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Batting .500

May 5, 2013 By 2 Comments

 

I mentioned this blog post to a friend the other day and thought perhaps you’d like to read it, too. From November, 2010:

The other day I posted on Facebook:

Facebook snip 2

From the comments posted in response, to-do lists seem to be the bane of existence for quite a few of us. Don’t like ‘em, but can’t live this modern life without ‘em.

As I lay me down to sleep, though, I looked back on my troublesome to-do list and realized that of the six items on the list, I had completed three. Fifty percent. How did I feel about that? Was it “good enough”?

Well.

If I were a baseball player and hit the ball as well as I completed my to-do list, I’d be batting .500. I’d be in the Hall of Fame. With my own display case. Because even the all-time best hitters never crack .400.

Ty Cobb .366

Babe Ruth .342

Lou Gehrig .340

Albert Pujols .334

Stan “The Man” Musial .331

And, drum roll please, Michele Woodward – .500.

Not too shabby.

To tell the truth, I could even pump up my average a little bit. Because after I created my to-do list, I asked the four questions that have become my to-do list mantra:

  • Does this task have to be done at all?
  • Do I have to do it now?
  • What’s the impact if I do this later?
  • Am I really the best person to do this task?

By asking myself these questions, I immediately eliminated one item (didn’t really need to be done) and asked my so-much-taller-than-me 17 year old son to do one thing (replace the porch light bulbs – after assuring him it would certainly count as community service on his college application).

The stuff I didn’t get done? I’ll do it today. Because today is such a better time to get it done (see Questions Two and Three).

The challenge for some of us is that last question – Am I really the best person to do this task? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel a little queasy answering “nope”. We’ve all got our pride, right? And although we discussed the importance of showing vulnerability last week, discussing vulnerability doesn’t magically make doing it all that easy.  However, when you look at your values – what’s really important to you – then sometimes asking someone else to take on a task becomes less of a big deal.

For instance, I have a real value around helping my kids become independent adults. Adults need to know how to change light bulbs, don’t they? Therefore, tasking my son with this to-do is really teaching him an important life skill! [Which I will remind him. Repeatedly.]

At work, too, when the issues are larger than light bulbs, these questions come into play.  Are you a true mentor? Then let the kid have a shot. Are you a real leader? Then you better share the load. Are you a top producer? Then quadruple your production by adding more hands to the job.

And if you are one of Those People who look at fifty percent completion as fifty percent failure, then let me remind you of this:

For every three times he was at bat, Babe Ruth got out twice. And under his picture in the Hall of Fame is the caption: Sultan of Swat.

So relax with your to-do list. Remember to ask yourself those four questions. Then, step inside the batter’s box, take a few swings to limber up, and keep your eye on the ball all the way to the plate. Trust me, you will swing and miss. There will be a foul tip or two. But, from time to time, you’ll connect and hit it out of the park.

Bang – you’re in The To-Do List Hall of Fame, baby.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Career Coaching, Clarity, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living, WiseWork Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments

I Kill Jobs

April 28, 2013 By 1 Comment

Logging truck

 

I bought a book the other day. Didn’t even leave my home – just pulled up a website, clicked one button and – whoosh! – the book was on my iPad. And on my iPhone. And on my Kindle. And on my desktop computer.

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I can read that book any time, any where, on any device.

And in that fell swoop, I got exactly what I wanted and single-handedly killed a fair number of  jobs around the world.

See, if I had driven to the bookstore to buy the hard copy of the book, it would have taken:

  • the store clerk who helped me find the book
  • the cashier who rang up my book
  • the store manager who supervises those staff people
  • the cleaning crew who maintains the space
  • the landlord
  • the corporate people who decide which books to carry
  • the gas station attendant who sells me the gas it takes to drive to the store

It would have also taken:

  • the farmer that planted the trees
  • his farm worker
  • the lumbermen who harvest the trees
  • the driver who hauls the trees to the pulper
  • the pulper
  • the driver who drives the pulp to the paper mill
  • the guy at the paper plant
  • the binder
  • the driver who picks up the finished book
  • the warehouseman who stores and ships the book
  • the FedEx woman who delivers the book
  • the guy who puts the gas in her truck
  • the mechanic who maintains her truck

None of those people had a hand in my recent transaction. Multiply that by millions of e-books sold each year, and it’s no wonder that a lot of working people are suffering.

All because I chose the most efficient way to read what the writer wrote.

Don’t get me wrong – I love the feel of a bound book in my hands. I love turning pages. I also like people to have jobs. But, boy, do I love being able to buy an obscure, out-of-the-mainstream book with the click of a button.

And it’s this simple effect, amplified across a number of industries, that has changed the face of employment around the world.

We no longer need warehouses to store items that can be bought virtually. Bang – those jobs vanish.

We no longer need postal workers to deliver your movie in a red and white envelope, because you’re streaming at your convenience. Jobs gone.

No more factories churning out CDs in their infernal, unopenable, shrink-wrapped jewel box cases, because you listen to music on your phone, or via your computer speakers. Poof, buh-bye assembly line workers.

My friends, we are living through remarkable change. And we can lament and despair – gnash our teeth at the loss of the old ways – or we can hike up our britches and figure a way to get on board with the new. Just the way our great-grandparents did when running water came to their town. The way our grandparents did when every house was electrified. The way our parents did when air travel became commonplace.

Now is the time. If you are in an industry under threat from the new way of doing business, it may be time to reinvent – toward the efficiency and immediacy of the new economy. A great tool is the new book Reinventing You (Harvard Business Review Press) by my friend Dorie Clark. I interviewed her last week on the WiseWork radio show. It’s worth a listen.

It’s critical that you find the way – your way and maybe even a way for others – to thrive in a world where efficiency means that more gets done with less.

The world is wide open to you in a way it’s never been before, with so much possibility at your fingertips.

Now is the best possible time to reinvent.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Career Coaching, Clarity, Getting Unstuck, Managing Change, WiseWork Tagged With: , , , , , , 1 Comment

Do What’s Right

April 14, 2013 By 2 Comments

Jackie Robinson

 

On August 28, 1945, a man made a choice. He had to decide between doing what was conventional or doing what was right.

That Tuesday,  Branch Rickey did what was right, and hired Jackie Robinson to play for a minor league ball club associated with the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers.

I recently saw the new movie “42″ about this pivotal moment, and highly recommend it to you. It’s inspiring, and beautifully made, with outstanding performances from Harrison Ford as Rickey and Chadwick Boseman as Robinson.

And the message I kept returning to was the strength of character these two men showed.

Robinson, an educated UCLA man who had served as a Lieutenant in World War II, had to take the abuse heaped upon him and not react – because an angry reaction might doom integration of baseball.

Rickey, a die-hard baseball fan and hard-nosed business man, had to hold on to his vision of a future where baseball was integrated despite the intense opposition he faced.

Why did they do such a hard thing?

They did it because sometimes you just have to do what’s right.

Despite the backlash,  threats and challenges, Robinson and Rickey knew that doing the right thing always pays off.

Today, business is all about analytics, metrics and utilization rates. If the numbers line up nice and neat, the bean counters and money people say we can go with something. If they don’t line up, we tweak and tweak the algorithm until the metrics say, “go”. This clean and clinical approach has led to dying department stores with no staff to run the cash registers, and venture-funded companies whose harried employees each do the work of four people – all in the name of “efficiency”.

But service with heart is not always efficient.

The value of excellent performance based in integrity can’t be calculated.

And deep personal connection can’t be quantified.

Sure, Branch Rickey thought that the popularity of the Negro leagues meant that African-American spectators might flock to big league parks to see integrated baseball. But something else – something ineffable – drove him.

Something important. 

“I may not be able to do something about racism in every field, but I can sure do something about it in baseball,” Rickey said about his decision.

See, he just needed to the right thing.

And that right there is the essence of character.

In your own life and work, you may not be able to do something as big as Branch Rickey did,  but I know there’s something you can do. You know it, too. Doesn’t matter what the metrics might say to do.

Your heart knows.

Just like Robinson and Rickey, sometimes you just have to do what’s right.

 

 

Filed Under: Authenticity, Blog, Career Coaching, Happier Living, Managing Change, WiseWork Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments

Lean In – To Your Own Business

March 24, 2013 By 8 Comments

Homework with a laptop

So, if I’m getting the national zeitgeist right, it’s time to “lean in” and pursue opportunities that will take me to the top – the “top” being defined as a commanding leadership spot at the head of a Fortune 10 company, and at least one seat on a corporate board. This, so I’m being told, is the ultimate definition of success.

And, yet, this narrow definition of “making it” seems a little confining to me. Especially when I read Intuit’s 2020 Report, which projects that 40% of the US workforce will be doing freelance, micro-business or contingent work within the next ten years. Forty percent.

Makes the terms for defining one’s success a little different, doesn’t it?

If you control your own schedule, is that success?

If you continue to learn and grow and make a difference in the world, is that success?

If you meet all of your financial benchmarks, is that success?

If you have no boss, like a CEO does, but have clients, like a CEO has a Board of Directors, is that success?

I say yes. Yes, that’s exactly what success looks like.

In a lot of ways, it’s never been easier to start a business. Technology is easy, and relatively cheap, and organizations are hiring freelancers.

But it’s rather scary to take the leap.

So, what’s holding most people back?

First, it’s the outdated idea that the ultimate expression of success is derived from a big leadership role within a large organization. We know this is not the only measure of success, don’t we? But, boy, is it hard to let go of the way our parents and their parents and our peers and their peers have experienced work and defined success in the past.

Second, it’s the narrow thought that the only work day that matters is 8am to 8pm – you know, the typical ambitious, over-achiever, “I’m so busy!” mindset. We know it’s more about quality than quantity, but the old “hours put in on the job equals effectiveness” is pretty hard to shake.

Third, and I see this quite a bit in my coaching work, it’s the feeling that we’re all supposed to have a boss who tells us what to do. Who are we if we are independent, and self-directing, and self-starting? Who do we have to blame if it’s all on us?

From my own experience, all I can say is this: I haven’t had an office job since 1996. In 17 years, I’ve only reported to an office outside my home to work with clients at their request. Most of my work has been delivered remotely by conference call, video call, or other technological means. I haven’t messed with commutes, I don’t have anyone to approve my vacation time or question me about sick leave, and there have been mercifully few instances of nasty office politics (those clients I fired as quickly as I could, believe me).

Over all those years, I’ve built a right-sized business for myself which has allowed me to serve my clients, meet my financial needs,  and honor my key priority – which is being a good-enough parent to my kids.

And maybe I’m just an early adopter. And maybe in the next ten years many more of you are going to join me in this rewarding, free-form work of our own design.

My advice? Go into it willingly, and forget all the old definitions of “success”. Success is what you decide it is – whether that’s a corner office or a home office.

Just “lean in” where you’re going to be at your best most often, and be brave enough to give the new way of work a try.

 

[For more on the the shift toward freelancing, read The Geography of America's Freelance Economy from the Atlantic.]

 

Filed Under: Blog, Career Coaching, Getting Unstuck, Happier Living, Managing Change, Random Thoughts, WiseWork Tagged With: , , , , 8 Comments

Challenge Assumptions

March 17, 2013 By 1 Comment

 

Grocery shopping cart“So, Michele, it must be nice to be paid to tell people what to do,” says the friend I ran into at the grocery store. I noted the raised eyebrows and head shake, and sensed that he was…amused at my livelihood. “Well, the sad news is that I don’t get to boss anyone – not even my kids, it seems, unless I’m holding their car keys and my wallet. Coaching is more about guiding a client to find the right answers for them.”

As I rolled on down the aisle, I was sort of wincing, wishing I had thrown out a better comeback. C’mon, Michele – What is executive coaching and why does it matter?

Thankfully, the folks at Harvard Business blogs posted something this week that really helped. In Before Working with a Coach, Challenge Your Self-Assumptions, author John Boldoni says to those  thinking about getting a coach:

“Effective coaching is often a matter of challenging assumptions, and the biggest assumptions often reside in the mind of the person being coached.”

Yes! That’s it! I help people challenge their assumptions so they can get extremely clear. And working from that clarity, take the steps necessary to get the results they need.

[Now I am fully prepared for the produce aisle, thankyouverymuch.]

Case in point: my client Joe. Now, of course his name isn’t Joe, but we’ll call him that to preserve his confidentiality. Joe came to me a couple of years ago to reinvigorate his career. See, after a divorce he’d made a decision to throttle back a little on the career front so he could be a custodial parent. Once one kid was in college and the others nearly finished with high school, he decided to throttle his career back up. He wanted to get promoted, use his leadership skills more and do something more meaningful.

But he had a few assumptions about what was really possible, all tied up in confidence, self-esteem, and comfort with risk-taking – key elements required for effectively putting himself back in the mix. We had to tackle those assumptions and plenty of others as they came up before we could construct the plan that he would execute. And day by day, over about eighteen months, Joe executed on the plan.

And just this week, he said to me, “Michele, this coaching thing has really paid off. I wasn’t so sure there for a bit, but everything we’ve covered has put me where I am.” And the place he’s in is this – the candidate for a new big position internally and being recruited for a big position externally.

A few weeks ago, I sat down and crunched some numbers about my executive coaching practice. Who are my clients, and why do they come to me? How do they come to me? Anyone who’s in business for themselves can benefit from this sort of analysis. I learned:

Since January 1st, I have coached 10 men and 21 women in one-on-one, hour-long sessions. This excludes the laser coaching I do in The Club program, which has 44 members.

Of those 31 individuals, nine were senior executives, and seven were lawyers. Six were senior-level job seekers. Five owned their own businesses. Three were mid-level professionals and one was a coach. The bulk of them came to me by referral from past clients or professional colleagues.

With the exception of the job seekers, everyone wanted pretty much the same thing – “how can I be better at my job? How can I lead better? Communicate better? Manage crisis better? Create a strategy? Build?”

And every single client needed to challenge assumptions. Like the assumption that they are too old. Or too young. Or that the gap on their resume is too large. Or that Charlie won’t change. Or that Charlotte is their mortal enemy. That their lack of a specific degree is a deal-breaker.

That this isn’t the path I thought I’d be taking at this point in my life.

Oh, man, I love my work. I truly do. Because all day long, I’m challenging assumptions. All day long, I’m helping people find a new way.

Each day, with every session that concludes, I see minds opening and possibilities born.

I gotta tell you – it’s so much more fulfilling than bossing.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Career Coaching, Clarity, WiseWork Tagged With: , , , , , 1 Comment
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