Is this you?
Perhaps it’s all of us at one point or another, but it’s not on the path to the success we’d like to achieve.
It can also be linked to imposter syndrome, a condition, simply put, in which people feel their talents are inadequate to the goals they wish to achieve. From there, it’s easy to default to pleasing people instead.
Simple answer? Don’t go there!
Keep this quote top of mind as you evaluate talent and set benchmarks for your individual and organizational success.
Don’t make the mistake of defaulting to the easily measurable variables.
Not for Fame or Reward
Not for Place or for Rank
Not Lured by Ambition
Not Goaded by Necessity
But in Simple Obedience to Duty
As They Understood It
These Men Suffered All
Sacrificed All
Dared All And Died
Today, we pay tribute to the young men and women who defend the freedom we hold so dearly.
It is never more poignant and meaningful than when our men and women are serving overseas in harm’s way.
For me, the quotation above from an Arlington National Cemetery memorial, states exactly why they deserve our respect, admiration and support.
Our soldiers don’t wonder “why”.
They “do their duty” and selflessly accept their mission to defend our freedom and the values we cherish.
Take a moment from your busy day . . . shed a few tears as I always do . . . and remember the sacrifices they have made through the years … and continue to make every day … at great risk … but with an unwavering dedication to the service of their country.
You will truly appreciate the sacrifice made by our valiant men and women in uniform when you watch The National Memorial Day Concert.
They are why we get to do what we do.
I’m pretty sure most of us missed the Crusades … and know very little of medieval warfare.
While battle strategy in that era appears to be random and haphazard, certainly in most movies depicting that period, planning invariably eclipsed brute force. Strategy proved to be the touchpoint for success in every battle, including the ones we’re fighting every day.
… yet, it’s perfectly apt for the complexity … and yes, often the intensity … of what we’re facing every day.
But, this concept is not really about military conquest.
I use the reference more in the sense of this phrase:
“Civilians think about strategy. Generals think about logistics.”
Most of us weren’t around during World War II … but D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion of all time.
It involved over 250,000 troops and 15,000 ships landing along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944.
Luck?
Accident? … or the result of rigorous strategic planning and project management?
Did General Eisenhower, the Allied Supreme Commander, lead this effort without any planning?
Of course not, and even if our business plans aren’t quite as extensive, we know (deep down, we know for sure) that we need some sort of an organized planning process to build a successful business.
How’s that strategy execution coming along?I ’ll bet things are starting to drag about now, aren’t they? The pandemic is winding down and summer’s just around the corner.
Maybe you’re dialing it back a little, looking forward to some well-deserved vacation. You launched the year full of promise … intent on beating back the ravages of the pandemic … at home and in the workplace … but many of your initiatives seem to be stuck, people have too much on their plates, the plans you made may not quite make it to the finish line ….
Even though you’re about to round the clubhouse turn toward the second half of the year, you’re reminded that it’s much easier to start than to finish.
You struggle to keep the engine stoked with the same energy that propelled your launch at the beginning of the year.
Some of the air may be coming out of the tires, and you begin to w onder … “where did all of our energy go”?
For most of our life, we’ve heard, “Don’t be a snitch”. In most of the movies we’ve seen, the “snitchers’ don’t fare so well when their comrades discover their double-dealing.Does this same approach work in organizations?
Some of you may be familiar with the famed but controversial West Point Cadet Honor Code:
“A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do.”
Few of us would doubt the wisdom of “will not lie, cheat or steal”, the core of many of the values we learned as children.
One of the other things we learned as children, though, was, “don’t be a tattletale.”
Be loyal to your friends … don’t snitch on them … and don’t go running to mommy when you observe a small infraction of the rules.
It doesn’t help we’ve seen countless movies since then where a snitch ends up on the wrong side of the grass.
Keep reading to see if you can apply a high standard that rejects a double standard …
Have you established a written Code of Conduct in your organization?Our prescriptions for acceptable behavior are too vague. Get started now to spell it out more clearly to avoid that potentially colossal screwup.
You may have heard this phrase from the clenched teeth of a military JAG officer about the same time you learned that “Crystal” is a perfectly apt response to “Are we clear?”
Throughout my service as a U.S. Army officer, this phrase was constantly refreshed as the highest standard to apply to the official actions of military officers.
Keep reading to learn more about how to define acceptable behavior
If you want to poison the well where you work, allow a Certified Jerk to roam free.Mollycoddling is a pernicious and infectious organism you need to expel from your organization.
It’s easy to figure out how to deal with the Certified Jerk
That phrase is powerful in so many ways.
Smart people can often be prima donnas – I may have heard those accusations myself … the smart people part, of course, not the second (and when it has been used, it’s often disguised in less elegant terms) … but the brilliance of some people is often more blinding than enlightening.
Fortune magazine once asked Dr. Mehmet Oz about the best leadership advice he had ever received.
Keep reading so you don’t miss how to make the tough decisions
I am a leadership coach and a professional author and speaker, facilitating leadership groups among CEOs and senior business leaders in the SF Bay area.
I am the author or more than 125+ newspaper columns published by the SF Bay affiliate of the NY Times among the 500+ articles here. I have also written 3 ebooks about Leadership & Business Finance.
I have been married forever to a beautiful woman and have one spectacular daughter who has dedicated her life to helping children with life-threatening illnesses. Read more ….
If you're a fan of the Mystery-Thriller-Suspense genre, you can enjoy a little diversion and dive into some of the great reads you'll find here. I intend to stimulate your discovery of the good, the bad and the only genre where a ranch breakfast is a steel metal jacket dipped in cordite. Have fun!
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