The first (and maybe only) core principle for success...

I will have to say blog writing has become a little more difficult of late — the reasons when I look in the mirror seem to revolve around my inability to come up with a topic, sensing I have said it all before, being too busy (a lame excuse to be sure), possibly a lack of imagination on my part to expand out of my current way of thinking, or maybe the weather; all valid in my mind to varying degrees.

Maybe there’s a natural life expectancy for writing 500 work blogs around whatever I have some sort of opinion on — what I’m experiencing could simply be the natural order of things. However, maybe it’s possible that after writing blogs for such a long time I’ve naturally boiled everything down to what is most important — the key principles for whatever I think I know. And in that, naturally limited myself.

In effect through my blogging, I’ve identified what is at the core for increasing your chances for success, and now I have nothing else to say.

How you define success is your business, but it’s probably best to define it as achieving your goals. I suppose i could have titled this “The first (and maybe only) core principle for reaching your goal…” but frankly the word success offers more food for a person’s imagination (and interest).

As I reflect on past blogs, such as “A man who carries a cat by the tail…” and “The most effective way to do it, is do it”, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve incorporated many pithy sayings on the topic of action into my blogs over the years.

“Your beliefs don’t make you a better person. Your behaviour does”

“Talk is cheap”

“SSFFS” (Sell Something For Fuck Sake)

Et Certera

It seems, in one form or another (and I’ve started to tire of saying it), my perspectives revolve around the importance of taking action and doing something — by taking action you will progress, expand your knowledge, experience, and if you’ve linked your actions to your goal there’s a very high likelihood you’ll be successful. Don’t dream about it, don’t think about it, don’t eventually get to it, don’t wish it, and don’t talk about it. Action is everything, and based on all my blogs, it seems to be the only thing.

The first core principle for success — take action and do something that is aligned with your goal(s).

This has been a core theme over the years, and now there’s a realization that it’s either very, very important or maybe there truly is a lack of imagination on my part to expand out of my current way of thinking.

Either way, I did write a blog and I now have something important to think about.

iamgpe

Are you wearing your lucky rocket ship underpants?

At the very least I will introduce you to Calvin and Hobbes (or reintroduce you) — created by Bill Watterson, this iconic comic strip follows the exploits of a young boy named Calvin, and his sidekick Hobbes. Offering a view of the world through the lens of a young boy, their adventures are insightful, identifiable, heartfelt and very, very funny. I have at least three compilations on my bookshelf.

I only bring this up because I came across a Calvin and Hobbes strip I had in a file — when I looked at it I was awash with the feeling of being wrapped in a warm blanket… comforting. When I read it, I laughed out loud.

Calvin: You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.

Hobbes: Well you’ve done all you can do.

What makes this brilliant is how you decide to interpret Hobbes’ response — with empathy or sarcasm? If it’s empathy, the response is funny because rocket ship underpants aren’t really a solution, and if it’s sarcasm, it’s funny because rocket ship underpants aren’t really a solution. What makes this really funny though, in a knowing way, is there are times we’ve all felt we’ve done all we can do and things still aren’t going our way; stating quietly (or loudly) to anyone who will listen, “I’ve done everything I can do.” — and tethered to it, more often than we’d like to admit, the suggestion that “I’ve done everything I can do; it’s not my fault”. At best “lucky rocket ship underpants” is a euphemism for “I’ve tried everything I know, and no matter what I do, I can’t overcome the situation”, and at worst, it’s a euphemism for “I quit”; neither which overcome the situation.

There are situations (or problems) that will be bigger than your skills sets, capabilities and endurance, and create an uncomfortable choice: find a way or put on your lucky rocket ship underpants. Ever the optimist, I will say there is always a way, but it’ll definitely be something new, different, scary, and take you where you’ve never gone before (literally and figuratively). In fact it’s the only way.

And if you find yourself saying there is no way, as comfortable and cool looking as they are, you’re lucky rocket ship underpants will become a constant reminder of what you could’ve done. And none of us wear regret very well.

iamgpe

The guiding principles of a team

A team by definition is when there is more than one person involved — in fact, as I think about it, I would be hard pressed to think of a situation where there isn’t more than one person involved; except maybe someone stranded on a desert island, if I had to make a guess. Barring a tragedy at sea, most of your life will have you either on a team or leading one; even those so-called “Individual contributors” are part of a team. Like many, particularly if you have been around long enough, I’ve gleaned the spectrum of good to bad teams, as well as good and bad leaders — I will admit after some self reflection (and with full disclosure), I was probably somewhere in the middle. I definitely enjoyed the learning curve.

Discussing teams (and by extension leadership) covers a large swath of topics such as hiring talent, communications, team building, performance management, training, et cetera, et cetera; all far greater in scope than 750 words (or less) can do justice. However, 750 words (or less) will work quite nicely for the foundational components needed to develop a high performing team — and it involves getting your team in a room and discussing just two things (I appreciate that depending on the size of your team this may offer some facilitation and logistical challenges but a little imagination can solve this).

First thing discussed in the room — objectives

objective [əbˈjektiv] NOUN — a thing aimed at or sought; a goal.

In many cases the team is working with objectives that have been given to them so this is an opportunity to ensure everyone understands the objectives, offer an opportunity to raise questions and concerns, and ensure everyone is aligned with them. There is also the opportunity for the team to develop objectives for themselves that are important for success, and these can be folded into the overall objectives. My experience is once you get past three objectives you run the risk of becoming unfocused so prioritizing a list of objectives is important. And as you probably know, keep your objectives Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound.

Addressing objectives is something that is relatively straightforward.

The second thing discussed in the room — expectations

expectation [ˌekspekˈtāSH(ə)n] NOUN — a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future.

Admittedly I have only ever heard expectations discussed a handful of times so unlike objectives, maybe expectations are not as straightforward. In my discussions around expectations I’ve always started the exercise with the following, “As a team we expect… “.

“As a team we expect an environment of professional candour”

“As a team we expect timely feedback”

“As a team we expect everyone to participate”

“As a team we expect professional growth opportunities”

As a aside, an expectation can not be an objective and needs to speak to the team as a whole. Five to seven expectations is a good working number.

These Objectives and Expectations make up the framework for the team’s actions and behaviour, and drive everything they do — the team’s guiding principles if you will. Once you have these guiding principles it makes it easier to hire the best people, determine the most effective way to communicate, identify the best performance management approach, determine what is key in building the team, et cetera, et cetera.

At the very least, when it comes to teams (and by extension leadership), it’s an obvious place to start.

iamgpe