Thomas Friedman wrote a great opinion piece in The New York Times yesterday called “The New Untouchables.” I buy his arguments about a broken education system, but for the purposes of this blog I want to focus on the type of worker he says is surviving and thriving in the current economic crisis:
Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables — to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies — will thrive.
I get that message loud and clear. It is one of the big reasons why I started this website and now am working feverishly to make it and myself better. I have no control over whether or not the state will fund my job in the future, but I know I am not waiting around to find out. I am looking for new and innovative ways to leverage my value platform so that I never find myself in this position again – ever. Excuses are irrelevant.
Grit, not strength, is what it takes to become untouchable. I think you are making a huge mistake if you have bought the strength-based leadership mirage and are trying to compete on fixed talent and not on learning and growth.
As leaders, we need people that are open to learning, willing to confront challenges, able to stick to difficult tasks, and capable of bouncing back from failures (Dweck, 2008). Stop praising people for fixed qualities like talent and strength and start developing and rewarding malleable qualities like effort, flexibility, collaboration, and innovation.
Teach your people to give themselves permission to do something different.
Related Posts:
Excellence is a form of deviance
Give yourself permission to do something different
You should follow me on twitter here.
Thanks for writing Bret. I’m enjoying and learning a lot from your blog.
People are very much self-limiting. Those who learn and grow differentiate themselves and provide value whether in their own business or working for someone. Those who are unwilling to learn and grow become commodities, easily replaced by the lowest bidder. Seems strange and sad that so many choose the latter.
Best regards,
Paul
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Concur 100%, Paul. Got to keep learning and growing because there is no guarantee that what got you where you are today will take you into the future. Thanks for commenting, Paul! Bret
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Here’s a quote from Jeff Immelt that seems to fit: “You don’t get the job as head of something like GE based on how much you know. You get it based on how fast you can learn.”
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:45 am
And from Arie De Geus as quoted in Senge’s Fifth Discipline: “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.” Work must becmoe more “learningful.” Thanks! Bret
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I think you may misunderstand the Strengths movement – at least as I apply it. Strengths are not about NOT learning and growing. They ARE about learning and growing in the areas in which you are most likely to have world-class performance and mitigating the other areas so that they don’t interfere.
If you’ve encountered folks who are applying Strengths in a “Don’t expect me to change” fashion, they’re doing their followers a great disservice. I’ve found great benefit in using Strengths to create Individual Development Plans for High Potential employees and in coaching engagements.
Bottom line: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
DCB
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Welcome,Debra! I do understand strengths as you describe it and still find it limiting in concept and practice. We might have to disagree on this. I appreciate your comment and hope you will return again sometime to share your thoughts. Thanks! Bret
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Dr. Bret – I agree on the sense that we learning and becoming better is a journey not a destination; I do think we rather than focusing on my weakneses I need to better leverage my strenghts and then focus my energy 100%.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Juan, thanks for visiting and commenting. I would never suggest to focus on weakness, just not to ignore it or to become so focused on strength that strength becomes a weakness. A year ago I would have thought it crazy to have a website – NOT my comfort zone. And now I am making video, again NOT my comfort zone. But I am learning and growing by trying new things I never would have considered not that long ago. Thanks! Bret
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Juan Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 10:42 am
That makes sense – we do need to go out of our confort zone -as you said it; you are leading the way by posting videos, I read your material and watch your videos, I recently started my own blog I was scared at first, I am new in social media, but I think the space to grow has endless possibilites.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Concur, simple but not easy and endless potential. thanks! Bret
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