Tag: empathy

What is keeping you

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When you have made up you mind about something and still struggle to follow through, share the decision with someone.

It will help you go deeper, see your arguments from another perspective, and it will point to that part of the whole that is keeping you.

Nuanced

FabrizioLeave a comment

We are parents, candidates, friends, bosses, colleagues, direct reports, volunteers, competitors, acquaintances, organisers, participants, customers, service providers, advocates, seekers, petitioners, suckers, casualties.

And of course, we are much more.

While being aware of all the roles is great, the real point is ensuring that we can still keep them somehow separated to appreciate nuances and be able to give second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) chances.

A friend coming in for an interview is still a friend AND a candidate for a position at your company.

A boss who volunteers for the organisation you’ve been involved with for years is still a boss AND a volunteer.

Somebody you don’t get along with who walks into your shop to purchase some goods is still somebody you don’t like AND a customer.

Roles do not erase each other. They add to each other.

Three skills

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Three skills you deeply need in every job.

  1. The capacity to manage expectations. When are things coming, why are we prioritising this over that, what is the focus for this quarter, why are we changing what we previously communicated. Do it often, be consistent, and be mindful of everyone who needs to be involved.
  2. The capacity to deliver on promises. Very much linked to number one, and arguably one of the biggest reasons why people fail at the work they do. It’s a matter of being proactive and realistic about what you can achieve, it’s about saying no and I can’t, then shifting gear towards number three.
  3. The capacity to focus. It’s impossible to set expectations or deliver on promises when continuously distracted by a new trend, a new urgency, a new need. Stick to it for long enough and build your credibility.

Start working on these today to get an insane edge in whatever role you want to master.

Expanding and contracting

FabrizioLeave a comment

What if you do not need an extra hour?

What if hiring a junior team member is not the best solution?

What if onboarding a new big customer is not what’s best for your people at this stage?

What if 30% growth is not sustainable for the type of company you want to build?

The point is not aiming to have more to achieve more. And the point is also not aiming to achieve more by having less. The point is aiming to achieve what make sense.

Over performing is not the best choice for most of us, because when we do that we take things away from other parts of our lives, from other people in our lives, from things that matter is life.

So, what is the work you want, and need, to do?

Anne Helen Petersen, The Expanding Job

Out to get you

FabrizioLeave a comment

Sometimes it does feel like the whole world is out to get you.

Negative things pile up and you just don’t seem you can find the additional energy to fight back.

Then, don’t fight back.

Let it be, soon something positive will start showing up in your life. Even better, move the target, be the one to put good into the world, and immediately the negative streak will dissolve.

It’s never so bad that you can’t do some good.