Happy Sunday Everyone:
I had my semiannual performance review with my CEO (Rob) on Thursday. He had sent us a list of questions ahead of time that he wanted to review with us. Two of the questions were around leadership. The questions were “what are your 3 greatest strengths as a leader in order of strength, and your 3 greatest weaknesses in order of weakness”. I’ll skip all the answers except for #3 on weaknesses. My answer was around time, and not having the bandwidth to do all that I want.
Rob knows me well enough to know this wasn’t a passive aggressive effort to tell the big boss how hard I’m working for him. He works hard too but he’s certainly not keeping tabs on hours, he’s keeping tabs on execution & results. I basically told him there are days, especially in the last couple of weeks, where I’m working from 4:00AM-9:00PM and I didn’t think it was sustainable, healthy, or useful. He went Mr. Miyagi on me and simply said “Hunter, you’ve heard about the two lumberjacks cutting wood right? One just keeps working harder and harder, the other sits down for 15 minutes to rest and sharpen his axe”. Many of you may have heard this before, I had not, and it was the most useful reminder I’ve heard in a long time and well needed for my thought process. We went in to much greater detail (obviously) on various topics but I ended the call feeling a sense of relief, understanding, and growth.
A few take aways for me:
1. My #1 weakness for myself is that I can get myopic in my thought process. I don’t always see the forest through the trees. Seeking wise council prevents this weakness from materializing too much. Having a network of people I trust, respect, and seek council from is the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
2. We have to be open for honest feedback from people that we know care about us. Hearing what “I” need to work on isn’t always easy, and at the same time, it’s needed and useful. Constant reminder as soon as you find yourself defending yourself vs. listening for the nuggets, stop it!
3. Working 15 hours in a day for any extended period of time only proves that you don’t have a strategy for growth. I have more clarity today than I did Thursday on how to grow this plan.
4. Execute your plan. All the planning in the world is pointless if you don’t ever hit the launch button. My coaching students that can’t take the first step of hiring will never see a plan in action.
5. Taking care of yourself matters. I’m up 10lbs, not eating during the day, drinking too much coffee, and I feel like crap. I have a plan to fix it and will but just saying, we need to take care of ourselves. It’s easier for some than others (hard for me).
6. Focus on the gratitude. No work martyr syndrome.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. If I don’t run tomorrow morning I’ll send everyone on this email $1000:)