First of all, we all have them and we will experience even more of them in years to come. Now, that we got that out of the way, it should be easier for each of us to internalize that truth and act accordingly. While I strongly believe that we should all focus on our strengths, I also believe that acknowledging failures is equally as important in our individual development and growth journeys. Once we fail, we should own them, don’t hide them, learn from them and move on. Don’t dwell on them forever, but do take the time to acknowledge them and make necessary adjustments that will make the road ahead less bumpy.
Learn from everyone, expand your perspectives and listen to what those you work with have to say about your organizational leadership, culture, performance, product, services, outcomes…your present and your future.
Invite folks to be truthful and share what they have observed along the way, both across the industry and your organization.
Share what you know, what you have experienced, what you have done before, what you have studied, share freely with others. As long as you are not sharing confidential, private or proprietary information, share what you know in service of helping other people.
While many see hoarding information as a chip they may want to cash in at a later date as something that provides them with “job security” – I see it differently. I see those who refuse to share info and help their colleagues as a liability, as someone who is self-centered and only cares about themselves and their short-term goals. In the end, if they are not team players, perhaps they shouldn’t be on a team.
Get out of your office or your cubicle, step away from your desk and invest time in building relationships and partnerships with people. This thing, the entire life and our careers and businesses within it is a people game first. Everything always starts with people so look for ways to build partnerships, synergies and proactively resolve any difficulties or challenges in person.
Invite your colleagues and partners out to lunch and you will see that the value of those 60-90 minutes will quickly surpass weeks (or even months) of e-mails which have been sent back and forth.
If you aspire to go beyond mediocrity and dream of greatness, you will need to act accordingly and work hard each day. During this (possibly never ending) journey, you will need to prioritize and sacrifice some of the activities that are not as productive and valuable towards realization of those massive goals. There will be weeks, months, even years where you will not be up to date on the latest and hottest TV/Netflix/Hulu/Amazon shows or be up to date on the most scandalous behaviors across our pop culture or our political arena, and that is OK.
Don’t be lazy if you want to do better for yourself and your family as that disposition will lead you everywhere except towards hard work which is the answer to most of our challenges.
Have you ever intentionally sabotaged your job interview? And I don’t mean you could have been a bit less lazy with your resume or a cover letter, I mean, intentionally, half way through the process decided that that opportunity wasn’t it and you have found ways to “throw” the interview and the entire search process?
Hiring is tough. It takes too long; we reject great potential colleagues; advance those who are not; and during this process we don’t have the complete picture of those who are applying (nor do they of us) and for those reasons, it is inevitable to make mistakes.
We have all hired someone who wasn’t the right fit for our culture, our strategy, our goals…and so on. The question is how do we deal with that situation when it arises? Here are my thoughts.
There are many reasons why many of us decide how to respond and react to opportunities. They range in many respects, but overall, many can be grouped under one of these three primary areas:
1. CONFIDENCE – if you lack confidence in your own abilities, it’s a no go from the start. No matter what you want to accomplish, if you are not confident that you can pull it off, no one else will believe in you either. Others won’t invest in your idea or partner with you. With this mental state it is very difficult to acquire customers, close sales, improve and grow.
2. ACTION – Confidence is important, but confidence alone won’t help you get closer to your targets if you don’t act on those ideas, goals, plans and strategies. You must act to have a chance at success.
3. PERSISTENCE – You are confident, you have started taking daily actions towards your goal and a massive failure occurs. Now what? How you respond after failures (yes multiple failures and setbacks) will determine the final outcome.
Learn the system and the rules of the game before you begin playing it. Same applies to your organizations, industries or markets. Learn what works, what doesn’t, how are decisions made and who is able to influence the outcomes and contribute to performance. Once you have done your homework, leverage what you have learned for your future actions in service of business success as well as personal career growth and advancement. Learn the game, first.
Whether you are a senior executive with decades of relevant experience in your field or a rookie who started today, you should always proactively invest in building relationships and meeting new people. Go out there, meet others, provide value, speak at events, ask questions and most importantly, listen and learn from those who may be further ahead in business, career and life.
Who you know and even more importantly, who knows YOU, will directly or indirectly impact the opportunities which will become available to you for years to come. Get out of your office and away from your desk and meet people across your organization, across your industry and across other industries and markets. Not only will you learn what you can do to help your business improve, but you will also learn what you need to do to continue improving yourself, as that is a never ending journey.
