Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing? Why does "beat down" and "beat up" mean the same thing?
When we choose to accomplish difficult, noble, BOLD work, the inevitable "beat downs" and "beat ups" will come our way.
The grandstands are full and the social media platforms awash with critics and naysayers.
Until they join us in the work, maybe we should take their "beatings" with a grain of salt.
And get back to work...
We love our heroes and heroines. The ones atop the medal stand, the all-stars, those who carry the GOAT designation.
Almost always, even in the individual sports and contests, the hero/heroine is one member of a team of folks. All share in the blood, sweat, and tears that come with preparation, training, execution, and excellence.
Success rarely, if ever, is the result of solo performance.
And the more important the endeavor, the greater the necessity of having a committed and skillful team playing alongside or supporting us on the way to the top.
The collective intelligence of a team can be thought of as an organizational "brain."
Our personal brain processes millions of bits of information, every moment of every day. So does the organizational brain.
Our personal brain automates as much decision making as possible so that it can focus its precious attention and energy on the tricky, the novel, the complex decisions before it. So does the organizational brain.
The best leaders of teams I know use some or all of the following when facing complex decisions to be made by the team:
We all desire to be effective and successful. It's in our DNA.
In almost all circumstances, we are more likely to be effective and successful if others lend us a hand in the process.
How can we better connect with others?
One of my impactful mentors, Dr. Mike Moses, was fond of admonishing us as developing servant leaders that "90% of it is showing up."
That assertion of Dr. Moses has proven true time and again since I first heard him say it some 25 years ago.
Why does showing up prove so impactful for us as servant leaders? It affords us opportunity to...
What fun it is to play on a high performing team!
What if we had the power and ability to shape the performance team of our dreams. What would those team members look like?
Perhaps we do have the power to shape the team.
Perhaps it begins with the way we post the job and conduct the interview.
Perhaps it begins with us knowing what we're looking for before we put the hook in the water.
We can begin today...
Most of us wish we could be and do better.
Some of us even go to the trouble to think about ways we can be and do better.
Yet, nothing happens on the wings of wishing and thinking about.
When we take action to try different behaviors, adopt new habits, abandon old habits, alter comfortable practices, change concretized ways.........................we begin to move the needle toward betterment.
The wishing and thinking are the top of the line up. The action is in the clean up position.
Time to step up to the plate.
Complex problems seem not to have simple solutions.
Complex problems require multiple and combined engaged minds to craft workable solutions.
Collaborative attempts at applying efficacious solutions to complex problems is messy, time-consuming, confounding, and often frustrating work.
Those that drop problems on our door step thinking otherwise................are usually not all that interested in finding solutions. Neither are they often the ones to sign up for the difficult work required to craft and attempt to deploy those evasive solutions.
Picking our team wisely makes all the difference in the world.
