An old Russian proverb states, "Success has many fathers while failure is an orphan." Nearly everyone I've met wants to be successful -- though the definition of success may vary, the desire is there. I've met few people who aspire to be failures. Because of this, there is a great temptation to take credit where none is deserved. When an idea goes well, it's everyone's idea. "I knew that would work." Of course, at the time they may have thought it was the craziest idea out there. On the other hand, when an idea or project fails, it's like dropping a skunk in the middle of a party -- everyone scatters. No one wants to own the smell. This is where great leaders (and spouses and parents and coaches) stand out. They are content to let others get the credit and are willing to accept the blame. Perhaps the most…
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It's tempting, but don't do it. Never confuse activity for accomplishment. Just because we're busy doesn't mean we're being effective. Although we might be buzzing around from event to event, commitment to commitment, busyness itself is not a guarantee that our quality of life (or quality of work) will be better. In fact, it could be counterproductive. An injured muscle needs time to heal. Without enough time to rest, our best ideas may give way to just OK ideas; even worse, they might give way to really bad ideas. Make it your goal to be effective, not just busy.
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From Alvin Toffler via The Speed of Trust: "The illiterate of the future are not those that cannot read or write. They are those that cannot learn, unlearn, relearn."
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One of the blogs I regularly track is The Harvard Business Review. Actually, it's a collection of multiple blogs all under one roof. Last week, one of the articles that caught my attention was this one: "12 Things Good Bosses Believe." Here are the highlights: I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me. My success — and that of my people — depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things, not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods. Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day. One of the most important, and most difficult, parts of my job is to strike the delicate balance between being too assertive and not…
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I'm reading a white paper on creativity by Hugh MacLeod. Some you may know him as the guy who draws cartoons on the back of business cards (gapingvoid.com). In the paper, he shares his tips and advice on how to be creative. One of those was this: "Merit can be bought. Passion can't." While MacLeod was talking on the creative level, I'd like to venture out into leadership issues. If you're the leader of an organization and need an accountant who can keep the dollars and cents straight, that's about finding merit -- or competence. If you're looking for an accountant who is competent AND believes in what you're doing so much that he or she will work long hours and evangelize any vendor that comes within twenty feet ... that's about passion. Passion is an intangible. Passion is an internal fire in the belly that can't be contained. It's…
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