My three-year old does not like to be labeled, at all. If I call her anything but her name, she promptly replies, “No I’m not [insert descriptor here]. I’m just Anya.”
She does not like to be defined as anything other than just herself.
At first, I thought it was a little curious. I was then a bit concerned (she at times doesn’t like to be called “pretty” rather “just Anya”). But then I realized really how powerful her perspective is.
Think for a moment about the people or organizations in your life that have rubbed you the wrong way. Maybe they didn’t treat you right or you were completely ripped off. Or maybe a company’s actions seemed only self-serving without giving anything back.
We’ve all been there.
Today’s post drives at one core motivation in humans and organizations: how we see our access and relationship to resources.
The toughest and most common problem in business is often managing interpersonal relationships and resolving conflict. How many co-workers, supervisors or subordinates do you work with that frustrate you? That make you feel as if every encounter is a personal attack?
In my last job, several members of the executive team frequently had strong and heated conflicts with department heads. So much so that morale was often depressed throughout the company (trickle down effect).
While recently reading an article from Baekdal.com (a favorite blog of mine – check it out), I discovered a gem. Thomas, the author, was writing about an issue facing publications, editors and journalists. Near the end, he penned:
As Simon Sinek says, “do you believe in what you believe?” Do you believe in what the company you work for believes? Simon talks about the Golden Circle. It starts with ‘Why’, the purpose of the publication. ‘How’, the strategy of the publication. And the ‘What’, the actual work of the journalists (in that order).
Using that template, let’s talk about your vision and how it is or isn’t engineered into your company’s culture.
To be honest, I’m not built to fail.
I don’t like it.
I don’t like how I feel when I walk away from something without accomplishing my objective.
I recently failed.
I tried to do something that I thought I could do. I knew it would be hard, but it proved to be much harder than I thought.
In one of his must read books, author and researcher Jim Collins was determined to find the key factors that made companies transition from Good to Great. At the onset of the research, Jim refused to believe that leadership played a role in becoming great.
After months of research and analysis, Collins’ team called him into a room, locked hands and confronted him. The research team found that there was “something consistently unusual” about the executives at great companies.
I read a lot about social media best practices.
A lot. Probably more than I should.
One of the key messages is that you should be self-effacing or humble. Spend time promoting others just because they are worth the praise and not because you expect anything in return.