Category: culture

Not many people

Fabrizio1 Comment

After becoming a leader, there is a choice you have to make.

As you are in the middle, many think the choice is between siding with management and siding with your team. But the truth is, the two sides are not at war. And a huge part of your responsibilities as a leader is to not act as if they were.

The tension is instead between you and your team.

Every request from the people you lead will cut into your time, energy, and focus. You will not be able to do what you were doing before, what you were good at before. They will ask, demand, pretend, guess, second guess, and ask some more. They will push you to do things you are not used to. They will force you to have conversations you would normally avoid. They will expect that you raise above yourself, often without any guidance, and act as the leader you are paid to be.

And so the choice is between being who you are and being who your team wants and needs you to be.

Not many people are willing to let go – of their ideas, of their ways, of their habits, of their responsibilites, of their work, of their ego.

Not many people are good leaders.

Winners

FabrizioLeave a comment

We read of winners, and somehow we convince ourselves that if we will apply the same tactics we will be winners too.

Of course, those tactics have been used by a countless number of people, in a countless number of situations, and they did not work. We just do not hear about that.

Success is fascinating. Not only because it puts us under the spotlight, but also because it makes others blind to the sweat, stains, and tears that have put us there. There is no magic recipe. Just a story that we craft among immense difficulties and that often gives us back much less than we expected.

Enjoy the journey. It’s the only way.

Protect

FabrizioLeave a comment

We want to protect others.

We don’t want to hurt feelings, share unpleasant truths, give negative feedback. We refrain from difficult conversations, and we let issues escalate until they become too big to be tackled. We rarely push. We almost never ask. We always assume it is not the right time.

We want to protect others. And by doing that, we protect ourselves.

It is a noble intention. Let’s just not take cover behind it every time we are not ready to leap.

A practice of research

Fabrizio1 Comment

What you create is not going to be consumed the way you thought it would.

There is no education. There is no explaining. There is no walkthrough. The only way you address this is by committing to a practice of research.

Ask.

Listen.

Aggregate.

Adjust.

Ask.

Listen.

Aggregate.

Adjust.

It might be that at some point what you create is no longer what you want to create. It is not likely, but it is a possibility.

In that case, move a step away and start over.

Ask.

Listen.

Aggregate.

Adjust.

Companions

FabrizioLeave a comment

After one year (and counting) dealing with social distancing, isolation, uncertainty, fear of sickness and death, confinment, lack of freedom, impossibility to meet family and friends, video-conferencing, constant worrying.

We are all exhausted.

So if you are too, that is fine.

If you struggle to find motivation, if you do not want to get started, if you would rather call in sick, if you start thinking it’s not worth it.

You are not alone.

Reach out to somebody today. Tell them about how you feel. Listen as they tell you how they feel. And find a companion.

We all need that now.