Tag: entrepreneurship

Enamored

Fabrizio1 Comment

Doing more of what you have done so far is seldom the recipe for growth.

This is valid both for individuals and organizations. At different stages, there’s a need to identify what can take you to the next level. And the more you can do this without putting what took you so far front and center, the more likely it is that the exercise will be successful.

Studying hard will most likely get you a degree, but won’t get you that far once you land your first job.

Putting all your marketing budget in acquisition can be effective at early stages, but the value of this operation will decrease as your company grows.

Taking on different projects and trying various things can be great when you are in your twenties, but it’s going to become counterproductive once you get older.

Assuming a directive approach to leadership can work as long as your team is extremely junior, but as they start making experience you’ll most likely get more benefit (and commitment) from letting go of the reins.

This is the tricky part.

Once you find something that works, you’ll probably have to adapt to changing conditions soon enough and find a new way. Don’t get too enamored.

We could try this

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A dialogue that is often heard in organizations of all sizes and in all industries is the following.

Manager: We have taken the decision to do this. Go and do it.
Employees: Who has taken the decision? Based on what? Why are we doing this? How does this fit with all the rest we are already doing?

There are two problems with this approach.

First of all, managers very rarely share information about the decision-making process. This is problematic, since if you want people to be committed you probably need to give them a better idea of what is going on. Chances are, though, that the decision-making process is one or two persons following their intuition, and so there’s probably not much more context to add to the outcome itself.

The second problem is that it sets the employees mainly as executors. It is challenging to give your best when you are not involved in shaping what needs to happen, and if that is the case the manager can already expect some sort of resistance, either in the form of low-quality work or in the form of time-delays.

A far better way to handle this dialogue would be the following.

Manager: We have decided we want to be there next year. How do we make it happen?
Employees: We could try this. And this. And this.

Of course, it sounds scary, as it gives control away. Expect a lot of ideas, initial chaos, and perhaps a bunch of changes in direction (also the other approach has such features, they are just more hidden). And yet, this is the only way to prepare your employees to give their best, to act for what they have prepared, and to deliver incremental value to the whole organization.

Give it a try.

Voice your state

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The next time we walk into a situation with a negative feeling (anxiety, fear, anger, shame, doubtfulness, sadness, preoccupation, …), a way to unlock the impasse is to voice our state right at the beginning.

I have had bad experiences before, this is way I am afraid and anxious.

I don’t usually do a good job when there is a deadline looming, and I now feel doubtful and preoccupied.

I was seeking support and I don’t think I have gotten it, that’s why I am angry now.

I feel quite shameful and a bit anxious in being here in front of you today.

When we do this, our feelings immediately start to dissipate, and that’s because they are not just ours anymore. They are shared.

What’s more, we set the audience for empathy, as what we are saying is most likely much more relatable than the behaviour we might manifest.

Time to leap

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When most of your time is spent doing things you were doing yesterday.

When the most common answer to ideas is “something to keep in mind for the future”.

When you get lost in planning and details, postponing what matters in search of perfect.

When you and those around you are busy, and yet that busyness does not bring you any closer to what you want to achieve.

It’s time to leap.

Following and picking

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Repeatedly, over the course of your career, you will be asked to conform to certain standards or rules.

You need to meet certain requirements to get a job, for specific roles you will be asked specific qualifications, if you get to be a manager there are certain procedures you will have to adhere to. It is normal, and that’s what makes things somewhat reliable, trustworthy, known.

The fact is, there are two ways to go about standards and rules.

The first is to follow them. If they say you have to study a certain language to get a job, you do study it. If they say you need a certificate to be promoted, you do get the certificate. If they say you have to follow a procedure to advance your purpose, you do follow it.

The second is to pick them. Does it make sense? is the key question on this path. Will study that language add something to my value as an employee? Will it add to my story and my strengths? Will it make me more frustrated, because once I am done with that role, I will never be asked to use that language ever again?

You will probably surf between the two ways at different stages in your career. What matters most though, is that you understand that there are two ways, not one only.

Once you get to know what you are here for, what your value is, what your strengths are, what you have to offer and what you don’t have to offer, what sets you apart from the rest of us. Does it make sense to follow a rule that does not serve all of this?