"Risk and reward is real."

One of the best people leaders I have ever met just got a promotion — into the C suite.

quotesgram.com

When I heard about this I just had to send a congratulatory note, and when I received a reply (in classic style) it said, "Risk and reward is real".  As I read the reply I could not help but smile and nod — it still resonates with me.

risk [risk] NOUN — a situation involving exposure to danger: VERB — expose (someone or something valued) to danger, harm, or loss:

re·ward [rəˈwôrd] NOUN — a thing given in recognition of one's service, effort, or achievement: VERB — make a gift of something to (someone) in recognition of their services, efforts, or achievements:

I am certain almost everyone has heard it said, in one iteration or another, that the greater the risk the greater the reward — and although it maybe trite, it's more often than not true. There is certainly a correlation that needs to be considered with everything that we do. 

As they say (and I'm not sure who they are) — "Life is a contact sport".

In other words, this wonderful life we have been given is dangerous — it challenges us, it wants to eat us, it wants to make us sick, it'll take what we have away from us if we aren't paying attention, and for every action we take there is a reaction that may or may not be in our best interest. Life and our actions (which includes non-action) inherently brings risk with it, as well as those associated rewards. Life is simply a series of risks and rewards for about seventy-five years (give or take), so we might as well get involved because staying under the covers really isn't an option.

With risk being an inherent part of life, it then becomes all about mitigating risk or taking on calculated risk — and whether we appreciate it or not, either through innate ability, training, or luck, we become experts when it comes to risk management. Our goal should then be about constantly developing our abilities in this regard, and getting the most out of the risk that comes our way.

It is all about understanding and aligning our abilities with our understanding of the situation — and having the confidence to believe we will be successful.

• Know your abilities and continually strive to expand them — they are the tools that allow you to take on a situation (an intellectual endeavour)
• Understand the situation you need to deal with and align your abilities with it — and then objectively determine if your abilities allow you to be successful dealing with the situation (an intellectual endeavour)
• The confidence to be able to use your abilities and deal with the situation successfully — this is the innate understanding that you can overcome the risk of not being successful (more often than not an emotional endeavour)
• The will power to overcome obstacles, make things happen, and not stop until you are successful (I'm not even sure how to categorize it)

And reward?

This of course can be anything, either intrinsic or extrinsic, and mostly reflects the goals of taking on the situation and risk in the first place. And yes, we naturally gravitate to money as the reward but it can be anything from simply learning a new skill to the satisfaction of doing something never done before. The subtlest reward though, and probably the most valuable, is the confidence that comes with taking on risk and succeeding... which in turn encourages you to take on new situations and more risk (and so on). Until one day you look back on it all and say to yourself, "Look at everything I've done and how far I've come"

Of course none of this happens if you find yourself still under the covers.

iamgpe

One of my most important guiding principles...

I suppose there are some people who travel the roads of life without any guiding principles but I don't know any of them — these are the "rules and character" that regulate our thoughts and actions in everything that we do. I know many of us may not have them well defined or articulated but we know there is something that guides us. These principles are at the core of who we are, and although they evolve, rarely change in my opinion (except maybe because of dramatic events).

This is what I think about just after Christmas and before the New Year presents itself — it's always an important seven days for me. I don't necessarily reflect on all of my guiding principles (although I might), but I definitely focus in on one. This line of thinking actually has me wondering if I've ever articulated my guiding principles (even to myself) — an oversight I will correct here and now:

• "Be Curious"
• "Be loyal and generous to my friends and family"
• "Work hard"
• "If you are knocked down seven times, you get up eight"
• And the fifth, the one that started these 400 words, is "Reflect and Plan".

This time of the year (after all the Christmas presents are opened) is a natural time to reflect on the past year, review how it measured up to what you wanted to accomplish, and contemplate the "good and bad" of it all — it is figuratively the time to prepare for the next step of your journey.

This is the time to plan what you will do next, what you want to accomplish over the next 365 days, and what the next step of your journey will be.

I'm a big advocate of getting it down on paper because it just seems more tangible and carries the weight of something that is important to get done; in a small way this blog is the start of that process for me. By many measures this has been a successful year, and as I reflect on my guiding principles, they have served me well — and as I say farewell to 2017, I will say I am very excited about the year to come. I plan to make it a great one.

As you prepare to ring in 2018, I wish you a very Happy New Year. 

With great appreciation,

iamgpe

PS: Don't forget to write something down.

The messaging of an idea... working with feedback — PART 5

I thought I would stay with the theme of feedback a little longer for a couple of reasons — I received some "solid feedback" on my last blog, and more importantly, the topic of feedback is so important for an idea to flourish and develop, and that of course supports the evolution of the messaging for said idea.

Feedback will impact the idea, the message, and the messenger. 

I think I will begin with the "messenger" because more often than not it's her idea or at least she has drank the "Kool-Aid", and I want to kick this off with some feedback I received at an annual performance review a long time ago — "Graham," the person said, "You get very defensive when you are given feedback". To that, I got defensive. 

I have come along way since then, and although I'm not perfect, I believe I have developed a valid perspective on receiving feedback as the messenger:

• When receiving feedback check your ego at the door and listen to it.
• Do not categorize feedback as good or bad, or right or wrong, or relevant or non-relevant — again just listen to it and capture it for later.
• We are still human and sometimes the first two points are difficult, so let some time pass before you constructively review the feedback.
• You should never dismiss any feedback until you have constructively reviewed it.
• When you are ready to constructively review the feedback revisit the goals, objectives, and strategies of your idea, your message, and your messaging — this ensures alignment and helps measure validity, efficacy, and relevance of the feedback.
• Not all feedback is created equal — not only because of its relevance but also because of where it is coming from. This is the reason we search out domain experts and experience.
• It is very dangerous not to accept feedback because it doesn't align with your current thinking.
• If you keep getting similar feedback from credible sources there is a very high probability they are right, and you, maybe not so much.

With regard to the idea and the message, well that's simple... just adopt the feedback to make your idea and the messaging better. And if you don't, then you are either not finding the right feedback to develop your idea, or you just aren't willing to accept it — either way, your idea is destined to never go a far as you would like (if anywhere at all).

And regarding the feedback on that presentation in my last blog, I reviewed it with the Principal of Takota Asset Management using the same lens as above, and he's incorporated the feedback into future videos where the alignment makes sense with his strategy, objectives, and resources. 

The feedback (and the process) was greatly appreciated I was told,

iamgpe