I am afraid to be judged. I am afraid to do what I need to do to achieve my potential. I am afraid I will not be able to provide for my family. I am afraid I will go all in and not find the success I am looking for. This fear of failure is getting in the way of the progress I need to make. I know all of this, and I still struggle to do what needs to be done.
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Lately I have been reflecting on how to help leaders to take action in the work of leadership. My mind has gone back to this post about the role neuroscience plays in the creation of habits.
The action part is where many (including myself) can get stuck. The process from my previous post is simple: stories lead to insights that generate actions and when repeated turn into habits. I may learn a theory or something new and interesting but getting to meaningful action means I need a powerful story and a strong insight. Then I am compelled to act.
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Since as early as I can remember, I have had an interest in making a special birthday cake for each of my children when their birthday comes around. When it comes to making birthday cakes, I am no cake boss, but I do enjoy creating something that makes them smile and is also delicious. Building and decorating cakes is outside my wheelhouse so I look to Pinterest and YouTube to teach me how to bring to life these birthday cakes for my children. Most times I don’t have any idea what I’m doing so I ask lots of questions and I don’t feel dumb for asking questions because I really don’t know what I’m doing.
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Recently as a family, we each set a goal to do something hard. My son, who at the time of this writing is 6 years old, decided he wanted to do a hard hike. The hike we chose together was a little over one mile (one way) with an elevation gain of over 1,000 feet. That type of elevation gain in such a short distance is difficult for an adult – and my boy was a champ.
About half way up the mountain he said something that caught me by surprise.
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My Dad has always been someone I look up to and aspire to be like. In our home he was always constant. The world may be crashing around us and he would be calm, optimistic, and always emotionally stable and strong.
Naturally, I want to be like him, and I modelled my behavior after him. When I feel an emotion I do not like, I have trained my brain to look for the good. I consider this one of my superpowers and it has served me well in my life.
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In 2002 Sir Dave Brailsford became the head of British Cycling. At the time, the winning record of the British cycling team was essentially non-existent. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics his team won 7 out of 10 gold medals. The following Olympics in London, Dave and his team achieved the same result – 7 of 10 gold medals. The impressive record and sustained performance is attributed to improving each component of the cycling experience by 1%.
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Jim Collins in Good to Great shares a concept he calls “First Who, Then What” that I have known for years is important but have not acted upon it. I have let years of my professional life go by without capitalizing on this wisdom and I feel I have missed out on the impact I could have had on those around me because of my lack of follow through. This is changing. I am actively trying to build out my “who” and I want to share with you my framework to creating my “who”.
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Shortly after college I sat down to do some introspection about what I want to do with my life and read various resources about “finding your purpose”. As I pondered and tried to come up with a purpose statement, I would write, then cross it out and then re-write. Then I got to a place that I thought – oh this must be it.
(more…)When writing there is not a single author that is able to do a single draft perfectly the first time. First the draft is written and then reviewed, revised, edited, and re-written. This could go on for countless iterations to make every word count. It takes work and time to refine a writing piece to be great.
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I teach and invite people to act. Proud husband, father and amateur pizzaiolo
