If it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing. On the journey of pursuing your goals and dreams, there will most likely be moments of feeling overwhelmed and a lack of progress. Here are a few tips to help get you through the slump.
Examine your actions. Sometimes we get lost in the trees and miss the forest. Our actions begin to misalign with the goal and get us off-track. Take a minute to re-evaluate the path you are on, and ensure it will lead you to the end solution. Continue reading
Poor planning on your end does not constitute an emergency on mine. This is a paraphrase of a wonderful quote I heard from Rory Vaden. I have lived this at times. I’m sure all of us have been in situations where we had to pull together as a team and produce nothing less than a miracle to get a deliverable complete on time.
This can create a great sense of accomplishment and team work. However, when done on a regular basis, it induces quite the opposite. Asking teams to perform heroics day in and day out while compromising their priorities to make the next deadline (and the next and the next) is one of the quickest ways to have knowledge seep right out of your company. These employees tend to get sick, start producing lower quality deliverables, and eventually just walk out.
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A quote from Jurassic Park has stuck with me over the years (we won’t count how many): “[You] were so preoccupied with whether [you] could that [you] didn’t stop to think whether [you] should.” Oftentimes I associate it with potential avenues we could venture down in science, and I realized this can relate to companies as well.
1. Ethics
The story of Mr. Nobel, the newspaperman, is probably a good depiction here. The story goes that Nobel wanted to increase his newspaper profits. He decided that he couldn’t raise the cost of his paper any more than it already was, or it wouldn’t be profitable. How else do you increase profits if you can’t raise price? Decrease cost. He did this by increasing the cost to the newsies (boys who stood on the street and sold the newspapers). I’m sure the scenario went something like this: “Mr. Nobel, sir, if you want to make more money, we could charge the newsies an extra 1/5 a cent per paper.” You could, but that doesn’t mean you should. The result? A non-union strike.
My last post talked about the communication skills we can learn from Queen Esther in the Bible. Today I want to focus on her leadership skills. Wouldn’t we all want this said of us, that perhaps you “achieved royal status for such a time as this.” You, uniquely gifted, were put here for this purpose to achieve significance. For Esther to achieve those things, she had to be equipped.
Give credit where it’s due. Mordecai discovered a plot against the king and let Esther know. The Bible says that Esther told the king on Mordecai’s behalf. She could have just walked in there, told the king there was a plot against his life, and never let him know how she came across this information. As a manager, has your team ever come up with a solution to an issue, and you walked into your boss’ office and told him the solution? Next time, make sure and let your boss know where the solution came from. If your team looks good, you look good.
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I frequently find myself drawn to the book of Esther in the Bible. Here was an amazing woman. The book intrigues me on so many levels. Did you know Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn’t mention God by name? But I wanted to focus on Esther’s character. I think there are some communication lessons we can take from her.
I would like to continue with Part II of “Lessons from the Devil.” Miranda Priestly, so aptly played by Meryl Streep, is the epitome of what not to do as a leader. Runway’s success is built on fear tactics and power-hoarding. The writing is on the wall with companies like these. When the domineering leader leaves the company, it enters a sharp decline. An example of this is when Lee Iacocca left Ford. The company went from consistent growth to dismal performance. No one was prepared to fill his shoes.
Lead by gaining buy-in. Miranda Priestly leads through fear. The first scene at Runway shows Emily, Miranda’s assistant, receiving a call that Miranda is arriving at the office earlier than expected. Panic ensues and rightfully so. When Miranda interacts with her employees, it consists of berating them for their ineptitude, doling out orders, and bullying in general. Continue reading
I wanted to share with you some lessons from the devil…the one that wears Prada, that is. For this segment I want to highlight a few things that, as an employee or a part of team, might help you succeed:
Being an expert is not a requirement to be successful. When Andrea joins the Runway team, she knew nothing of fashion, as evidenced by her unflattering blue sweater and frizzed hair. What mattered was character. Andrea had a strong work ethic, critical thinking skills, and the ability to problem solve. This eventually won the favor of the “devil” more than the more experienced, fashion-focused assistant. Continue reading
There is this secret power in the world. Some people seem to naturally possess it, others have to fake it, and some don’t even know what it means: the power of humor. It is amazing how quickly humor breaks down barriers and makes you seem more approachable. I joined a new team today, and the first thing I did was send them a comic telling them I hoped they could start off the day with a smile. Instant rapport. I’m not saying they trust me with their lives or anything, but I do think it opened the channels of communication.
I’m sure by now it’s an urban myth, but the story goes that there was a teacher who had a container. He filled it with rocks and asked the class if the container was full. They responded “yes.” He then took sand and poured it into the container. The sand filled the space between the rocks. Again he asked his class if the container was full. Again the class affirmed that statement. Finally he poured in water. The water filled the space between the sand.
One of my biggest frustrations is hearing people say things like, “Why should I bother? It’s never going to happen,” or, “I’m never going to be able to succeed at that, so why start?” I strongly believe in self-fulfilling prophecies. If a person believes they are not going to succeed or that they are never going to achieve something, conquer something, or obtain something, then they never really will succeed.
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