Build on, don’t sit on. The danger in success is trying to protect it rather than expand it. The feeling that you’ve arrived kills progress. Success should fuel your passions rather than protect your positions.
Take a single, don’t wait for the homerun. Rather than waiting for a grand slam homerun, take a month’s worth of bunts and singles. I’ve found progress tends to go along slowly until an occasional leap forward surprises us. Once in a while, everything comes together and boom, it’s out of the park. However, you won’t experience the game-changer if you aren’t working hard when progress is slow.
Dream beyond your resources. If you currently have the resources to fulfill your dream your dream’s too small. Recently, I spent a day with 15 leaders and high potentials. The goal of the meeting was to identity several organizational break-throughs. The challenge is that it’s natural to define a dream in terms of something you are currently doing. Many of the suggestions for break-throughs could be accomplished by simply realigning resources, or working smarter, harder, or faster. Break free by asking yourself, “What would I do if resources weren’t a factor?”
Build strategic alliances that create shared resources. Other people have the knowledge you need. Other organizations have the talent, structure, or processes to take you higher. For example, the organization I lead is currently moving toward strategic alliances to expand our facilities. Strategic alliances mean you’ll learn how to “play” well with others. Let some folks get in your sandbox or you get in theirs.
Expect failure, don’t be surprised by it. The path to success is littered with things that didn’t work. Our failures make us.
Today’s best isn’t your highest potential.
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How can people make today’s best tomorrow’s average?