Pick it up & read it: “The Dip” by Seth Godin
This is not a new read, but it is a timely read IF you are wondering whether you should push through during a difficult time in leadership OR cut your losses and move on. Inspirational, motivational, and very helpful. BONUS = it should only take you about 30 minutes to read.
(yes craig, I will get your stolen copy back to you.)
Try – Accept Critical Feedback – Learn – Try Again
The real world is not like the classroom. Book knowledge does not translate into application and success. If you really want to get better at your leadership, your vocation of choice, your skill sets then you are going to have to submit to practice. Don’t just sit your butt in a classroom, at a coffee shop with a book or be holed up at your apartment with your computer thinking that you are going to get better at what you do. You have to get out there and try it.
And when you do ‘try it’, don’t listen to your best friends, girlfriend, your disgruntled-going-nowhere-coworkers or your mom about whether you are on a good growth path. Ask honest people. Ask people who will tell you what you really need to hear. Ask people who don’t care about your feelings over your development but ask ones who will actually tell you the painful truths you need to hear in order to get better. Learn from what they have to say. Figure out how to apply it then go out and practice some more.
CRITICAL – don’t ever take a job or an internship where you don’t get to practice in some form the thing that you really want to be excellent at.
“Can you do it?” isn’t the question that will separate you from others and move you towards your dreams.
“Will you it?” is the differentiator.
People of desire, grit. self-reliance, determination, resourcefulness and a willingness to try-&-fail prove themselves far, far more valuable in leadership and in life than people who possess ability, intelligence, phenomenal grades and credentials, the right answers, the best looks or an incredible resume.
Talk is CHEAP. Good ideas and intentions are even cheaper. Regurgitating other people’s ideas is the cheapest of all!
[I hope you didn't pay too much for that diploma that might have only taught you what other people think but hasn't moved your butt towards action or difference making.]
So take an inventory… what do you keep telling people you CAN do, but that you have yet to accomplish? Are you that guy or gal sitting at the table with all of the right answers and good ideas, but who never puts them into action? Do you need someone else to ‘come along’ with you or are you going to go out and get it done regardless? Do the conditions have to be ideal and perfect or are you willing to get started, figure it out, overcome a few obstacles and move forward with big plans and new ideas? Do you settle into doing the easy things, the things that other people line up for you to do?
How far out is the future date when you will turn your potential into reality?
You don’t have to be incredibly intelligent, brave, masterful or lucky… what you need is to do is TRY.
Most leadership BOOKS (not reading) seem like a huge waste of time. The best ideas can usually be summed up in 150 pages less than the publisher and author actually used. Here are a few books that are worth their price tag that have had a profound impact on my leadership and lifestyle:
Every environment is in need of players who bring ADDED VALUE. When an employer hires a person they begin with the expectation that an individual will integrate into the environment, learn how to work well on the team, do their job at or above a ‘B’ average. But, spoken or unspoken, what they are hoping for is a leader. What they are hoping for is someone who will bring additional value to the team & context. What they are searching for are the ‘Intangibles’ that will ultimately make you irreplaceable. Right now, EVERY average employee is replaceable. So we are faced with answering the question, “what make us IRREPLACEABLE?”
The answer = ADDED VALUE.
Benefit beyond your sticker price; that is the true definition of value.
So, what do you do for free? What will set you apart from everyone else? Will it be your optimistic attitude? Your eye for excellence? Your nature to serve the leadership? Your ‘can-do’ approach? Can you come up with new or better or more cost effective solutions? Are you a problem solver? Do you develop and lead others?
Leadership demands that you grow. Leadership also demands that you grow your organization or business. Don’t be tempted to just ‘go to work’, get the job done, and then go home. Think bigger than that! Think about what COULD BE for the people that are following you. Dream ahead of the current reality. Start charting a course to an alternate future. Quite worrying about how bad things are right now and start believing in you and those around you to lead a way to a better place tomorrow.
Linked here is a post of mine as it relates to leadership in a small business; the content is good in any context.
Here is some transparency: I don’t like to be boxed in.
Think about it for a moment…. do you?
Not everyone thinks they are claustrophobic, but given the right circumstance, just about anyone could snap in confinement. Your leadership situation is no different. Women didn’t make up the concept of the glass ceiling, they just defined it, proclaimed it and still work to eliminate it. African-Americans didn’t want just to be emancipated, they also want to be dignified and respected as the equal human beings that they are.
Where is this leading you ask?
It isn’t just about the BIG issues in our history, but it is about your personal potential, growth and leadership capacity. It is very valid, good and most of the times necessary to start at the bottom and work your way up. BUT (and this is a big but) you must find and stay in situations where your potential is not limited by anything other than your personal ability to grow in the necessary skills of your chosen arena. Your best will not come out when you feel ‘boxed in’. You will not be motivated to bring your best to the table if you all ready know that your at your maximum earning potential, leadership level, and position of influence to the organization.
Look to maximize your current skills & contributions. Look also to your development for the future.
We live and work in an increasingly accountable culture where results are to be expected AND we want quick solutions/fixes. Therefore, we want EVERYTHING to rise and fall on ‘A’ leader. If you hire someone to be a leader with the expectations that they and they alone will take you to the ‘promised land’ I think the organization and the hired leader are in for a long, difficult and tumultuous season. One person’s leadership alone will not solve a poor or suffering situation, and one person’s leadership alone will not bring down a healthy, stable environment.
Therefore young leader, do NOT be tempted when looking at new opportunities with the self serving belief that you will ‘be the savior’. You might be a critical part of the building process, but IF you are a leader, you should be able to recognize that there are many factors which go into success and also into disaster.
Integrating into an new environment can be challenging. Unless you are working at Burger King, I think it will take you at least 3 months to start to get your bearings about how things work, what is expected of you and how to deliver what ‘they’ are looking for. Even then, it will take you 3-9 months more to really get some great traction. Problem = employers are often impatient. In their heads they are thinking,
”I am paying you. You should be making my life easier and getting more things done.”
You need to figure out what the MOST important things are that you were hired to accomplish. Typically there are 3 priorities for leadership type of roles for which every boss holds expectations.
Priority 1 = “more than anything, I am counting on your for _______.” (You need to deliver ‘A’ quality work in this area; if you aren’t near an ‘A’ in the first 30-60 days, you can probably kiss the job good-bye if you are in a competitive environment.)
Priority 2 = “you also need to deliver this ________.” (You will be be allowed to deliver ‘C’ quality work in this area at first, but a minimum of ‘B’ quality work will become the expectation in the first year.)
Priority 3 = “here are some misc. items that I would like you take take responsibility for.” (The quality of your personal work in these areas isn’t often as important as the fact that you take responsibility for them and are conscientious that they need to get done within some reasonable timeline.)
HERE IS THE PROBLEM / CHALLENGE —>
MANY young leaders don’t discern quickly enough what these priorities are from their boss, which order they go in and also what ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘C’ work looks like according to their boss. They ‘why this happens’ is various and relatively not important.
You need to do at least 2 things in your new role. 1. = ASK your boss directly what the priorities are and what success looks like in each area. 2. = pay CLOSE ATTENTION to the signals and signs in your environment to be sure the verbal &/or written priorities are actually the REAL priorities. CLUE = sometimes they are NOT the same.
who wants to hear anyone frustrated at them for not getting stuff done on time? not one of us, but yet, it seems that for some of us as the work load is piling up, we have a hard time just “getting it done”. so, here are some basics to consider and integrate into your work life when you need to just get some crap done, out the door and delivered.
Tech info. - if you run on a PC, then just use the Outlook task pad; I used it for years and it is VERY robust. if you are MAC, you can use THINGS, TASK PAPER, or OMNI FOCUS.
— more pointers to come —