All in Life
One of the hardest things to do in our professional lives is to say no to someone when they ask for our time.
We always want to be helpful, to lend a helping hand whenever we can. If someone wants to show us their latest product, discuss their latest activity or just get together to “network”, we feel compelled to say yes.
We tend to romanticize the path to success. We maintain this perception that getting there was a straight-forward path. Particularly when we see others achieve it. This view that these folks took step 1, then step 2, and so on and so forth, until they achieved what they set out to do. That it was a clean path. That things just happened for them.
The truth is…
I have an out-of-state friend I've met in-person only once but have stayed in touch with via social media ever since. Every so often, we'll message each other, usually with regards to something we posted on FaceBook.
During one recent exchange…
There's a cynicism we tend to have when it comes to advertising and branding.
So many brands adopt personas based on their desire to attract a certain type of consumer. These personas are fashioned on the basis of deep consumer research, canvassing their likes, dislikes, tastes, preferences and more. Some of these personas succeed, others don't.
It's natural. We start a new project or new initiative and we get excited, as we should be. We see the potential for change, the potential impact and we want to make sure it's a success.
So we plan. We think through our goals, all the needs and requirements, where we need to get to. We identify the piece parts needed to make for our definition of success, because…
A few years ago, Professor Jens Krause at the University of Leeds conducted numerous experiments where he and his team asked groups of people to walk randomly around a large hall. Unbeknownst to the majority, a few individuals were given specific instructions as to where they should walk. No one in the group (informed or otherwise) was allowed to communicate (verbal or non-verbally) and everyone had to stay within arms length of each other.
I think all too often we tend to overcomplicate our choices. Particularly, when we're trying to decide whether we should do something or not, as it comes to our work.
A new project. A new role. A new job.
How many times have we done that?
We wake up in the middle of the night, and an issue we've been grappling with grabs hold. And we begin to turn it over in our heads. And over. And over. And over.
And just like that, another year has passed. What started out as a personal test of my ability to consistently pen down my thoughts and perspectives has now completed its second year.
As I said when I started, my goal has been to simply write - and to do so consistently. I wasn't going to worry about the specific focus, or subject matter, I would just do.
There are times when persistence, dedication, devotion are absolutely essential. Nothing great has ever been achieved by flitting from one activity to another, without considered thought for quality, without regard for tangible results. Success - however you define it - depends on this.
But to persist in situations that don't align with your inherent values, that don't feel right in that regard, is a recipe for failure.
As I wrote in my post on Monday, it's all about the team. No matter who or how many stars you have, their success - our success - depends predominantly on the ability of team to deliver as a cohesive unit.
But there is a critical lesson for all us in the mentality, the mindset of the star performer.
Guys like Michael Jordan are the "Go-To" guys on their teams.
If there's a need for a result, a change of pace or a game change, then you would pass the ball to Mike and let him do his magic.
We don’t work alone. We weren’t meant to. We’re not wired that way, we really don’t think that way and we certainly don’t get things done purely by ourselves in any practical sense.
"We don't lower our standards. We raise the bar and bring our people with us."
We have a couple of choices when it comes to dealing with performance problems within our team, in those times when we lack capability alignment, a consensus of will, or moral cohesion.
When I was very young, maybe 9 or 10, I bought my mother this necklace of ornate stones. At least, I thought they were ornate. (They weren’t. I bought it for her at a street stall while on vacation in Pakistan. A situation where what you paid for was what you got.)
One night soon after, we were headed to a dinner at a friend’s house…
Once, during 10th grade math class, I was called on to answer a question, one that was based on the prior night's homework. Homework that I hadn't done.
My answer was instinctual. “I don’t know. I haven’t done it.”
The teacher looked at me quizzically and asked, “Well, which one is it?"
I'm a reasonably open book. I like to think that I'm pretty transparent about what I think, how I feel and what I believe.
If I like something, I'm not hesitant about sharing my love for that thing. If I don't like something, for example, how an individual is behaving, I'll say that as well. (I'll try and find the right time and approach, of course, but I generally prefer not to leave things unsaid. Particularly if they are someone I need to have some sort of relationship with.)
You're either in the game or you're not. You're either playing or you're not. There's no point otherwise.
You don't get to pretend there's a middle ground. You don't get to coast and just reap the rewards. You don't get to stare at the race through your tinted windows and then expect to show up for the medals.
It seems to me that if you want to develop a support base or a following for the long term - a group of people who buy into your vision of the future, a tribe, if you will - then there's no better time to lay the groundwork than now.
Because building tribes is not an easy process.
Values are important. Values are sacrosanct. Values define who we are.
We all stand for - become known for - a specific set of values, whether we've expressly considered this or not.
