other things from the monks, many of which are better to share in a 1:1 conversation. But some things I wanted to share through my writings here.
Ultimately, Venture Capital encompasses several layers of our life, so I wanted to write a piece that unites these layers and invites us into a broader perspective for our work.
Conviction Of Your Calling
If you dig through my archives, you will find a few writings on similarities between monks and managers. I actually find these commonalities meaningful and organic. Monks and managers are not two things that you forcefully have to layer on top of each other to find something they have in common. They just do.
Here are a few things monks & managers have in common:
Managers, just like Monks, leave a life of comfort behind to pursue a calling.
Managers, just like Monks, are all sold out for their calling and pursue it radically.
Managers, just like Monks, pursue a role in society that is vital to ensure its continued flourishing.
Managers, just like Monks, foster education and the intellectual development of society.
Managers, just like Monks, gather people around them to create something bigger than themselves.
Managers, just like Monks, master the art of interruption (monks have a practice of being interrupted in their daily lives).
Managers, just like Monks, face being misunderstood.
Managers, just like Monks, ought to spend an unusual amount of time facing their inner demons.
Managers, just like Monks, are people of the desert more than they are people of the city.
Managers, just like Monks, organically are gatherers of people. Not always because they are trying to build a community, but because the community is forming around them.
The simple truth is: Conviction is costly.
I will leave it up to you to reflect on which one of these resonates the most with you. But I want to focus on the conviction around calling that I got to witness while living with the monks.
The simple truth is: Conviction is costly.
True conviction is marked by sacrifice. It is also equally, if not more, marked by joy and meaning. Things that cost something are worth something. Things that are worth something cost something.
Monks don’t go home to spend Christmas with their family. Monks won’t go on a nice vacation. Monks don’t own anything that increases in value. Monks face rejection for their decision, even from family members. Monks purposefully do not seek out external validation. Monks face their own demons more than what is comfortable.
There are many more sacrifices monks made. And only very few people are called to make those sacrifices. I am not called to be a monk. I am a husband and a father.
Emerging Managers leave a comfortable career path behind. Emerging Managers have a worse salary than what they could be having. Emerging Managers spend years before seeing results. Emerging Managers get rejected constantly. Family members are skeptical of their decision-making.
There are many more sacrifices managers make. AND ONLY FEW PEOPLE ARE CALLED TO BE EMERGING MANAGERS.
What I loved so much about seeing the lives of these monks is that their daily rhythms, what they were talking about, how they were clothing themselves, their humility, the way they carried themselves, the paintings on the wall, what they ate, etc. It all was an embodiment of their calling.
Their life reflected the depth of their calling more than any words could.
This is one key-reflection I took home. Am I living my life and everything I do, in such a way that it fully reflects what I am called to do. And I think we should not compartmentalize our work out of this question.
Monastic Practices For Us
Here are some practices that can help us be better investors that are inspired by the monastic life:
Implement daily rhythms throughout your entire day that constantly center your attention
Endure silence
Schedule time for reflection
Be in a community of people often
Intentionally choose the costs of your calling