Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
There are three layers to learning: listening. Watching. Experiencing.
You want to lock in a lesson? Go through all three layers.
It begs the question of what are the layers to connecting with coworkers? or writing your first novel? or making a burger?
No argument here: it’s infinitely easier to get to the end goal if you know the layers involved around it.
Stay Positive & Everything Is An Onion
Anecdotes are incredible tools to help people understand a concept that they’re struggling with.
I’ve found another valuable use of the similarity skill: it can remove (or, at least, reduce) judgement of others.
If someone is pissing you off? Can you find a similarity in their life to yours that would lead to you acting in a similar way?
If someone is clearly in emotional pain… Can you find a similarity in your life that would make you feel the same?
The faster we can feel how they feel (or close to), the faster we can truly connect and overcome the hurdle.
Stay Positive & Blind Judgement Is The Opposite Of An Anecdote
I’ve found that people who continuously take professional certificate programs are the ones that are unafraid. It’s not always that they learn something new, but that they’re willing to learn something new and the activity holds them accountable to putting their knowledge into practice.
I’ve found that the leaders who excel have all been reported as having done the reading. They’ve consumed the industry, the leading authors, and the foundational books for their profession. But even more importantly: they still do the reading.
Remarkable things happen when you’re unafraid to keep ideas of how to be front of mind.
Stay Positive & You Can’t Drive To Your Destination Solely With The Rearview Mirror
It helps to be a good person, of course. One that listens, connects, gives, leads, provides feedback and so forth.
But that primarily impacts the work life of a person.
Today leaders need to do more for the well-being of the employee, which can be equated to the formula of work + life = well-being.
That means doing things that benefit their life. Connecting them with a financial advisor or giving that bonus to them when you hear they are working on remodeling their deck versus at the end of the year.
It forces a leader to consider the social events which were previously called “work events.”
Or consider how valued the wellness/fitness/health stipend is for organizations to offer.
A leader that viewed employees holistically used to be a nice-to-have; now it’s damn near a requirement.
Stay Positive & For Any Leader Or Business That Wants To Thrive, Of Course
It’s important to consider what is the next best option when the one you have don’t work.
Too often it’s easy to go to the worst option (though we call it the “easiest” to make ourselves feel good about it).
It requires some serious emotional intelligence to think through what the next best option is.
Hell, it may just be because of that that it is the next best option.
No thought behind it = worst option.
Stay Positive & Stay On The Smarter End Of The Spectrum
Shiny ideas are, well, shiny. And many-a-shiny-idea has turned into a remarkable success story.
I often wonder how quickly one should jump to the future-state of a fun idea, though.
There’s some sweet spot between there being an idea that everyone is gung-ho about, excited, riffing on and bonding over and then the future-state reality of questions like “does this align with our business goals?” “can we afford it?” “is this actually worth it?” “what will the board think of it” “what does success actually look like?” “what does failure look like?”
You know, when ideas go to die an honorable death.
In the early days of my career I was investing much more time in the ideation and shiny object stage. These days? I’m finding myself more quickly jumping to the future-state.
Perhaps I’m merely more interested in shiny ideas that will work than shiny ideas that won’t.
It’s an efficient process with a winning track record, but it does beg the question of how soon is to soon to imagine an idea in its future-state at the expense of the joy of ideation and collaboration.
Right now the thinking is: faster to the future-state because if the fun idea is also a functional idea, it’s far more fun to brainstorm and collaborate than when it’s not.
Stay Positive & Enjoy Winning Together As Much (If Not More Than) Ideating Together
When there’s momentum, it’s tough to stop it.
There is a reason that when you do something for 30 days, it becomes a habit.
The question that remains is what’s your list of what is tough to stop right now?
And more importantly, are you proud of it?
Stay Positive & Thankfully Altering It Is Just A Matter Of Starting Something Else
