Glad To Be Here. That’s the motto I run my business and life by. To me that statement is about living a life of gratitude and contribution. What I’ve noticed is that when we do that, we are happier — and the people around us are actually more supportive. Here’s a simple example.
A few weeks ago I was flying from Philadelphia to Calgary, and I missed the hour cutoff for making my international flight. I walked up to the counter, and of course I was very nervous about missing my plane. The people in front of me were from India and were likewise dealing with a stressful situation regarding their flight.
Even though I was in a rush, instead of butting in, I decided to try and help them by answering some questions about where they needed to go and what they needed to do.
Then when it was my turn and the ticket agent went to help me, I said, “Hey, I know I missed the cutoff here, but is there anything you can do for me?” I went on to let her know that my sister is also a ticket agent, and I understood how hard her job is.
I wasn’t doing this to be manipulative. I was being honest, and I was practicing Glad To Be Here even in that moment, when things were tough.
The agent responded in kind and said, “You know what, I think we can make this happen.” I believe she made it work because she and I were both practicing gratitude. I was grateful for her help, and she was grateful for my attitude.
Where in your life and work can you practice Glad To Be Here? We would love to hear your comments.
High performance is greatly influenced by belief levels, which I put into two buckets: limiting and liberating beliefs.
I would define a limiting belief as anything that causes stuckness, anything that holds you back. Typically these beliefs are fear-based. In other words, you perceive that something is coming at you that is out of your control. A liberating belief is just the opposite. It’s when you know that there is something inside you — capacity, potential, passion, etc. — and you project it outward. If you find yourself stuck in limiting beliefs, use the four P’s to create more liberating ones.
Process: Come up with a process that you can trust to help produce the desired result. If you’re not sure what that is, ask someone who may have already developed a process in the area you are looking to achieve in.
Product: What are the resources and tools that you are going to need to help you get to where you want to go? Do you believe those tools can help you? The tools might be something technological, like an iPhone, but they can also be qualities you possess, such as patience, perseverance, etc.
People: High performers know that it’s critical to surround themselves with positive people whom they can trust. You can see it when the people around you are shining, feeling confident and are in the zone. That energy tends to rub off. Putting your faith in those around you who are high performers helps create liberating beliefs.
Purpose: The fourth P is having a purpose larger than self. Usually, I find that when I get bogged down and feel stuck or feel like the world is coming at me, if I can look inward and say, “Wait a minute, I am doing this in order to help others,” that gives me the drive and energy to keep going. In the end, I think a purpose larger than self is a critical element of overcoming limiting beliefs.
Which of the four P’s do you most need to work on? We would love to hear your comments.
The journey line to high performance always begins with where you are now and where you want to go. If I reflect back on the journey lines in my life, they were always about closing that gap. Of course, on the road to my achievements, there were always many twists and turns. Those too become part of the journey line.
For example, to make my dream of flying jets come true, I had to figure out how I was going to get someone to pay for the flying lessons I could not afford. In my case, I joined the military and then graduated high enough in my class to get a pilot slot.
Likewise at a certain point in my post Blue Angels career, I knew that part of my journey line was to get some advanced education. I ended up going to Stevens Business School and eventually working in venture capital. I had no idea when I started that this is where I find myself.
Becoming an entrepreneur for me was a constant flow of energy, an evolving journey line that began with my clarity of vision but has unfolded over time. Like everyone, I occasionally got stuck at some point along my journey line. When that happens, you need to step back and ask yourself, “Why is this happening to me? Why am I stuck?”
Asking that allows you to reflect and look inward — not backward — at the situation and what control you do have.
Are you stuck because of something that is happening outside of your control? Or is what’s happening occurring because of some inward perception that you could change to allow the journey to continue?
In addition to asking why, it’s useful to have a mentor who can help you negotiate the obstacles you’ll encounter along the way. It’s great to be able to ask questions of someone who’s been there and done it. Having someone else share experiences of their journey line can help you navigate yours.
What challenges are you facing on your journey line? We would love to hear your comments.
My last two blog posts looked at some high-performance methods for getting done what you say you want to accomplish. In this final blog post of the series, I will explore how to manage the impact on the people you work with when what you plan to do doesn’t happen.
To start, what’s the level of commitment that you have made to your fellow team members regarding this item? If you have promised an outcome to a co-worker and not followed through, that obviously impacts the people around you. For example: You say, “I am going to get this done by X time,” but what you are thinking is, “I hope I have enough time to get this done by X time.” Then when you don’t deliver, you may feel like you gave yourself an out, but the other person can get discouraged and frustrated.
Instead, a better approach is to call the person, let them know what is going on and negotiate some stair-step agreements. In other words, if you can’t deliver 100 percent on what you promised, what can you deliver on? What small steps along the way can you commit to? By delivering on these, you can restore your credibility and move into more of a will-do versus hope-to-do mindset.
If you happen to be the manager of the person who is not delivering, part of your role is to get greater clarity around your employee’s approach to their deliverable items. Do they see it as a “hope to get done, rather than a promise to get done?” Are they really aware of the time, resources and effort it will take to accomplish the item? Do they have the support and help they need, if any, to execute on this? Engaging in a dialogue with your staff well before the due date helps ensure that the promised action takes place as planned.
What did you promise to do that you didn’t, and what impact has that had? We would love to hear your comments.
In last week’s blog post, I talked about the difference between hoping to do something and doing it. Continuing on with that theme in this week’s post, I want to explore some of the strategies and principles that can help you get something done when you encounter obstacles on the way to achieving your objectives.
Going back to the high-performance framework, I want to re-stress that this really starts with your belief levels. The difference between “I am going to do something” and “I hope to do it” can be tied initially to what level of commitment or belief you have in the process or in the outcome of what you are attempting to do.
For example: You have a sales quota that you want to hit in the first quarter. The first question to answer is, “Do you have an internal, limiting belief around it?” I mean, if the quota number is something you really don’t even believe is possible, the chances of your getting there are slim from the start.
On the other hand, if you have a liberating belief around it, meaning that you believe you have the capacity to achieve it, you have the potential to get there.
Now you may have an overall liberating belief around the goal but see certain obstacles (such as “I’m not sure we have enough resources”) as limiting beliefs. The way to make those obstacles liberating is by putting a plan in place, preferably one that has some contingencies to it.
Once you have sorted out the liberating and limiting beliefs, your next step in is creating the trust agreements with others that are going to help you overcome any doubt along the path. Trust agreements at the most basic are the things you agree to do and by when, and what others agree to do and by when. It’s these agreements that help in the execution of your objective, and keep you on target.
Lastly you need to debrief. By implementing a continuous review and assessment process along the way, you can overcome the challenges that crop up on your way to doing what you want to do.
What do you want to do, and how are you going to get it done? We would love to hear your comments.
