Compassion, Not Control

Any one who knows me (or reads this blog) knows my first business was called Hopper Business Solutions. Although Hopper was much more controlled, it had less focus. My journey with Database Sherpa has been a little different from Hopper. But, I wouldn't be where I am with Database Sherpa if it had not been for Hopper, so I am grateful for past experiences. But, I’m not going to write about the past. Instead, I want to talk about something that’s different this time around; both in the way I operate the business and how I function as a business owner. It's this: it takes a family to grow and build a business.

Although the initial idea was born in my head, it was not without a lot of input from my Sherpa partner, Veronica Beck. And while neither of us can exactly remember what she said or did, it made a huge impression - enough of an impression to drive me to create a mission, a vision and values that are quite different from most businesses. And the difference is this: instead of putting compassion off to the side, we've made it the heart of Database Sherpa. It is one of our core values!

Veronica created this beautiful diagram to show the importance of compassion to our business:

Sherpa Precepts and Values

Equally important are clients. They give me an opportunity to experiment with new ideas and methods. They give feedback freely and encourage this work. For example, while learning about a new product for importing data called Apsona. I suggested to the client that we try it out during our importing trek. The client was amendable so, we learned Apsona together. Consequently, my other clients will benefit from my co-learning experience. Clients who are willing to experiment and learn with me are the main reason Database Sherpa continues and thrives. They allow us to keep moving forward.

Now others are embracing our “compassion-centric” model. Freya Bradford, the newest Database Sherpa team member is a client-turned-Sherpa who is helping define the business logic model and outcomes to measure (yes, we want to measure our work), as well as encouraging the work to go farther and broader. She would love to see this model and process scale broadly because her vision is big and so is her heart.

And another addition, Mary Davis, is also encouraged by this work and has gotten herself involved. Mary is tightening up our documentation and organizing it to make it accessible to other consulting companies wishing to transform their business into a more Sherpa-like practice.

In comparison, during my Hopper years I was a total control freak. I didn't trust others to do the work. Now, I honor the gifts, time and love that each person brings. Instead of dictating rank and position, I let each of them define their role and allow the definition to be written by them. I love it! It's so free form and wonderful. It's like a true family.

I know that part of this transformation is because of my age, but it's also because of the teachings of Hopper. I learned how tiring being controlling could be. I learned that it's much better and wiser to let things be and to let go of the feeling of having to "own it all". That each of us owns a piece of this wonderful model and process. That through this hard work together, we create a family and community of like minded individuals who desire to see things done in a new and different way.

I am so grateful to everyone who continues to support, nurture and love Database Sherpa. I know that without all the support, things would still move forward, but I must say, it would not be nearly as fun!

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