What Guarantees Success at Work?
Although Talent is prized in the workplace, it does not guarantee success.
Nothing takes you further than sound decisions and persistence.
That's great news for most of us including me! Sound decisions - this separates the elite performers who operate at the top 5% of their profession from the star performers.
Think of Beyoncé and Cheryl (Cole).
Both are successful in their profession but one definitely has the edge.
Beyoncé seems to consistently make sound decisions on the important stuff e.
g.
such as what Talent Manager would be a best-fit.
She likely manages her own talent! Making sound decisions means our energies are channelled in the right direction (then we just need to add some persistence).
'If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions' Albert Einstein.
If you operate in a quick-fix, solutions culture, it's easy to jump into solutions mode rather than take the opportunity to problem solve and make a sound decision.
Defining the problem is a most powerful leadership tool.
When leaders don't define the problem they end up running around implementing solutions to problems that don't matter.
I highly recommend taking the time to problem solve so as to make a sound decision.
Once we have made a sound decision on what solution to implement, persistence comes in.
Persistence - I found the above motto when reading Karren Brady's book 'Strong Women: The Truth about Getting to the Top'.
(Great book by the way, I highly recommend it).
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
" Calvin Coolidge, former US President.
It's the motto Karren Brady lives by and that's what Karren Brady tells herself and others.
'Press on'.
However, someone telling you or you telling yourself to keep calm and carry on can be as productive as someone telling you to 'pull up your socks' when you're not delivering at work for some reason.
It can work in the short term, but what if you're stuck in a low energy and low mood zone?How can you keep going? Well, the biggest block to sound decisions and persistence is unproductive feelings.
Address the unproductive feelings that are holding you back.
Manage your unproductive feelings rather than have them manage you! How? Give yourself a practical pep talk.
What are the facts of your situation? Why are you in the position you are in? How can you move away from the things that are holding you back? How can you move forward? Examples:
It's a great life-skill and habit to build.
You canachieve more through sound decisions and persistence.
© Copyright 2013, Sue Douglas, Work-Life Flow
Nothing takes you further than sound decisions and persistence.
That's great news for most of us including me! Sound decisions - this separates the elite performers who operate at the top 5% of their profession from the star performers.
Think of Beyoncé and Cheryl (Cole).
Both are successful in their profession but one definitely has the edge.
Beyoncé seems to consistently make sound decisions on the important stuff e.
g.
such as what Talent Manager would be a best-fit.
She likely manages her own talent! Making sound decisions means our energies are channelled in the right direction (then we just need to add some persistence).
'If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions' Albert Einstein.
If you operate in a quick-fix, solutions culture, it's easy to jump into solutions mode rather than take the opportunity to problem solve and make a sound decision.
Defining the problem is a most powerful leadership tool.
When leaders don't define the problem they end up running around implementing solutions to problems that don't matter.
I highly recommend taking the time to problem solve so as to make a sound decision.
Once we have made a sound decision on what solution to implement, persistence comes in.
Persistence - I found the above motto when reading Karren Brady's book 'Strong Women: The Truth about Getting to the Top'.
(Great book by the way, I highly recommend it).
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common that unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
" Calvin Coolidge, former US President.
It's the motto Karren Brady lives by and that's what Karren Brady tells herself and others.
'Press on'.
However, someone telling you or you telling yourself to keep calm and carry on can be as productive as someone telling you to 'pull up your socks' when you're not delivering at work for some reason.
It can work in the short term, but what if you're stuck in a low energy and low mood zone?How can you keep going? Well, the biggest block to sound decisions and persistence is unproductive feelings.
Address the unproductive feelings that are holding you back.
Manage your unproductive feelings rather than have them manage you! How? Give yourself a practical pep talk.
What are the facts of your situation? Why are you in the position you are in? How can you move away from the things that are holding you back? How can you move forward? Examples:
- A solo business owner who feels they should quit and get a salaried job when they find business is running dry.
The common fact for this situation is not having sufficient marketing systems in place and a lack of marketing skill.
Address the facts to get into a better situation and result. - An employee who consistently feels overwhelmed with a heavy workload and begins to feel helpless.
Common facts for this situation are things like a lack of applying time and priority management techniques and a lack of assertiveness - not being able to say 'no', not being able to stop doing non-value add activities, or not putting a case forward for more resource.
Address the facts to get into a better situation and result.
It's a great life-skill and habit to build.
You canachieve more through sound decisions and persistence.
© Copyright 2013, Sue Douglas, Work-Life Flow
