Welcome to the last episode of November.  If you celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.

As you know, we have spent this month learning about the “Earning It” Mindset.

We have identified what it is, why it matters, how it has helped us succeed, and yet how it can hold us back and damage our executive careers if we aren’t intentional about how and when to apply this mindset.

It's time to close out this mini-series with the last key aspect of this mindset; finding the balance.

The secret is not to eliminate the mindset but to make a few adjustments.

Pivot the definition of this "rule."

Instead of thinking, "I must do something," shift it to "I must add value."

Instead of "do" it is "add."

If we shift our definition, it doesn't mean that we don't strive, work hard, or perform.

It simply means that we do all of those things in a way that allows us to compete with ourselves and provide more thoughtful, intellectually focused contributions instead of physical contributions.

When we are focused on adding value, there is no measuring stick for which we can compare ourselves to others.

Meaning, we can't get frustrated when someone doesn't carry their weight, because how do you measure your "value-add" vs. someone else's?

Everyone plays a different role, has different gifts, and may have been asked by the company to add value differently.

This new definition frees you from comparing yourself and measuring your performance to others.

When it comes to adding value, you will generate your specific results and earn your reward for it. Moreover, you will know you earned it because you know you added value in a way that is unique to you.

Adding value will ensure you focus on doing the right work for the role, feel worthy of the reward, and will allow you to succeed in the role overall.

In other areas of your life, housework, yardwork, etc. adding value will still mean physical labor.  But as an executive, adding value will mean mental work.

Make the shift. 

Change the definition of the function you perform (adding value).  This is how you reap the benefits of the “earning it” mindset in all areas of your life.

Would you like for the team to learn more about the "earning it" mindset? Send an email to [email protected].

Be Legendary.

This episode is going to be amazing and I am excited to dive into this topic with you!

Last week we talked through the fact that the "Earning It" Mindset is a double-edged sword. 

It has very much served us in our careers because it helped us succeed and achieve in school, college, and as we climbed the ranks in our careers.

Yet for all the ways it has served us, there have been instances where it has actually held us back.

When we have looked at others who haven't "carried their weight" or performed as much work or action as us, we have felt resentment and frustration.

When someone has taken our ideas and shared them as their own, we have felt betrayed.

And now that we are executives, this mindset could hold us back even further.

This is where I see top-talented leaders start to falter and where this mindset goes from being helpful to being a hindrance.

How?

Walk down this mental pathway with me:

As an executive, are you performing tasks?

Are you rolling up your sleeves and getting work done?

Are you solving problems and putting plans in place?

The reality is that for the majority of executives, the answer is no.

As an executive, you are contributing to the business in a very significant way, but not in a way you are used to. Not in a way that you define as "earning it."

Executives aren’t doers in the sense that we would define a “doer” in our careers.  They are thought leaders and people leaders.

Throughout our careers, before being executives, we had to do the work.  Whether that was truly doing the physical work to start, or whether it was overseeing people doing the physical work and putting plans in place to get more productive work out of them for example, we did the work.

As an executive, you’re no longer expected to "do" the work. You are now expected to bring all of your knowledge, experience, expertise, and judgment to the table to help the company strategically grow, navigate both industry and economic risks and move the business forward.

While these actions are beyond valuable to the business and organization, if we have an “earning it” mindset, we aren’t going to see this type of contribution as valuable.

This is going to cause struggle and conflict within ourselves.

If we do not move past it, we will delay and even damage our careers.

If we take the belief that the only way we can add value is if we do the work, sacrifice, put in the time, go the extra mile, and labor over the task at hand, then we are only going to be looking for those functions in our executive role.

When we don’t find them, we will create them. 

The problem with this is again, the company doesn’t want that behavior from its executives.

So here is the golden nugget: if you can’t pivot your “earning it” mindset as an executive, you will focus on the wrong actions, which will damage your career.

It’s a pivot you must make if you want to succeed.

Join me next week to discuss how to keep this mindset or belief in check.  When do we apply it vs. not? How do we pivot it?

Send your questions, comments, or requests for onsite training to: [email protected].

Be Legendary!

Welcome to the third episode in this mini-series on the “Earning It” Mindset.

Today is all about how this mindset has served us in our careers.

That's right! The "earning it" mindset has served us quite well throughout our lives and it's time to give credit where it's due.

Before I dive in, I want you to understand that most behaviors and mindsets that we have tend to serve us in some capacity. If they didn’t, we would have already gotten rid of them by now.

So when it comes to the “earning it” mindset, know that it has absolutely served you in your career. 

Our parents were not wrong when they taught us to work hard, give a little extra, etc.  It worked for them, their parents, etc.  So of course it’s going to work for us.

Putting in the hard work helped you earn the degree, get the amazing job you stepped into after college, and help you earn your promotions, pay raises, bonuses, etc.

This is why as we have been talking through this mindset you may have felt a little bit of confusion. "Is this mindset one that is good for me or bad?"

Know this, it has served you. 

Recognize it.  Celebrate it.  Appreciate your parents or family who taught you to work hard and put in the effort that generates the results you want to see in your life.  They have helped you succeed.

This is the positive edge of this double-edged sword that is this mindset.

It is a prime example of a value or belief that has served you in the past or may even continue to serve you in life.  Yet we have to realize that it won’t serve us in all parts of our lives.

This is the distinction we must make here. 

Has it served us? 

Yes. 

Will it serve us in all parts of our careers?

The answer is no.

Next week we will dive into the areas of your career where the “earning it” mindset will hold you back from professional success.

Questions or comments?

Send me an email: [email protected] and let's talk.

Be Legendary.

Welcome to another episode.  We are diving into the topic of “earning it” this month.  When I say “earning it” I am defining that as a believe that an action must be performed to not only receive a reward but more importantly, feel as though we are worthy of that reward.

Did you do your homework from last week?  Did you think about your current mindset and the association you have between your actions and mindset?

If yes, good for you. If not, take a moment now to navigate this concept.  

Because today, we are diving into the next phase of this discussion.  We must understand WHERE this mindset comes from. Surely the majority of us didn't just come up with it on our own.

So where did this come from?

While there are many pathways for this mindset, there is a common one that I will share with you today.

Transparently, for most of us, this mindset originates from our family. It comes from being raised in a middle-class household.

Now look, this is not an attack on the middle class.  I grew up in a middle-class family and I'm grateful for it.

The middle class is a hardworking class of individuals and is the largest class in the US. 

Let’s think about the characteristics of the middle class.

In other words, the middle class “earns it.”  They put in the effort to get the results.  They have consistently learned through personal experience that if I work this job and show up in this capacity, I will earn my paycheck.  When I earn my paycheck, I can purchase these other items.

Think about your family.  I watched my parents work hard, sacrifice, give, serve, and “do what needed to be done.”

There was no ability to question why it had to be that way or why it was that way, it simply was.

So when you went to school, did you expect to just show up and be given an A?  No, you earned that A.

You earned that degree.

You earned that paycheck.

You earned the money to buy your first car, house, vacation, etc.

You learned to do that from your family and the way you were raised.

What I’m trying to say is that for most of us, this “earning it” mindset has been ingrained in us as a way of life.

If we want to be successful in this world. The only way that will happen is with an “earning it” mentality.

While that can be great in some areas of our lives, it can be detrimental in others.

If I only feel like I am worthy of the raise or the promotion or the bonus if I “earn it,” and earning it means I sacrifice, I miss out on my family time, and I have to give to be worthy of receiving, then the work-life balance is going to suffer.

If I feel like I have given everything above and beyond and am not rewarded for it, I’m going to feel resentful and maybe even disrespected.

We are going to talk about the impacts of this mindset over the next few weeks.  What I want you to walk away with today is understanding that for the majority of us, we didn’t sit down and think to ourselves, “OK, I want to have an earning it mindset.”

We simply learned it by watching our parents, by being taught how to be successful in this world through conversations with parents and mentors, etc.  And they all taught us the “earning it” mindset because it’s what they know and it is what has worked for them.

Now that you understand what it is and where it came from, you have the power to change it.  The question is, do you want to change it?

Join me next week when we talk through how this mindset has served us at various times throughout our careers.

Do you have questions or want additional training?

Send me an email: [email protected] and let's talk.

Be Legendary!

Welcome to November; the month of the “earning it” mindset. 

80% of success is due to mindset. 

If you believe you can, you do, am I right? 

We all know how conversations go when we are confident vs. when we are meek and doubtful. 

So let’s spend the month talking about what I call the “earning it” mindset. 

This is the time of year when you are setting budgets, talking about bonuses, and in active negotiations and discussions for yourself, your team, and the business. 

My goal is to ensure you have the right mindset and perspective when you go into those conversations so they go in your favor. 

When it comes to the "earning it" mindset, we are going to dive into what it is, why it matters, how it has helped you in your career, how it could hurt you, and then we will wrap it all up with how to find the balance with this mindset so it serves you at the highest level.   That’s the plan for the month.

So today, let’s get into the topic by talking about what the “earning it” mindset is.

Earning it essentially means you did the work to generate the reward, right?

You performed a task or did an action that resulted in a reward of some sort.  It could be as simple as playing a card game and winning the hand, to showing up to work and contributing to earn your paycheck.

Every single day we are performing actions that generate results.  They could be good results or bad results, but we are generating results.

The key to this discussion is our perception of the relationship between actions and results.

Is it cause and effect?

When I do X I generate Y.  

That’s what the earning-it mindset is founded upon.

From a career perspective, it is:

I did these actions within my role, therefore I have earned my paycheck.

I took on this extra project, I sacrificed, and I gave above and beyond, therefore I have earned this promotion.

The link we have within our brain matters because it is part of the definition of this mindset.

Ultimately an “earning it” mindset means I must DO something to get the reward. 

If I don’t do the action or perform the function, I may receive the reward, but I didn’t earn it.  

So no doubt, as you are thinking through this, you’re already asking yourself the key questions as it relates to “earning it.”

Which is good, because that’s your homework from this episode.

I want you to take some time to self-reflect.  Do you believe that you must actually “earn” the paycheck, the award, the bonus, the promotion, etc. to be “worthy” of receiving the reward?

That’s what it comes down to.  If you didn’t do the work but got the reward, are you ok with that or do you feel like you need to work harder and longer to make up for it?

Think about it.  Next week we are going to dive into the most common reason many of us started off our careers with this “earning it” mindset.

This is a concept I am sharing in my book that will be published next year.  If you want to learn more about it, send me an email ([email protected]) and I will happily share more with you and your organization.

Be Legendary!

Welcome to the last episode of this series.  We have been talking about some of the common roadblocks of career success.

Today, let’s wrap this up by talking about the warning signs.

How do you know you have hit a roadblock?  How do you know you are living in the space of career decline vs. career momentum?

These are the top 3 warning signs that you’re sitting at a roadblock in your career instead of driving forward to a successful path.

If you believe your team or organization is stuck behind one or more success roadblocks, email me and let's chat about it ([email protected]).

Be Legendary.

We have been talking about roadblocks that prevent career success this month.  Today, let’s dive into the concept of "valuable vs. value-add."

While this week's topic and last week's topic are separate, they do tie together to a degree.

Last week we talked about the concept of “I gave you everything" or "I've tried everything."

If you listened to last week's episode, you will recall that we talked about giving what we wanted to give, what we felt safe to give, or what we felt like we should give and then called that "everything." The problem with that is that giving those things may or may not create success for us in our careers.  It depends on whether the company values that behavior or not.

So today, let’s talk about value.

As you know, I talk about The 1 Rule of executive success.  The 1 Rule is to add consistent value within your career.

Who defines value?

The company is the entity in this relationship that defines what is valuable vs. what isn’t valuable.  

Therefore, if we are going to add value, we must do so as defined by the company.

This means we must give what the company asks us to give and perform in the ways the company asks us to perform.

We can’t sacrifice in ways that we feel comfortable sacrificing. Nor can we sacrifice in a way that seems appropriate to us but is not appropriate in the eyes of the company.

It all boils down to value.

What does the company value? 

What does the company define as valuable contributions to the point that they promote individuals for those contributions? 

What does the company value when it bonuses individuals for those contributions?

The company shows what it values by promoting and bouncing those behaviors and contributions and "value-adds."

A common roadblock to success is the desire to be or feel valuable vs. actually being a value-add.

These could potentially be the same thing (being valuable and being a value-add), but when we are talking about a success roadblock, these two are not the same.

When we focus on being valuable, it’s mostly a selfish act.  We want to feel safe and appreciated.  We are seeking something to serve ourselves.

Being a value-add on the other hand is a selfless action.  When we add value, we focus on contributing and meeting the needs of someone or something (in this case, the company) in a way that best fits that situation.

Most people mix up valuable vs. value-add.  When you are adding value, you become valuable to the organization.

However, when you are focused on being valuable, you are focused on self-preservation.  This is a self-centered act that rarely leads to value-added contributions.

Careers fail when people focus on being valuable over being a value-add.

We can’t be selfish.  We must focus on serving and adding value at the highest level.  Then we will have career success both defined by us and defined by the organization.

Be Legendary.

Today is what I call, “I’ve tried everything!” or "I gave you everything!"  When we are trying to create career success, this mindset is one of the most common roadblocks preventing us from moving forward and being successful.

Inherently what we like to say are things like, "I don't know why I'm not successful. I give that company everything! I sacrifice, I work extra, I do all the things!"

It sounds like a relationship gone bad, doesn't it? "I gave him everything!" The reality (in both your career and your relationship) is that you gave them everything except what they wanted or needed.

If you met all of their needs, your career/relationship would be successful.

It's seriously that simple.

So why is it that we feel like we gave the company everything and yet we aren't being rewarded for it?

When I have conversations with leaders who have been laid off, let go, demoted, or moved to another department, most of the time they are completely baffled by the situation and this mindset is the culprit.

When we are giving and sacrificing and yet not being rewarded for it, the honest truth of the matter is that we are doing the actions and functions that we value or that we feel comfortable doing. However, those actions and functions are not what the company needs from us. Whether we agree or disagree with that doesn't matter. The reality is that the company decides what it rewards and if we aren't doing the actions that the company appreciates, we will not succeed.

Have you ever spent your time sacrificing your evenings and weekends for your company, only to not get a thank you or an acknowledgment for your sacrifice?  And then you get angry because you’re like, “I gave you my life for you!”

Think back to that moment.

Then I want you to seriously ask yourself, did the company ask you to sacrifice your time or did you simply do it because that’s who you are?  Did the company ask you to work late or did you do it because you felt the pressure to get the job done?

Sometimes companies will ask for extra hands, set expectations for extra work outside of the norm, etc.  And most of the time those companies will come back and recognize those employees and appreciate their efforts.  Even if it’s just a verbal acknowledgment, it’s done. 

When you don’t get the recognition, realize you either have 1. A crappy boss or 2. You actually created the situation to sacrifice yourself without being asked. 

In other words, you gave the company everything but it wasn’t what the company wanted.

Yes, the company wanted the end result, but the company may not have expected you to sacrifice yourself and your personal life to get there.  There are some companies that would actually consider that poor performance and bad leadership.

The key here is that you must understand what the company values and how it wants you to deliver that value.  

We can’t give it in the way we perceive we should.  We can’t sacrifice and slog away and suffer and hope that they will recognize the sacrifice.  If it wasn’t requested, why would they need to acknowledge it?  If anything, they might reprimand your poor judgment.

So, before you say, “I gave that company everything,” ask yourself if you gave everything you WANTED to give or if you gave the company everything it valued.

So how do you solve this?

The first action is to recognize that while you may be working hard, you're doing work that the company doesn't value.

Instead of continuing to do that same work and demanding the company take notice, stop.

Instead, open yourself up to understanding exactly what the company is asking of you and pivot your focus and actions to deliver on those asks.

Be Legendary.

This month we are focusing on a topic that we all think about and talk about, yet many of us avoid actually learning about, it's the roadblocks of career success.

I know it's not fun, but know this, if you know exactly what the roadblocks are you can avoid them and get yourself around them if you are currently stuck behind one of them.

This month is not meant to be negative but is meant to be empowering!

Over today and the following 3 Wednesdays we are going to spend time together defining the details around the roadblocks, the what, the why, and the how, and then we will spend some time discussing how to get around them.

Today's roadblock: understanding success.

know that may sound crazy, but we must understand how we define success and, equally important, how the company defines success.

For you, success may be reaching a specific position in the organization, having a specific set of hours, a certain pay amount, or even a defined number of weeks of PTO.  None of these reasons are wrong.  The point is that how I define success could be very different from how you define success.  So don’t look to my definition to measure yourself, create your own.

Second, we need to understand how the company defines success.  This will be clear in the organization's policies, core values, expectations, and culture.

If the company wants you at work at 8 am for example, and that’s how it defines success, you must be at work no later than 8 am.  Period. 

The company as a whole will use language like attendance, punctuality, “on time,” and so on and so forth to convey its definition of success.  It will drive home points about reliability and starting the day off correctly by being on time and being someone the team and customer can count on.  

Whether I like being at work by 8 a.m. or not, it doesn’t matter.  The company has defined success in this capacity and therefore I will either achieve those measures or I will not be successful in the company.

I know that’s a basic example, but it is an example that we can relate to and we can clearly understand how the company defines success for its employees. We see the definition in policies, language, and culture.

Additionally, understanding your definition of success is critical for you to feel satisfied and fulfilled.

Understanding the company’s definition of success is critical for you to actually be successful in your role.  

Your homework today is to define success for yourself and get abundantly clear on how your organization defines a successful employee.  If an employee does what actions, they should be successful.  Define “what” in that instance and see what you come up with.

You may find that you’re doing all of those actions.  You may find you’re doing none of them.  You may find you’re doing some of them but don’t want to do all of them.

Whatever you find, face the truth of how you’re performing and what that means to your overall success and longevity in the organization.

Be Legendary.

Welcome to the last episode of our monthly mini-series focused on burnout. As we wrap up the month, we can't close out the topic without talking about what I call life-preserver techniques. We already know the clues of a potential burnout situation. How do you handle one of those situations? What if you find yourself moving towards burnout? 

The first action you must take is to do what we said a few weeks ago, accept the truth.

The truth of the matter is that you have seen one or more clues that this is a marathon or "Groundhog Day Perfect Storm" situation. 

Yes, you are amazing, yes, you are strong, yes, you are an overcomer, but in this situation, you do not win by pushing through.  You win by being strategic.

We can’t be strategic if we aren’t accepting that this is a situation where “pushing through” just won’t cut it. 

So again, step 1: accept that this is a Groundhog Day Perfect Storm situation.  The way you thrive in the space is not by pushing harder, it’s by working smarter.

This means step 2 is to get strategic.  The company is facing a pretty tough situation, right?  That’s why you’re living through this insanity.  If we go back to The 1 Rule of business success that we teach here at Legend Leaders, then we are reminding ourselves that our job is to add value to the organization.

In this instance, you must ask yourself, "What are the best ways for me to add value?"

The answer won’t be slogging through the mud and pushing harder, the answer is coming up with strategic solutions to work smarter.  This could be creating internal programs to grow in other areas of the business while one sector is being negatively impacted for example.

The point is that we must find a way to keep adding value and we can’t do that if we just put our heads down and push forward.  These Groundhog Day Perfect Storm situations tend to redefine what the company values.  To stay out of burnout, you must acknowledge that and pivot accordingly.

The third action is to be intentional with your time.  If you have faced the truth, and realigned yourself with what the company values in this situation, then you have to be the leader who spends his/her time where it matters.

Meaning that you can’t be involved in peer-to-peer gossip or complaint/frustration sessions for the bulk of the day.  While those conversations may seem to make you feel better, they actually create negative momentum in your performance.

Overcome that mindset and the desire to belabor the problems by taking your calendar and getting intentional with who you’re talking to, and what you’re talking about, and ensure everything you’re spending your time on is helping to add value in this phase of the organization’s life cycle.

When you do this, you will be surprised with the time you get back that you can then use to still have your downtime, take those mental breaks, enjoy your family time, etc.

Said differently, trade the non-productive conversations for personal downtime and you will be better off for it.  It will ward off mental exhaustion and allow you to be even more strategic and intentional in your dealings.

So again, 3 steps:

1. See the truth of the situation

2. Get strategic to add value

3. Spend your time productively

As always, if you’re uncertain about any of this, send me an email, and let’s talk through it ([email protected]).

Moreover, if you want your entire team/company to learn how to avoid burnout, send an email with the details.

Be Legendary!