Pick People For Success
January 3, 2011 § 2 Comments
Image by Noodles and Beef via Flickr
“Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
– Colin Powell
Last week, Wendy discussed the concept of an internal board of directors – roles for personal governance to complement our own strengths and weaknesses.
When I read Wendy’s blog and then saw Powell’s words, it was natural to complement her thoughts by focusing on the importance of identifying others who’ll be important in reaching our goals and dreams.
The quote from the former U.S. Secretary of State is certainly applicable to the workplace. I also see a greater message in it. And that is that we should seek to associate ourselves with people who can help us be successful whether at the office, in our volunteer activities or on a personal level.
It might be that these people will work hand-in-hand with us on a project or toward a goal or help us by being supportive in some other way.
As we move into a new year, many of us will make resolutions.
If so, we’d do well to contemplate who in our lives is supportive of what we want to accomplish. Do we need to reach out and find other like-minded people to bolster our success? Should we nurture existing relationships further? Is it possible we’re around people who don’t believe in what we’re doing or are simply negative in general?
I don’t make resolutions. When I focus on one or two things to improve upon and don’t reach those targets, I dwell on the ensuing disappointment. A year ago, I simply stated that I would put the ‘10’ in 2010. In other words, I would make it the best year yet.
While I knew not every part of my life would necessarily improve, I was confident my attitude would ensure a great year over all.
Part of that was re-focusing on how people with similar values and outlooks are instrumental in fostering positive energy. Those vibes feed off each other, like flames building towards an inferno. Likewise, I’m sure you’ve noticed that negative people are like cancers in the workplace or other parts of your life.
I led a rich life prior to this year – well, except for still waiting for that lottery win to occur – but I realized how easy it is to take your eye off the prize when you allow yourself to be distracted by disruptive individuals and undesirable situations.
Once I refocused, wouldn’t you know it but new opportunities arose almost immediately. For example, the concept for a book emerged along with some people who will help me make it happen. I developed some other positive friendships that will lead to other goals being met.
Co-writing this blog with Wendy continues to inspire me. Exchanging ideas regularly with someone who’s equally driven toward a goal is motivating.
I’ve also contemplated the Powell quote in terms of the workplace. It dovetails with a thought I’ve long had – that if I were starting a new company, I’d recruit an all-star team of colleagues, based on their values, ethics, passion, energy, and desire to achieve.
Oh yes, they know how to work their asses off. Like me, they just like to have fun doing it.
I’ve always hired on the basis of skill being about 20 per cent of the equation and the rest hinging on attitude, flexibility, customer service, teamwork, and willingness to learn. There are things I can teach – like how to write more effectively. I have no desire to take the time to try to transform a negative outlook into a positive one in a busy work environment.
As a long-time volunteer, I’ve also related Powell’s quote to that sector. Who hasn’t seen their child’s team embroiled in politics when everyone says they are there for the good of the kids? On the other hand, a group of hard-working, devoted volunteers can outdistance a fundraising goal.
The challenge is that we seldom get to pick who we work with in our employment and volunteer lives. Therefore, it’s important to gravitate to those with the comparable goals and feed off each other’s energy and commitment.
So, considering the achievements you want to see in 2011, do you need to make any changes to your team?
The Muse and Views 
“Part of that was re-focusing on how people with similar values and outlooks are instrumental in fostering positive energy.”
I completely agree with this post David. Though I do strongly believe working with people who have different ideas can be successful, working with like-minded people is always a strong-point.
I’ve found when I work those similar to my ideas, we can create larger projects and build stepping stones together.
In this blog, David, you focus on getting your readers to contemplate ‘who’ in their lives is a source of support, for the goals we seek to accomplish. You make us question if the answer lies within reaching out and finding additional like-minded people to help motivate, or, if we should keep nurturing existing relationships, (keeping in mind some of these people may not even believe in what we’re doing, lending a potential negative tone to the results obtained.)
Throughout your blogs you make it clear that you don’t make New Year Resolutions; you would rather simplify it and make it the best year yet – improve on all things – but not specifics, because if you focus on one or two things, then disappointment ensues if the target is not reached.
This manner of thinking is understandable. I have recently been thinking in a similar vein. I have set out to ‘find’ or ‘improve’ myself – to make drastic, meaningful changes, but have yet to identify what exactly I will focus on.
I have though, through the help of a friend, began to be more contemplative about life, in general. I have learned to push hard past barriers such as shyness and am making positive changes that lead me to progress toward socializing more, despite being an introvert.
From what I can see, my goal is ultimately to be the ‘me’ that I truly am; the person that I’m supposed to be. I found a verse that shook me to the core when I first read it a few weeks ago, because it’s exactly what I was searching within me throughout my whole life, of 48 years:
“I don’t know how to be
anything other than intense.
I don’t know how to experience without
Feeling too much and thinking too much.
I don’t know how to sit still
and quiet my mind and just be.
I am always searching, always questioning,
Struggling to find the meaning in everything.
I am passionate, and I am deep, and even if I am
Misunderstood, I am finally ok with that.”
Via – (The Minda Journal)
This perfectly stated verse doesn’t mean I know what direction I will take, and to be applicable in all areas for me, it should also state that “even if I am also misunderstood by myself*, that I am finally ok with that. The truth is, it can be hard to get to know oneself unless we are very honest with ourselves. My goals may be vague, but there is a certain truth to them that is undeniably going to help me to become a better person.
You have the right idea, David, because you knew that a positive attitude would promote a great year overall. You accepted that not every part of your life would improve when focusing on making your year the best one yet.
You analyzed in depth, methods of how to achieve a positive attitude and excellent results. You determined that you could re-focus on how people with similar values and outlooks as your own would re-kindle flames of positive energy, and you readily noted that negative people are ‘like cancers’ in the workplace or other areas in life. Truth!! The fact that these individuals could become disruptive made you reflect on the potential of them promoting undesirable situations in your life.
When you refocused, new opportunities abounded immediately, and I have found that to be so, in my case, as well.
You considered how you would start up a new company if you were to do so:
The all-star team of colleagues would be based on values, ethics, passion, energy, and a desire to achieve. You stated that your staff members would consist of employees who work hard and aren’t afraid to do so. You also noted one important factor – they were to have fun doing the work. This is much like how Google treats their employees, I have heard. We could also take a page from other countries, such as Sweden, in how they treat their employees. A highly valued employee will always put forth full effort and create the best outcome possible.
You remarked that skill possessed by your employees would consist of perhaps 20% of the equation, with the rest hinging on attitude, flexibility, customer service, teamwork, and willingness to learn. You are a good mentor who can help motivate others. You questioned – why waste time trying to transform a negative outlook into a positive one in a busy work environment? (Especially when there are already people readily available with a more positive outlook.)
Your experience within being a long-time volunteer and co-ordinating, implementing, chairing and all sorts of additional tasks for various organizations have allowed you to understand the importance of volunteer work and you have consistently done so from a very early age in life.
You recognize some people falsely sit in to ‘volunteer’ at the expense of putting politics into play. Yet, you acknowledge the importance of understanding we can’t pick and choose who we work with, or volunteer with.
You prefer though, to gravitate to the ones with comparable goals so they can all share in the energy and commitment. This reminds me of students who work together in a group. By default, those who can do, do. Those who can’t, sit around on the sidelines, sometimes receiving the credit, other times being heavily criticized by their peers, like a game of Survivor.
Putting it into perspective like that makes me reflect – what changes do I need to make to my team, if any? At this point in my life, I have already voted out the ones who do not mesh with me. I have also found new friends who are invested in encouraging and motivating me.
2017 was perhaps the worst year in my life – My father fell ill unexpectedly and passed away. I am still finding my footing and perhaps this is the sole reason for my heavy-duty reflections. In any event, anything that makes me a more reflective and pensive person is only going to be of benefit. Ensuring that I have the best team of people possible in my corner is going to invoke that.