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1/28/2021

Holding Fast

A quick search will tell you the phrase ‘hold fast’ is a nautical term that originates from a dutch word “houd vast”, or hold tight, referring to holding securely to a ship’s ropes and rigging. The same search also reveals that in the Bible ‘holding fast’ means to hold your position, fix your gaze, not lose sight of.

Is there a better phrase for what a leader needs to be doing?

I know many of my greatest setbacks and failures occur when I have drifted from the standard we have chosen as a team, or the standard I have embraced for myself. When I lose sight of the long-term goal, my daily actions immediately suffer.

Unproductive choices become reasonable, even acceptable, when the standard has been compromised. When I hold fast to the standard, my choices become clear.

When the standards are high, the options are limited. It’s going to be difficult and it’s going to be challenging, but it’s rarely going to be confusing. It’s going to take what it takes.

The question is rarely can we … it’s will we?

Why Should We Care?
Let’s first be clear that we are talking about a standard, not a goal or specific outcome. Standards are behavior based. They do not guarantee the desired result, but they give us the best chance at attaining the desired result, but do not always produce it.

By focusing on standards, we are zeroed in on something we control - our behavior. This is where the clarity resides. As long as we are focused on controllables, the choices are simple. As soon as we are pulled from the standard and beginning focusing on the result, each decision becomes cloudy - every choice has options that could lead to the desired result if this, this, and this happen.

Inevitably those choices drag us from the standard we had originally accepted. At first, it’s just a little … then a little more. You know it goes from there.

Rather than try to wade through the muddy water, we are better off to intentionally choose a set standard and hold fast. No debates, no but ifs … decide and hold fast.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Clearly some personal reflection and work must be done before having any idea what standards you may want to hold fast to. That certainly needs to take place, but is a separate conversation. For this, we’ll concentrate on the how to holding fast.

Share It
- I’m a pretty to-my-self person. I prefer to keep things private, especially if it involves my personal standards and vision. Regardless of how committed and convicted I am about something, I always benefit from the additional responsibility I feel from wanting to uphold my standard. When those close to me know my standards, I want to live up to it a little more. Sometimes that little more is all it takes.

Know Your Inner Circle
- Know the people that will support your standard and spend time with them. Everyone won’t support you, which is fine. But, those that will champion your standard and hold you to it when you start to sway, those people are the ones that love you. Find those people.

Start Again
- It’s been said many times, many ways but the best time to start is now. Things will never be so perfectly aligned that you’ve eliminated all problems and obstacles. Nor, should you want it to. It’s those obstacles that make the standard worth holding fast to in the first place. And, when you fail - and you should fail if that standard is worth holding to - start again.

Simple concept: Choose your standard and hold fast. Not so simple in execution. Avoid the rollercoaster that calls for your standards to change. Keep it simple. When things are good - hold fast. When things are bad - hold fast.

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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BCG Blog

1/21/2021

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The Try Hards

If you’ve been around teenagers in the last 5-10 years, you understand the negative connotation around a seemingly positive character trait of trying hard. Apparently, somewhere along the way trying hard became a negative thing.

Kids will openly harass friends and teammates for putting, what they deem as, too much energy and effort into any task. If you have to work really hard at something, then clearly you aren’t good at it. After all, if you were good, then you wouldn’t have to try hard to do it well, duh.

In an effort to be liked and fit in, many teenagers cave to the heckling and join the crowd of underachievers. Unfortunate, but true. And it doesn’t just apply to teenagers.

Why Should We Care?
Out of high school and in the real world one would think that hard work would always be valued - not the case. At least kids call it what it is - trying hard. In the adult world, we prefer to make excuses for why we can’t commit or work hard.

Some claim to not have enough time, which of course is nothing more than admitting to ineffectively managing the same time we all have. Other priorities become excuses to avoid fully committing to the one right in front of them.

Others play the indifferent card. Far better to pretend you don’t care, or it’s not important, than to commit fully and risk not being quite enough. Afterall, if I ‘try hard’ at work and don’t get the promotion then I’ve failed. If I ‘try hard’ as a parent and my child gets poor grades or in trouble outside of school then I’ve failed.

So, what’s the point?

One of the identities people most try to avoid is the only path to excellence. The road to excellence is narrow, but hard work and full commitment are undoubtedly on it.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
It’s our responsibility to help those we lead lean into this necessity for hard work. Don’t shy away from it, don’t try to soften it, and don’t act like excellence in anything is attainable without it. It takes what it takes.

Face the Gritty Facts
- Never shy away from stating exactly what it is going to take to get the job done. The more challenging, the better for high achievers. They want the challenge, they thrive in the uncertainty of knowing whether or not they can get it done. And for those not in that category, you are providing them with a clear picture of the expectations. From there, it’s their choice.

Share your Gritty Faith
- Dealing hope is what I like to call it, but the confidence that your team is special and that they are capable of completing the mission is vital. From the leader, they need to hear yes it’s going to be hard and yes we’ll face adversity. But, also yes - this group is special and together we can get it done. No doubt, no question - we can do it!

Say No or Hell Yea
- Trying hard is the only way to anything of substance and anything worth your time. If it’s something you are not inspired to work hard at, then say no. If you say yes, then there is only one way to proceed.

Embrace the work that’s required to achieve excellence. Don’t soften it and don’t pretend like it won’t be hard. Those we want on the journey with us will not only choose it but they’ll thrive in it.

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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BCG Blog

1/14/2021

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These Trying Times

Ok. It’s time. Can we stop talking about how hard, challenging, and difficult 2020 was? Can we stop saying how it was a year like no other? Can we stop commiserating on how rough quarantine is, how different our jobs are now, and how much we want things to go back to normal?

I mean, I get it. I don’t disagree.

I’m also ready to move on. Why allow those frustrations and problems to negatively impact our present and future? I know that’s not a unique problem to this pandemic but it has become a clear issue as a result of it.

Why Should We Care?
As long as we are focused on our problems, we can’t see our opportunities. Quarantine, while it has certainly presented problems - disrupting work schedules, school, child care, daily routines. It has also offered opportunities that many would’ve never taken the time to pursue without it - time with family, cleaning up your diet, gaining clarity in your personal life, pursuing personal goals, connecting with old friends.

The reality is, some people won the quarantine and some people lost it. Want to guess which group of people have grown during ‘these challenging times’? That’s right, not the people calling them ‘challenging times’. It’s just the times - no more or less challenging than any other times - just the times.

Our attention steers our perceptions. The more we talk about and direct our attention to the difficulties presented by any issue, the more challenging we perceive it to be. On the contrary, if we focus our attention on the opportunities, the brighter our future looks to be.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
So how do we do this? How do we focus our attention on the positive so our perceptions follow? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Be Thankful
- Recognize what you have to be thankful for. The more simple, the better - those are the things we take for granted the most. Write them down.

Be Quiet
- Meditate, take a walk, journal, pray - create a routine that works for you, but take time out of your schedule to allow your mind to develop the ability to be intentional.

Do Hard Things
- Nothing is better for you to move through difficult times than to accomplish hard things. The feeling of progress and growth is central to staying present and moving forward.

Stop spending your time and energy on things you can’t change. Accept it for what it is, a time in your life, and start looking for the opportunities you’ve been missing out on.

This message is in no way intended to diminish the hurt of losing a loved one as a result of the pandemic. Moreover, it’s a call to spend more time appreciating the life each of our loved ones while we can.

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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bcg blog

1/7/2021

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Influence or Impact?

John Maxwell succinctly defined leadership as “influence, nothing more, nothing less.” While I appreciate Maxwell’s minimalistic definition, I think it is off the mark when it comes to the true purpose of leadership.

People are influenced to change opinions, behaviors, and beliefs from something as simple as a billboard or as trivial as an Instagram post. Businesses work to influence our purchasing choices, teachers attempt to influence our study habits, and friends seek to influence our fashion.

Nothing is wrong with these attempts to influence. Some are good for us, some our bad. Since we ultimately get to choose what we allow to influence us, the responsibility is still in our hands. No leader, or advertisement, can pull that from us without our consent, yet we must acknowledge the manipulative nature of the desire to influence.

Why Should We Care?
Influence is defined by Mirriam-Webster as ‘the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen.’ We assume, and often rightly so, that, based on our experience, this path is better than that path. When we strongly believe in a particular path our words and actions reflect this conviction as we attempt to influence others to value it also.

We are constantly attempting to influence those around us. Is that leadership?
If so, I must be missing something.

In my experience, it’s impact, not influence, that define leadership. Leaders don’t have impact unless those we lead choose to allow us to. Our responsibility as leaders is to provide an environment and opportunities for team members to want to be impacted.

Leaders that impact others not only change a person’s belief in something, they change the person. Their view on the world, their relationships, their dreams all become congruent. It’s difficult to overstate the significance of an impactful leader. They change lives.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Here’s the deal, influence is transactional and primarily addresses individual things - preferences, beliefs, ideals. Impact is transformational and changes the person - who they are, their purpose.

Those are not the same things. You know it, and I know it. I’ve been influenced by a lot of people in my life. Some I may consider leaders, many I would not. But those that have truly impacted my life are not only leaders, but heroes.

Here’s a few ideas on focusing on impact over influence:

Ask, don’t tell
- One of the key tenets of impact is self-discovery. The leaders that impact others are those that don’t seek to push their beliefs on those they lead, they strive to help those they lead discover their beliefs for themselves. That is done much more through questions than it is through speeches.

Reflect, seek to understand
- Give those you lead opportunities to look back and reflect on why they do what they do. We all have our current belief system for a reason. Often that reason is because of our past experiences. If a belief system isn’t working, one of the most important motives for change is helping those we lead understand where it’s coming from. Awareness and understanding are impactful.

Trust the Process, be patient
- This is a messy operation. It won’t happen on your timetable and it probably won’t happen during your time together. Investing in people is the right way to lead. Helping team members know themselves is the right way to lead. You may not benefit from the fruits of your labor, but it’s still the right way. Don’t waiver. Right is always right.

Influence is no doubt a means to impact. By helping those we lead look at things differently, explore other possibilities, and be open to new perspectives we are paving the way for impact to take place. But, we must always realize that it’s their choice, and their life. Your influence as a leader noticed briefly, but your impact will be felt by those you lead forever.

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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bcg Blog

Holding Fast

BCG Blog

The Try Hards

BCG Blog

These Trying Times

bcg blog

Influence or Impact?

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