The way people will think of you does not depend on how productive you are, on your job title, on your responsibilities, on how much money you make, on the number of meetings you attend, on how often you share your opinion.
The way people will think of you does depend on how you make them feel when you are around.
How supportive you are.
How helpful you are.
How kind you are.
How listening you are.
How empowering you are.
Our set of values is often completely off the mark.
You meet a lot of people, get acquainted with some of them, befriend a few, date some, and marry one.
You apply to loads of jobs, interview for some of them, get to the last stage with a few, get two or three offers, and accept one.
You get to try a lot of different things, enjoy some of them, succeed at a few, and master one.
You talk to a wide audience, get through to some of it, really resonate with a few, and influence one.
Many activities in life work like a funnel.
And when you get to the one, that’s just the time when it’s time to start all over again.
Making decisions using employee polls is about one of two things.
One – Management and leadership think the decision is not important enough to deserve their time.
Two – Management and leadership don’t want to have that specific responsibility.
One way or the other, it’s a bad idea. Instead, find somebody who is competent and talented, and put them in charge of figuring that particular thing out. Help them collect the opinion of those who have something to contribute, and make it clear that it’s eventually up to them to decide on the course of action. Support the final decision, measure success, and help them improve.
Polls don’t motivate, but this approach might do just that.
We want things to get better, but they very rarely do.
We want relationships to improve, but they very rarely do.
We want somebody to acknowledge our talent, but they very rarely do.
We want situations to change, but they very rarely do.
We want people to seek us out and shine in our presence, but they very rarely do.
They very rarely do. And they will absolutely never do if we expect change to happen on its own.
To ensure that intention is behind what you do every day, every moment, you need to be able to sit with what makes you feel sad, scared, uncomfortable. You need to be able to accept that and avoid making decisions that will make those feelings go away temporarily. You need to embrace that inevitable part of life so that you can also welcome the exact opposite, equally inevitable, at the appropriate moment.
It sounds so counterintuitive that almost nobody does it.
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