Life would be SO much easier if…
Life would be SO much easier if…
Years ago I was teaching some adjunct classes at a local university. I was a lot younger. Also less wise or mature.
I LOVED the subject (music), the students not so much. I had the sense that they were difficult to teach and motivate. I just wanted to teach the subject, get into my craft! Why was it so hard to engage the students?
I got discouraged and depressed. I expressed my frustrations to a faculty mentor. I said “This job would be so great without the students!” He thought for a moment and replied “You know, I actually think the students are the best part of the job. It’s a real pleasure for me to get to know them, understand them, find their passions, work with their motivations, and see them succeed.”
I think that probably helped me in the short term, but it is guidance that has stayed with me for many, many years. And it’s relevant to leadership no matter what you do.
To translate his very polite words into immature idiot (which is what I was at the time):
“Hey you f*$@ing dummy, don’t you realize that we’re a SOCIAL species? There IS no job without the students. Then it’s just you standing up there, flapping your lips about stuff you like. Any dumbass can do that. The job IS engaging the students, learning their passions, working with their motivations, helping them succeed. It’s not about YOU!”
It took me a few years to really get it, but now I do. Actually, not entirely. It’s still easy for me to feel sorry for myself and forget that I’m here to serve others, and that it is others’ success that is the entire barometer for my efforts.
It’s easy to forget. For all of us. We would so very much like it to be easy, and often we experience the difficulty as other people. But remember, to everyone else, YOU are another person too. Perhaps they sometimes experience you as inconvenient and difficult. Perhaps they struggle to engage you and understand YOUR motivations.
We ARE a social species. Without others we are nothing. Literally. Without others we have no food, clothing, shelter, transportation, money, healthcare, entertainment, love, anything at all. It all works because we work together, and ONLY because of that.
And so people are not your greatest frustration, they are your greatest asset, and the only answer you will EVER have.
Because 100% of success is about persuading the right people in the right volume to take the right actions at the right time.
Let me say that again for all the people in the back…
📢 100% OF SUCCESS IS…
📢…PERSUADING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
📢…IN THE RIGHT VOLUME
📢…TO TAKE THE RIGHT ACTIONS
📢…AT THE RIGHT TIME
Don’t you forget it. And don’t get stuck in that mistaken notion like I did when I was young, stupid, and immature. No job would be easier without others. No job would EXIST without others. Customers, colleagues, team members, partners, managers. That’s why it all works.
We’re a social species, and we’re here for others.
What kind of intention, gratitude, and engagement does that bring to your relationships, interactions, and communication?
Want help? Let’s talk.