Time is Not a Limitless Commodity

Rarely in this modern generation of 20-something year olds do you find young professionals that have a heightened sense of urgency to get to the next level.  In our 20s we think we have all the time in the world to A) figure it out and B) get what we want.  Time is the only treasure we start off with in abundance, and can never get back.  Let us be clear though…what is meant by a "sense of urgency" is not running around at 400 miles an hour with your hair on fire. Rather, having a sense of urgency means displaying and acting on a driving desire to accomplish the most important items now! It is an unrelenting push for speed that leads directly to desired results.

However, some might say that they don’t know what they want or they aren’t sure how to figure out a way to advance in their careers. Therefore, they convince themselves that it will all fall into place in time. Well, sorry to disappoint those who think this way but there isn’t some magic stork that flies in and drops off a bag full of opportunity, success, and fulfilled desires. If you aren’t sure what you want as a career or in your current career, or you aren’t sure about how to figure out what it takes to get this or that out of your career, then don’t just sit there. GET UP! Get up and start exploring. Start making moves. Start tapping into resources. This is the only way you young professionals will get to the next level. If you need help in creating that sense of urgency for yourself, here are some steps below...

1) Activate. Often we become paralyzed due to the real issue, which is courage. The point of absolute certainty in a decision never comes as fast as we would like it to. It is foolish to assume that it does. However, urgency requires that we activate quickly: Make a decision. Get off the dime. Do something! As the old adage goes, “it is easier to steer a moving object.” If you’ve made the wrong decision, you can adjust. But if you wait too long, you miss the opportunity entirely. Speed can be a competitive advantage. But this requires leaders who are willing to activate and get themselves, their teams, and their actions into motion.

2) Accelerate. Urgency requires more than activation. Yes, you have to start quickly, but you also have to keep things moving. Turning on the green light to start working towards your goals is only the beginning. There are many impersonal and personal forces that will conspire to slow you down—obligations to others, approvals, processes, meetings, budgets, etc. Some of these things are necessary—but not as many as you think and not as large of an obstacle that you think. As a leader, you have to fight these obstacles. You have to identify them and remove them. You must keep the pedal to the metal and keep things moving.

3) Achieve. Cultivating a sense of urgency is all about producing results. All the stuff that it takes to produce results is not an end in itself. Too often people think that the objective is to complete their task list. If they do so, they think they have actually accomplished something. This is not necessarily the case. Tasks are a necessary, and can even be considered little victories or small successes, but hardly a total condition of achievement.

4) Assess. Urgency does not rule out assessment. In fact, it demands it. If we are going to get faster at producing results, we have to assess what is working and what is not. We must then eliminate the waste. Analyze what decisions only procrastinated your achievements. Our job as leaders and young professionals is to remove the obstacles and give the people we work with as well as ourselves the best chance of achieving their goals and ours.

Make the most of the opportunities you have today, big or small, because there will be a time when you have no more opportunities and no more time to find and/or create them. People face similar and different opportunities everyday to take advantage of. Those who take advantage of them quickly and work hard to make the best of them in order to achieve their goals or find out what they want are the people who find themselves successful. Therefore, GET UP! Get up and start exploring. Start taking advantage of your opportunities. Activate. Accelerate. Achieve something. Then Assess. Lastly, have a sense of urgency in doing it all. Time doesn’t pause for you to figure it all out. YOU have to make things happen!

Talent Is Overrated

 

We seem to have a generation full of young adults who believe that to be successful one must have some kind of natural talent that allows them to have that extra edge compared to others. Well, congratulations...you may be the most capable, creative, knowledgeable & multi-tasking generation yet.  However, if it is just talent that got you anywhere what you really deserve is a a "Sh-t Medal.”  Unrefined raw materials (no matter how valuable) are simply wasted potential.  There’s no prize for talent, just results.  Even the most seemingly gifted folks methodically and painfully worked their way to success.

 

As an office full of leaders who are helping each other train and build crews while also working hard to make sales in the field we know that no matter what talent someone brings to our team we still have to refine and improve our skills as sales people and especially as leaders. While not all leaders will develop their talents and abilities to the same level, all successful leaders more or less begin with the same foundation. The difference possessed by all great leaders is that they continue to refine, develop and build from their foundation. They understand leadership is not a destination; it’s a continuum.  The best leaders combine attitude, effort and skill, but of the three, skill is the least important.  When in doubt, always choose attitude over aptitude. 

Leadership is a choice, and great leaders not only choose to lead – they choose to lead well. They not only continuously develop talent, but they also maintain a strong work ethic. Along with work ethic it is a leader's drive, discipline, dedication, determination, and desire that makes a bigger difference more than their potential. 

Below are six leadership characteristics (in no particular order of preference) that require absolutely no talent or ability, but that must be present in order to succeed over the long-haul as a leader.

1.     Show-up: You can’t make a difference if you don’t show-up. It requires zero talent to be present mentally and physically. In most sports I’m aware of you cannot play if you don’t suit-up and show-up. Leadership is a participation sport and never works well in absentia.

2.     Care: There is great truth in the old axiom “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Extending basic human courtesy requires no talent – just a willingness to behave in a decent manner. It’s highly probable you don’t like rude, elitist, arrogant, dismissive, or condescending people, so don’t become one yourself.

3.     Hustle: I learned this lesson at an early age… I had a basketball coach take me aside after I finished far ahead of the pack after a long set of down-and-backs. He pointed to a slower teammate who was still running his lines and said, “he may not be as fast, but he’s giving 100% – Did you?” He went on to say, ”it takes no talent to hustle and your team deserves better.” I don’t ever remember dogging-it again.

4.     Follow Through: It takes no ability to simply do what you say you’re going to do. Nothing is more important for a leader than keeping promises and commitments. A leader who fails to understand this will never create the trust bond necessary to lead effectively. It’s just not that hard to deliver on your promises, and if you have no intention of doing so, don’t make the commitment to begin with.

5.     Positive Attitude: To the one, the best leaders I’ve ever known all smile, listen, engage, have a positive outlook, and have a high energy level. This is a mindset thing, not a talent thing – it’s as simple as making the choice to be pleasant.

6.     Do the Right Thing: While it will often require courage, it takes no talent or ability to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Real leaders don’t compromise when it comes to core values – they have character. It takes no skill to tell the truth, and great leaders will always forgo doing things right where such actions conflict with doing the right thing.

 

There is no doubt that the list above could be expanded as there are large numbers of leadership characteristics that require no talent or ability –  just desire. Perhaps as a leader you find more characteristics to add to the list. Whatever they are, be sure they are characteristics that you have a strong ethic for and which you can continuously refine and improve upon.