Let’s face it.
We can all be better.
I know I certainly can.
It’s not how good you are. It’s how good you want to be. I didn’t make that up. I’m actually reading a book with that title by Paul Arden. Pick it up. It’s an easy, short and impactful read.
There’s been a lot of focus lately on The “Mamba Mentality” since Kobe’s passing and I definitely believe that that type of drive, grit, killer instinct is for the most part, inherent. It’s unteachable. Un-coachable. That “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard”. I see it at my son’s games. I see it in colleagues at my firm . In my client’s organizations and with myself personally in areas where I want to “work” and improve others where it’s a struggle to get motivated and care.
Last week I was honored by Risk & Insurance Magazine as a 2020 Power Broker. Does this mean I’m great? Where I want to be? That I can stop now and feel good (or great) about myself and where I’m at?
No.
It’s nice. Appreciated. Gratifying. Enjoy the recognition for a moment and then get right back to it.
And what about the rest of us? The grinders. The vast majority of us men who get up and “Go” every day but may not even know where they’re headed anymore? Take a step back and look inward. Jim Collins wrote in Good To Great that it’s important to match “Personal humility with professional will”.
I’ve been getting into lists lately and finding that often what I believe and identify with is a combination of items on various published “lists” that are out there (after all, there are no original ideas anymore. Everything’s already out there, it’s just a question of can we take something good, make it great and apply it to our own life…) but this list of 10 Ways to Go from Good to Great from Sources of Insight by J.D Meirer is pretty solid so I’ve included it below.
And lastly, is it ok to just be ok with “good”? Do we need to be great? What do you think?
These are the 10 ways I see people go from good to great:
Find your compelling “why.” Find your one thing. Become a dream machine, turn your dreams loose, and envision the end in mind. Your “why” is your drive and you find your “why” by answering the question, “Why do you do what you do?”
Become a force of one. Get out of your own way and stack yourself for success by channeling your thinking, feeling, and doing. Think the thoughts that serve you, feel the feelings that empower you, and do what you know needs to be done. Disciplined thinking combined with disciplined action is an unstoppable force, and it’s yours for the asking.
Model the best. The best do it with models. They find the best examples of what they want to accomplish, and they learn from them. You can find role models or success stories or case studies and work backwards from there. Success always leaves clues and you can play detective.
Give your best where you have your best to give. This is you unleashed. The best play to their strengths. They spend more time doing the things that make them strong, and less time doing the things that make them weak. This builds energy and momentum and instead of getting drained, you get charged and you grow where you can grow best.
Find your best arena. Don’t be a fish out of water. Find your element. Going from good to great means finding where you can play your best game. Maybe you’re a mediocre developer, but a great risk manager. Maybe you’re an OK realtor, but an incredible trainer. Take your skills to the job or place where they make the most impact.
Execute. Taking action is how you make things happen. Throw massive action at whatever you need to do. Even if it seems like you’re only taking baby steps at a time, you’ll eventually hit your stride. When you keep taking action, you learn faster. Each result teaches you another way how to do something, or how not to do something. Sometimes, the only way to get past some problems is to overwhelm them with action. To paraphrase Voltaire, I would argue no problem can withstand the assault of sustained action.
Stick with it. If you fall down six times, stand up seven. Remember The Little Engine That Could? Well, whenever you think you can’t, you’re working against yourself. It starts with belief. Think you can, then prove yourself right. Find your eye of the tiger.
Learn and respond. The best take action, learn, and respond. They are always failing forward. There is no failure, only feedback. The great ones use the feedback to improve their approach. They stay adaptable while they are finding their way forward. Be your won best coach, not your own best critic.
Let it go. The best let it go and move on. They don’t carry baggage. They focus on the objectives and they measure against effectiveness. Either their approach is working or it’s not. If it’s not working, they let it go, and find a new way forward.
Team up. The best of the best team up with people that amplify their impact. They also team up with people that provide more deliberate feedback and that help them find their blind spots and get unstuck.
Give some of these a try.
Happy Sunday –
