WINGMANNING: BEING A BUSINESS HYPHENATE
Producer-Director-Businessman Stephen Spielberg
“A hyphenate is a person who is active in more than one sphere or occupation. E.G Producer-Director-Businessman hyphenates such as Spielberg”. We outline here 20 reasons why being a hyphenate can have its benefits especially in modern day business:
1} You can cross pollinate ideas from others in different spheres
2} You can share best practice from different areas of expertise
3} You can relay learnings from failures from one sphere to another
4} You can have your own creative ideas from connecting the dots in your mind that just wouldn’t have been connected if you were only in one sphere
5} You get variety. It keeps you curious and engaged
6} You can create your own network, which is most likely going to be unique to you due to you crossing over spheres that others don’t do
7} Some people work best spinning more than one plate. They need the urgency of multiple projects on at the same time rather than purely focused on one thing
8} We all get the phrase 'jack of all trades master of none'. We agree if you spread yourself too thinly you can lose depth in expertise. But you can master more than one thing…..
9} You gain more experience allowing you to see things from different perspectives
10} You widen your network
11} You can compare your connections to look for both comparing and contrasting
12} You can manage your time with greater flexibility (not always if there are clashes) with not being ‘all in’ on one thing, you have scope on multiple projects to dial up and dial down time depending on the needs of the projects
13} Focusing purely on one thing can often mean you can’t take a step back and see the woods for the trees
14} You are likely to be in different environments more which aids creativity
15} For some they value choice and the ability to work in different places often
16} It can break up the monotony / ‘Groundhog Day’ commute and work routine
17} ‘Variety is the spice of life’ – new and exciting experiences make life more interesting
18} You give yourself more options for the future. You may choose to focus back on one occupation in the future, you are at least keeping your options open
19} Businesses are becoming more flexible, they understand that some good staff want more variety or that all the advantages of the above could help grow their business
20} Having multiple occupations can make you feel less boxed in or restricted. Many talk about the positive feeling of freedom being able to operate in different spheres.
For the type of person that loves variety, if they can master more than one occupation or successfully operate in more than one sphere, being a Hyphenate business is potentially a unique way to advance your career or provide something new to multiple employees/ companies.