Resilience...

...not resistance, is the right (and best) response to change.

I'm sure we've all heard the unchanged adage that

"Change is the only constant thing in life."

Now, whether or not you agree with it doesn’t change the nature of Change...

It remains the same - i.e. "Change."

An equally important thing to know about Change is that:

"Whether or not you resist change, change will still occur."

Change doesn't take any human being's permission in order to occur. For instance, every time you blink, or don't, change has occurred - at least the time has changed from a minute or even second ago.

With that as our backdrop,  we know it's human to (try to) resist change. This fact became even more evident when I had to manage and lead others through a significant Change Journey. As the changes unfolded and the related challenges surfaced, I kept telling myself and others that we needed to be resilient, not resistant to it. It wasn't the easiest thing to do but I know it was the best thing to do.

Being resilient energizes you from within and you show up better and more effective as a leader and even as an Individual Contributor. Being resistant to change drains one's energy and erodes the value one could have added to the future - your future.

A lot has been said by many people about Change and Resilience...but I like this one by  Jamais Cascio:

Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.

As I wrote this piece up, it occurred to me is that a seed will never "grow" up to a plant if it resists the changes that occur to, in and/or around it. The Palm tree doesn't resist the wind, nor does it let the wind uproot it - it just stays rooted and resilient. Likewise, if you want to thrive not just survive, be (rooted in God) and resilient in times of change.

How do you show up?

Last month, this question came up in my mind after I read this verse:

 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” (Matthew 5: 13 - MSG)

So I had to reassess how I "show up" at work; let me explain...

Be inspired...

...and inspire others

Two weeks ago, when I was doing some writing for another purpose, I stumbled on this quote:

If you always hurt people with intimidations instead of encouraging them with inspirations, the world will change, but you will not be the reason for it.*

"Good enough" is not good enough...

Welcome to the last quarter of the year.

This is usually the time some of us start to look back on the past months/passing year and assess our performance - if we don't, our Managers definitely do.

Consequently, I felt it imperative to share on "Good enough is not good enough...

Too many times people give themselves what I'd call "a good reason" not to be or do their best. Actually it's an excuse and as we know in our personal and professional lives, excuses never take you very far. 

In my opinion, the reason why "good enough is not good enough" is because "The enemy of 'best' is not 'worst,' it is 'good enough'." "Good enough" is the phrase that keeps us from stretching ourselves. In fact is it is the phrase (excuse) that we come up with when we start comparing ourselves to others instead of comparing ourselves to ourselves. The only person you MUST always compare yourself to and be better than is yourself.  You must take personal responsibility for yourself as Galatians 6:4-5 says:

⁴ Each person should judge [examine; test] his own actions [or achievements; work] and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. ⁵ Each person must be responsible for himself [will carry their own load]. (italics mine, Expanded Bible)

We are each responsible for ourselves - so focus on going beyond "good enough" and be your best self ever. God, not the sky, is your limit.

 

Have an impactful 4th Quarter.

 

A-B-C-D

What comes to mind when you hear the letters ABCD?

For most of us it will be "Above & Beyond the Call of Duty" - and rightly so too. However, the letters ABC popped in my mind as all we need to excel in our careers - "D" was added later.

So for this post, ABCD stand for Attitude, Brains, Connectedness, Determination.

A lot has been said & written about our attitudes and how they impact the rest of our lives. I even shared a few Attitude quotes over 3 years ago* When I think about "attitude" my favourite quote is:

"Your attitude, not your aptitude,

determines your altitude."**

Walter Scott's opinion is that: "For success, attitude is equally as important as ability." I believe Attitude is more important because attitude is about your perspective and response to people and things around you. It's good to have aptitude/ability (aka brains), but best to have a great attitude. A great attitude is what makes you humble enough to learn from others what you don't know - which leads us to "B."

B stands for Brains. To excel in your chosen career/job, you need to know and grow in your knowledge too. Having some knowledge is a good starting point...gaining more knowledge and skills is making progress. Anyone who wants to rely on all they knew...and don't want to know more/new things (pun intended), is already regressing because others will continue to progress. One way to progress/advance our knowledge and skill base is by the connections we have. So let's move to "C."

Connectedness is the wise realization that "no (wo)man is an island." We all need at least 1 other person in order to progress in life. It's one thing to stretch out your hand to connect with another person and another to know which outstretched hands you want to take a hold of.

It takes both discretion (using our brains) and Determination to stay connected with the right people. We also need determination to focus on self-improvement, despite the challenges we face, in order to advance your career.

So as you think about your career, think ABCD...and you'll experience success.

References:
* http://empowered-women-excel.blogspot.ca/2012/05/about-attitudes.html
** Zig Ziglar

Who helped up...who can you help up?

 

5 quotes for you to think about, take to heart and "take to act"

 

 

Which of these quotes resonate the most with you?

Focus on your feathers...

I'm reading a really interesting book by Valorie Burton - one I recommend to you too. One of the things she stresses is the importance of knowing and focusing on your strengths versus being drained by your weaknesses - or areas for improvement - as we now like to refer to them. In her words, "...both Scripture and research show that when you focus on building on your innate strengths rather than fixing your weaknesses, success flows more easily and authentically."*
Thinking about strengths, the peacock comes to mind. I cannot remember if (or where) I heard this or whether it was dropped in my heart. It went something like "The peacock is proud about it's feathers until it sees its feet." Now that speaks to remaining grounded and humble - as we should all be - but the peacock's feet don't ever stop it from spreading out it feathers.

Likewise, we must never allow what seem like weaknesses or shortcomings hold us back from fully expressing our strengths and succeeding. What we need to do is pay attention to is improving our strengths...and where necessary, reach out to others who can complement us. Valorie puts it this way: "Leverage your strengths and the strengths of others."** Marilyn vos Savant who once had the highest recorded IQ per the Guinness Book of Records, puts it this way:

"Success is achieved by developing our strengths,

not by eliminating our weaknesses."





Moving that to "Feather-phrase," the peacock doesn't (and can't even succeed, if it tried to) do away with its feet otherwise it will not be grounded... so it just chooses to focus on it's feathers. One more thing to note when focusing on your feathers is that the quality of a bird's feathers plays a critical role in if and how well or even how high it can fly - if it's a bird that can fly. So to successfully focus on your feathers, strengthen your strengths & success will come more naturally. I know because it's worked for me.

References:  

* Successful Women think differently by Valorie Burton, page 74.

** Successful Women think differently by Valorie Burton, page 98.