Survival is Optional
/Originally written in May 2017
As a leader (of your home, job, organization), are you choosing to fail or succeed? Failure happens when you follow a path of the “status quo” through struggles and La-La Land! Those who succeed are focused! They have a vision that they continually adapt as they learn (and they are obsessive learners and listeners), ask questions to understand and connect in their relationships and with customers.
Survival takes COURAGE, an openness to learning FOREVER, and challenging thinking. It takes KNOWLEDGE searching for better answers and new cures.
YOUR CHOICE TO SURVIVE—and lead your organization to success!
You must be:
VISIONARY, FOCUSED, BOLD, CURIOUS, COLLABORATIVE, INTRIGUING, DARING, FEARLESS, HUMBLE, STRONG, INSPIRING, DISRUPTIVE, PROVOCATIVE, GENUINE, RADICAL, INNOVATIVE—and not arrogant! How are you doing?
WHAT WILL YOUR IMPACT BE TODAY?
Over time I’ve reflected after hearing many stories from friends, clients, and colleagues about what we do and why we do those things. Why do we have performance appraisals and rank and rate people? Why do we set up organizations as if education and business and non-profit work and government systems are games, where we have internal competition and winners and losers? Why do we fill our days so full of classes and grades, Power Point revisions and obscene work and commute hours, busy work, finger-pointing, blame, and criticism?
There must be reasons. What do we believe? What if we consider:
We are alive to help and support each other. We are here to make a difference and a positive impact (that doesn’t give us the right to judge and bully others.) We are here for a short time to experience joy in learning, working, and living TOGETHER.
WHAT ARE THE BELIEFS YOU HAVE? SHOULD YOU RECONSIDER THEM?
One Monday morning, I was talking to a friend. He shared that on the previous Friday he received a shocking performance appraisal. Even though he had met his goals and felt like he was progressing in his organization, he was devastated—for the entire week-end. I listened and then said: “PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS SHOULD BE ABOLISHED (and they should not be replaced.) Organizations that use them show a lack of leadership.” Immediately, my friend felt better. But more importantly, I advised:
“When some people go low, you go high.”
(this is not an original comment, but I heard it and it fits well in many situations.) My friend grabbed it, and his confidence was restored. Though badly harmed and bullied at work, he could stay focused on making meaningful contributions in life. When friends or colleagues are hurt, it’s up to you to help them see the meaningful picture in life.
When we take a few moments to reflect, do we really believe that we are on this earth to judge, criticize, and blame each other for the outcomes of the System? Surely we want to have a more meaningful life than that! For more details, see the book ABOLISHING PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS by Coens and Jinkins.
