Commit to your own work.
And think about how it affects others. What others expect from it, how others can make it better, why others should care.
Since this is extremely difficult to do in abstraction, the surest way you have to make it happen is to actually interact with those who have a stake in your work. Do it frequently, do it methodically, do it with your ears and mind wide open.
The best work happens in the dialogue with others.
When you feel overwhelmed, you need to be able to take a step aside, have a look at what makes you feel that way, and put all the ducks in a row.
Tasks are not that impossible when you break them down and put the result on a list.
You’ll most likely realize not everything needs to happen at the same time. Some things might possibly not be happening at all. Your focus will be assigned to what can deliver the highest return – that is to say what can free most space from your mental, emotional, and physical clutter.
Learn to feel that sense of overwhelm approaching. The way your body reacts is often a good indicator. Then, take that step.
If you are having any doubt that your brand is not working, try this little test.
It does not matter if your competitors are lying, if you are the only one who could truthfully claim what everyone is claiming, if your technology is better, if you have a more accurate vision for the future, if your founder has an incredible track record.
The customer does not care.
You are not trying to make an argument in the court room. You are competing on the market.
Note: if you pass the test, it does not mean your brand is working. A message is easy enough to imitate and brand is a combination of multiple items that should reflect the way you see the world. But if you don’t pass the test, then your brand is definitely not working.
Engagement is a pledge.
The deal though is no longer safety, money, and certainty in exchange for work, compliance, and loyalty.
We understand well enough that workers nowadays need to put in something more than mere hours, textbook task completion, checkbox performance. We ask them to be creative, innovative, collaborative, personal, candid, proactive.
What we struggle to understand, instead, is that the way to incentivize that has changed as well.
So, the next time you lead a project, a change, an enterprise ask yourself what your side of the pledge is.
Is it keeping everyone in the dark until the big reveal? Is it making all of the key decisions? Is it allocating five minutes at the end of the next meeting for everyone to share what they think? Is it distributing information to create hierarchies and factions?
Probably not.
Keep telling people about the work you do.
When you don’t, your work is nonexistent. It is not imperfect, it is not in progress, it is not almost there. It is simply nonexistent. Out of any radar.
When you do, you open yourself to your audience. You get to know what they like, what they need, what they would like to see next. You start a cooperative work, whether you realize it or not.
And you might also find unexpected contributors.
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