“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
– Nelson Mandela
You know it when you see it: a resilient person is someone who recovers from adversity and keeps going, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes I refer to this as “bounce-back-ability”.
This month we are highlighting several competencies that have become more important in our evolving workplace. Last week the focus was on the value of flexibility. Today we’ll look at personal accountability.
Do you answer for your personal actions? Unfortunately, this is becoming rarer in the workplace. People are quick to blame others and slow to take responsibility for what they did or didn’t do.
Leaders develop proficiency from a lifetime of experiences. Many of these experiences occur initially upon becoming subject matter experts, such as IT technician, tax attorney, or financial advisor, to name a few.
Your leadership expertise develops as an outgrowth of these experiences. Keep in mind, though, that most people are not trained in what it is to be a leader. Many stumble into leadership and do what they think they are supposed to do in this new role.
Do you ever feel like a crazy lunatic as you try to accomplish way too many things at once? Of course, you have! Not only do you experience this, but everyone has a different “lunatic pace.” Your threshold may have more or less elasticity than someone you work with closely.
I’ve found that people pick up their pace when they are working with someone who zooms through the day, even though it may be hard to keep up. These are critical moments, because when you constantly try to pace yourself at what is an unnaturally rapid clip for you, you will inevitably miss things.
“Focus and simplicity…once you get there,
you can move mountains.”
– Steve Jobs
It almost seems counterproductive to think that simplifying can make a difference in achieving the results you desire. Instead, we tend to overly complicate things. If we add this embellishment or that (time intensive) detail, we think the outcome will be so much better.
Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. is just around the corner and I’d like to acknowledge the spirit of the holiday by paying tribute to the men and women who died while serving in the military.
Unlike last year when many of us were locked down due to the pandemic, this year most people have the ability to actually have an almost “normal” holiday. Gatherings of friends and family with accompanying barbeques are on many families’ agendas.
It’s that time of the year when people make resolutions with the best of intentions for the year ahead. If you do this, good for you! If you can’t quite get to resolutions, though, there are other ways to reflect on the past and envision the future.
2020 has likely been among the most challenging you have experienced. Throughout the year, you’ve undoubtedly learned more about yourself than in other years. As such, you know more about what you’re willing to tolerate.
Remember the strategies and goals that you started the year with back in January? It seems impossible to believe that we have barely three weeks left in 2020. Clearly, many of the hopes, plans, and aspirations with which we began the year were dashed and sucker punched.
But remember, it’s not what happens to you that matters, rather it’s what you do about what happens to you.
No matter what your political leaning, I’m sure you’ll agree that this week’s U.S. presidential election has been a gigantic distraction. I wonder how much productivity has tanked as a result of election watch.
As this disruption is likely to continue for the time being, it’s a good time to review tips to stay focused during times of major distraction.
You know the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. We all succumb to this from time to time. And when it happens, it’s not always easy to snap out of it.
During challenging economic times we don’t have time to be “insane”. We need to do. We need to be productive. We need results.