 The Turtle Always Wins“Speed kills” is a common saying in sport. Fans, scouts, and coaches will reference it in recruiting or as justification for why one athlete, or team, outperforms another. Quickness, athleticism, or ‘speed’ have a significant impact on performance.
In the short term, they’re right - the hare will win. But, in the long term, that’s not the case. In the long term, the turtle always wins. Regardless of society’s compulsion for honoring number one, the first, or the fastest; the reality doesn’t change. Patience and persistence are going to win out. Why not recognize it and operate as if we know it now? Why Should We Care? When we know the turtle wins, our perspective is shifted. The persistent failure becomes the superstar. The young, complacent hot shot becomes the underachiever. The faithful worker focused on the mundane masters the essentials. The flippant genius is bored by the very skills that hold his future success. As leaders, we must always be aware of what we are rewarding. The behaviors we promote within our team establishes the culture of our group. It’s culture that kills, not speed. How we see success is also a significant factor on what we view as worthy of praise. The more bent we are towards achieving outcomes, the more likely we are to value speed over persistence. The faster we can get the result we want, regardless of what is compromised, makes the most sense, right? A process focus is naturally accompanied by an expectation, and acceptance of, patience. Of course there is a desire for the instant gratification, the sugar rush, of the immediate result. However, the process focused mind realizes any success, or failure, is simply a by-product of the process chosen. Furthermore, a seemingly good result doesn’t always equate to the best process anymore than a seemingly bad result equates to a poor process. Both are yet to be seen, meaning there is more work to do either way. Turtles believe in, and do, the work. REAL TALK - Action Steps This is a pretty easy one to understand and even acknowledge, but very difficult to remember in the moment. Here are a few ideas for bringing the patient persistence of the turtle to the forefront.
Appreciating the way of the turtle is important for us as individuals and organizations alike. Both parties like to cite their need for immediate results as their excuse for a lack of emphasis on the long game. It’s a lame excuse, stop using it. Give the turtle the respect it deserves. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help!
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 The 'Good Enough' LeaderI’ve written before on one of my high school coach’s common moniquers:
“Ever notice how good enough, never is?” I’m sticking with that in regards to our personal pursuit of excellence. If it’s about holding ourselves accountable, good enough doesn’t cut it. If it’s about living to our personal values, good enough doesn’t cut it. If it’s about how we treat others, good enough doesn’t cut it. But a place where good enough is just right is in leadership. We’ve developed, fallen may be a better word for it, into a society that attempts to protect those in our care from the imminent failures coming our way rather than preparing them to deal with it. We swoop in to save the day only to make the coming days that much harder. Let’s think of it from a parenting standpoint. We have the two extremes, which I would argue make up the majority of the cases: the helicopter and the absent. Helicopter parents are always hovering. They view it as their personal responsibility to be sure their child goes through life free of disappointment and failure. They are constantly involved and running to the rescue at the first sign of perceived struggle. They’re annoying at best, meddling at worst. I’m sure you know plenty of parents from this group. The absent parent is just that, not there. They provide no structure, or guidance, for their child and have released themselves of the responsibility to nurture this young person into an adult that can positively contribute to society. They’re nowhere to be found when trouble sets in. Why Should We Care? From the outside it seems the absent parent is far worse than the helicopter parent, but it’s not the case. Both are equally damaging. The parent that has it figured out is the good enough parent. A good enough parent is going to be at the playground to see their child fall down, but resist the urge to run in and save the day. They allow their child to fall and deal with it. That’s good enough. A good enough parent is going to be present and supportive of their child as they complaining about a teacher or coach that they don’t agree with, but resist the urge to intervene and overpower the relationship. They allow their child to struggle and deal with it. That’s good enough. The exact same scenarios play themselves out in the leadership world. The helicopter leader clips the wings of team members, robbing them of the opportunity to stretch themselves by swinging for the fences. These leaders quickly find themselves with a team full of in-the-box thinkers afraid of putting themselves out there or risking failure. The absent leader is climbing the ladder and compromising the life-blood of leadership, the relationships, for another ring on the ladder. They are either so focused on themselves that they literally aren’t available to their team or they are so focused on societal success that their team doesn’t matter to them. Similar to parenting, I believe these two descriptions also encapsulate the majority of leaders. The good enough leader provides team members with what they need, not what they want. They allow the vagueness of their direction to be an asset rather than a hindrance. The good enough leader is there, but no one notices him. He prompts, suggests, and guides those he leads towards the vision of the team. REAL TALK - Action Steps There is nothing easy about being a good enough leader. Though it may seem like less work, it’s clearly a significant challenge considering how many people accept its effectiveness but fail to act on its execution. Here are a few thoughts that might help you with the process.
I think we are guilty of over-parenting, over-coaching, and over-teaching. Some, actually most, things are best when we figure them out ourselves. We are at our best, and our teams are at their best, when we strike the balance - when we’re good enough. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help!  The Talent CliffIt seems like certain people were dropped there with a special gift. Ordained by God to simply be naturally gifted as something. There are far too many examples to dispute the fact that some people are born with enhanced skills others aren’t. This, of course, isn’t to say we all can’t improve - not trying to dispute Carol Dweck and her growth mindset research by any means.
However, clearly some people are naturally gifted in singing, for example, as compared to someone else. A few of these people recognize this talent and invest great amounts of work in it. Their early success fuels their passion for their skill which provides enough intrinsic motivation to inspire them to pass through challenges and obstacles with no regard, as if they are simply part of the process. And, in this process these few are likely recognized as much for their work and commitment as they are for their talent. Thus, they draw an additional reward in the form of admiration for the process they have chosen, not simply the innate talent they began with. Then you have the gifted group that recognize their gift, but allow their talent to diminish their perceived need for work. They begin believing their talent, not their work, is the driving force. And, rightly so based on the feedback they receive from others. These people are often praised and elevated because of their talent. Rather than the admiration being for the process they embrace it’s simply for the talent they possess. This rings empty to them because deep down they know they did little to cultivate what they were blessed with. Why Should We Care? As leaders, this is significant because these people are often hard to tell apart but their impact on our team and culture won’t be. As Inky Johnson puts it, “Character supersedes talent … don’t allow your talent to take you where your character can’t sustain you.” Talent leads us to a cliff that requires a plan. Character is the foundation of that plan. I realize you’re probably reading that, agreeing with it and saying that makes sense. Then why don’t we honor it? We see it over and over - from professional sports to youth sports, from corporate America to the working class … skill and talent is valued above character. We make these compromises with one hope in mind: they’re cliff is too far away. We know they’re headed straight for a cliff and we know they have not been equipped with a plan, yet too often we allow them to proceed. We’ll complain about how they’re entitled and how they ‘don’t get it’. We’ll make excuses for their attitude and allow them to skate by on threats. Our unwillingness to hold the talented accountable isn’t their problem, it's ours. Ignoring it is worse than enabling it. We might as well be pushing them off the cliff ourselves. REAL TALK - Action Steps As the talented ones we are entrusted with make their way towards the cliff, here are a few thoughts on helping them develop a plan for the crossroads of their talent and their character.
The call is not to the talented, or gifted, though they ultimately hold the decision. The call is to the leaders. Teach them, coach them, and hold them accountable. If not for your benefit, for theirs. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help!  Compete BecauseI’ve spent the last eight years worth of summers in basketball gyms all across the country. I’ve had the opportunity to watch a lot of incredibly talented players throughout that time. The things kids can do now in third or fourth grade on the basketball court weren’t common for seventh or eighth graders just five years ago. Their skill and talent is off the charts.
But, I wouldn’t want 98% of them on my team. Why? They don’t know how to compete. That’s right, competing is a learned skill. Just like running or jumping, some are bent more towards competition than others. However, I will always be of the belief that we all can continue to improve our ability to compete. The problem isn’t a lack of competition. It’s the unwillingness to express the importance of competing. Why Should We Care? The ‘everyone gets a ribbon’ and ‘no one loses’ movements may help our confidence - though I would argue it’s false confidence - but it’s also crippling the desire for people to compete. Kids and adults alike will tap out at the first sign of challenge, struggle, or God-forbid failure. We continue to hold on to the false pretense that losing or failing is bad. As if it damages our psyche and paralyzes our motivation to continue moving forward. Competing places us directly in the crosshairs. When we compete, there is a chance we fail. Without that chance, it’s not a competition. Likewise, competition calls for a winner. We can’t eliminate the potential for a loss while maintaining the possibility for a win. Our societal judgment of success as ‘good’ and failure as ‘bad’ is leading us to an apathetic approach to competition. And, we know it to not be true at all … yet we continue. We keep highlighting it, writing about it in the papers, and covering it on the tv. We glorify success while making failure the villain. Those that truly compete don’t follow the rules. They are preparing then testing, preparing then testing, preparing then testing. The result still holds feelings of excitement or disappointment, but only in the moment. They are not ruled by their emotions connected to the perceived good or bad. They are experimenters, constantly challenging their current state, free from the entitlement of success or the embarrassment of failure. It’s a beautiful thing. REAL TALK - Action Steps Helping those we lead become better competitors is just as much within our responsibilities as any other skill would be. A healthy relationship with competition is the goal, not an elimination of it.
I love to watch people that compete, freely and ferociously. Their experimental mindset is inspiring and challenges me to continue competing in my life. They don’t need a prize or pat on the back. They just compete because it’s who they are. They compete because. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help! |
About bcI'm a teacher, coach, and parent seeking excellence while defining success on my own terms. Archives
May 2023
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