View feedback as a shortcut to success. If you only see feedback as criticism and shut down, you will limit your growth potential. If someone is being honest with you and helping you realize what needs to be improved upon, use that to your advantage. Either way the information is still there and it is still true. You can choose to ignore it and continue to be substandard at whatever it is they mentioned, or you can do something about it. This will also reinforce others to continue to give you feedback. It may not always feel the best, but you will always know where you stand.
Tag: growth
Talent isn’t everything
Everyone loves talent. Everyone loves natural ability. It’s enticing. “Think of everything that person could do! If they applied themselves, their potential is limitless!”
It’s easy to get caught up in hiring very talented individuals, even if their track record shows that talent doesn’t necessarily equate to performance OR when there is someone else who is nearly as capable, gives better effort, but is less talented. Why does this happen? Because they appear to have a much lower ceiling for what they can achieve. In fact, they may already have “overachieved” based on their talent profile.
But that kind of thinking is where we get it all wrong. Effort, attitude, and fit is what you need to look for when hiring someone. Let’s review why hiring for these three qualities will lead to a better team/company in the future.
Regarding effort…When you hire someone, you want to know that they will try to work their hardest, not just to suck up to you, but because that’s who they are as a person. Look at other actions they take in their lives. Do they do what they should be doing, even when it’s not what they want to be doing? Are they ok performing the mundane, yet necessary tasks, that need to get done to succeed? And are they performing those tasks well instead of just going through the motions? Consistent, high quality effort will take an individual far.
Regarding attitude…What good is hiring someone who is talented and gives good effort, but they have such a poor attitude that nobody on the team wants to work with them? They’re an individual superstar, but to the team they are a cancer. Not only does their poor attitude affect people’s mood and behavior when they are around that person, but sometimes it can suck the energy out of the office just with them in the building. Instead, look to hire people who are optimistic, who are curious, and who are looking for feedback. They should be willing to accept criticism and not allow themselves to get into a bad mood when things don’t go their way.
Regarding fit…Would you be ok spending 40 hours per week with this person? Do they fit into the culture of the team (or can you see the possibility of them fitting in)? If you try to fit a round peg into an oval hole, you might be able to make it work for a little while. But to have the best fit, where there are no gaps and no places that overlap, you need to find an oval peg for that oval hole. The harmony (synergy) in your office will translate to better production because when people try hard, have a positive attitude, and like each other, their co-workers will pitch in when needed and they can all help each other (and the company) grow/succeed.
Talent is great. I’m not saying to not hire talented people. In fact, if you can find a supremely talented individual who also has a great work ethic, positive attitude, and fits with your team, you just hit the jackpot. But what I am saying is that talent is only part of the equation, and too often it is too heavily weighted when making a decision to hire someone. Next time you go to make a hire, don’t be overly impressed by their resume, but instead take the time to interview them, to get to know them and their work ethic, and see how they fit with your team. If they can check off those other boxes, hire them. Talent is overrated. As long as you have a good training system in place, work ethic, attitude, and fit can overcome many obstacles.
Protecting your time
Be intentional with your time. Protect it…not just from others asking you to do things, but also from yourself. It’s easy to binge watch a show. Be careful so that the 30 minute show doesn’t become a two hour watch session. It’s easy to consume social media. If you keep a social media account, make sure that you’re not mindlessly surfing through their carefully crafted content specifically targeted at delivering the most compelling stories to keep you on their website.
How can you be intentional with your time where you’re doing something to improve your knowledge AND what would make you feel better (long term)? Instead of consuming shallow, surface level content (including tv shows, social media posts, and even many magazine articles), try reading something with more depth.
Start small. Try reading 10 pages per day (from a book). Over the course of the year, this will equate to 3,650 pages per year. If an average book is 250 pages, you will have read between 14-15 books for the year! If you do this for ten years, you will have read 140-150 books.
So many people quit reading or only occasionally read after graduating high school or college. Be different. Set yourself apart from the collective average. Use your time intentionally. And then use your newly acquired knowledge to further yourself in your career or change your life for the better.
Short term sacrifices for long term gains
Everybody has their own “thing” that they want right now – something that makes them feel good or gives them joy in some way. And while we should always work at being happy, we should also prioritize our future selves over our current selves more often than not. If you always live for optimum happiness/pleasure and are not willing to make any short term sacrifices, understand that you’re doing so at the expense of your future.
This can be the case for anything from your financial health, to mental, physical, and beyond. For example, if you want to buy a new expensive product instead of buying a used one (or better yet, not buying anything at all), you have less money to save or invest. If you want to sit around and watch mindless tv, you are sacrificing time which you could be reading or working on a project. And if you want to eat fast food five days per week, you are sacrificing your wasteline and clogging you arteries with trans fats and saturated fats.
Each decision you make today affects you in the future. If you can somehow manage to align what you like doing and what is healthiest for your future self, that’s where you can really make big wins because it won’t feel like you’re sacrificing anything. It all starts with changing your habits for the better. Talk a 5-10 minute walk after every meal. Exercise for 60 minutes per day (it can be cumulative). Eat non-processed foods that consist of a variety of vegetables, lean meats, nuts, seeds, some fruits, little starch, and no extra/added sugars. Meditate, pray, or write down what you’re grateful for when you wake up. Read at least 10 minutes per day. Try to make it a game to see how little you can spend each week. Other than investing and paying for your mortgage/rent, utilities, cell phone, car/car maintenance, and groceries, do you need to spend on anything else or can you wait? The longer you can hold off or sacrifice on doing things that don’t promote long term benefits, the better off you’ll be.
Striving for more
“You’re really good where you are, but you’re way to good to stay there.” – Tom Ferry
Be happy with what you have, but always strive for more. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more, for wishing for a “better” life, but remember that your life is already really good!
Try to find the positive in any situation. Don’t make the mistake thinking that you’ll be happier when you have “X” or when “Y” happens. You can (and should) be happy now, and enjoy the process of trying to get whatever else you are striving for.