Hard Work Beats Talent, When Talent Doesn’t Work Hard!

On an athletic level, this is so clear. There are plenty of “gifted” athletes that never excel because they rely on their natural ability to pull them through. This lesson can also be seen in academics. Some students rely far too much on their natural ability and end up paying the price.
 
There is no simple secret to success. There are no silver bullets or short cuts. But nothing is more important than preparation and hard work. Yes, we can all point to examples of people who are successful “flying by the seat of their pants”.   There are always exceptions. 
 
In business, we compete every day.  We compete with other companies.  We compete with other employees.  We compete with other candidates during interviews.  Does the most naturally talented individual always win?  No.   Does the most naturally talented individual win most of the time?  I would argue “No”.  In my experience the most prepared individual wins.
 
The lesson is simple, “Hard Work Beats Talent, When Talent Doesn’t Work Hard”.  Don’t make excuses.  Simply work hard and be prepared.  You will win more often than you think.

Important things you won't learn in school

As I tell my students, you can learn a lot of things in the classroom. But there are some things you’ll never learn in the classroom. Hopefully, this will fill some of the gaps:
 
The Whole Truth Is An Illusion – You will almost never know the whole truth, so don’t pretend that you do or that you will.  Our perceptions of the world are clouded by our own subjectivity and by our interpretation of information.  But this shouldn’t stop you from making a decision. Analysis paralysis is a term used to describe the situation where the deeper you dig into a topic the more questions you have.  As a rule of thumb, don’t make decisions with only 10 percent of the available information – but don’t expect to have more than 75 percent before a timely decision is required.  Most importantly, be humble in your decisions and opinions because of this fact, but stand by them until proven wrong by more information.
 
Great Ideas Are Nothing Without Execution – Great ideas without good execution get slaughtered in the market by ‘good enough’ ideas with great execution.  There are plenty of examples of the same idea failing until properly executed such as Facebook when compared to earlier attempts such as Six Degrees and Friendster.
 
Intelligence Still Requires Experience – In school we compete against classmates that have generally the same level of experience. Thus, one’s intelligence plays a key role in academic performance.    In the real world brilliance alone, especially in competitive situations, simply isn’t enough. The Dunning-Kruger effect, sometimes termed Illusory Superiority, tells us that the less competent we are in any given area (competence is driven by experience), the more likely we will rate ourselves as “better than average” in competency.  This illusory superiority often drives bad decisions.
 
Not All Conflict Is Bad.  We grow up being told not to argue with our teammates or peers but both scholars and practitioners agree that there are good and bad forms of conflict.  The good conflict, known as cognitive conflict, is the healthy debate that teams participate in when determining what or why something should be done.  It involves a wide range of perspectives and experiences and can help generate strategic options for growth.
 
Leadership Is About EQ not IQ – Evidence suggests that the most successful leaders have some minimum IQ.  But IQ alone is not sufficient to be a successful leader.  The greatest leaders have high emotional quotients, often considered a combination of social intelligence and emotional intelligence.  Leadership is not about you. It’s about your teams.  As a leader you need to check your ego at the door and worry more about your team’s welfare, performance, and improvement.

Decisions

One of the easiest ways to take control of your actions is to take control of your decisions.  Decisions are what precede all of our actions. A truly committed decision is one where you release all the possibilities from your mind, except for the outcome that you are absolutely committed to.

The challenge is that most of us have weak decision making muscles mainly because we tend to say "I will give it a go and see if it works." A truly committed decision is like a laser beam that is so focused on its target that nothing can get in its way. In its Latin form the word "decide" means to "cut off" and that is what a truly committed decision calls us to do.

Cut off all other possibilities to the extent that you will not even consider any other result. Now this might sound easier said than done and I have to agree. BUT once you realize that making decisions is a skill and that the more you practice it the better you get at it, you will begin to powerfully direct and shape your life towards your ultimate destination.

Consider this: Start by taking a different look at problems and challenges. Commit yourself to seeing them as the necessary "weights" to build enough strength to reach your goals. Learn to welcome problems as opportunities to grow and soon you will habitually turn challenges into opportunity.

How Do You Treat Waiters?

The way you treat others offers a window into the type of person you are.  Your interaction with people, whose job is to serve you, reflects on your character and offers a glimpse into the way they will react to you.
 
When you behave in a condescending manner, you are sure to elicit a negative reaction.  Immediately, the person you are talking down to will be put off, even if they don’t show it.  You will squelch any inclination for the other person to go out of their way to help you.  At most, they will do no more than the bare minimum necessary to keep you mollified.
 
Many Managers like to observe how job candidates treat waiters.  How a prospective employee treats a waiter offers a clear picture of the type of person he/she is.  Someone who is polite to you but discourteous to a waiter does not have desirable interpersonal skills.  They tend to be abrasive, causing friction among coworkers and subordinates.
 
People, who are rude to waiters, erroneously believe they are displaying power and authority.  They mistakenly think their behavior will impress others.  Anyone who attempts to elevate their status by stepping on others will ultimately fall flat on their face.
 
People with integrity and character treat everyone with courtesy and respect, regardless of their occupation, financial, or social status.  They don’t view themselves as being above or below anyone else.
 
Treat everyone you encounter with dignity.  In so doing, your relationships with people, even strangers, will improve.  You will still find some individuals you just can’t deal with.  But they will be much more of an exception.  You can never go wrong by treating another person well.

Lessons from my first Triathlon

I always enjoyed exercising, but during the past summer I took on additional workouts as I prepared for the 23rd West Point Triathlon. Unlike an Ironman triathlon where the distances are extreme (swim 2.5 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles), this was comparatively “short”. The segments were an 800 meter (.49 mile) swim, 13 kilometer (13.7 mile) bike, and a 5k (3.1 mile) run.

While I was not concerned with winning the event, I did want to test myself. In fact, my first great realization was that I am not well-adjusted. At first, I thought it was about completion, not competition. That is what I told people. But as I started to get better during my training, I realized that I wanted to fight like hell out there. On race day, I was NOT allowing anyone to slow me down.

Many times I would think about the “life lessons” that are analogous to training or really hard work and dedication of any kind. So, here are my ”lessons learned” form my first triathlon:

You have to do the work (miles) yourself – some days during my training, it was rainy and miserable. Other mornings (I train very early), I just felt lazy. However, as with any worthwhile goal, I had to get out there and put in the hard work to get the desired results. If you are trying to make that sale or trying to run 3 miles for the first time, it’s not always easy or pleasant. By being persistent and doing the work or running when you don’t feel like it WILL payoff in the long term.

When it gets hard, put your head down and take it one step at a time –Most training days, I was either running or biking and I would always come across hills of varying magnitudes. There is one hill in particular on my route that begins with a tough grade and gets steeper and steeper over the course of a mile. Invariably, I put my head down and keep telling myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and before I knew it, I would be at the top. Have you hit any rough patches in life lately? Even though it is not always the solution sometimes you just have to put your head down, take what comes, and plow ahead one-step at a time.

Find YOUR sources of inspiration – I like to exercise and workout. But there were stages where I felt done. During those times, I would frequently read about people who really had it really tough. Most likely, whatever your goals, there are people out there who have overcome and triumphed in the face of adversity and have done what you would like to be doing. Learn from their stories and lessons when you are feeling overwhelmed.

There are countless other lessons to be taken away from extended periods of hard work, dedication, and commitment. Ultimately, if you are determined, have a clear, well defined goal, and a positive mindset, you can accomplish almost anything that you set your mind to do.

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” - Louis Pasteur

I don’t believe in “luck”. If you care to look closely, you will find that people who are “lucky” are those who are best prepared when opportunities arise. To increase your “luck factor”, there are two things you should do:

1. Prepare yourself for opportunities so that you can take advantage of them when they come.
2. Put yourself in a position that makes it easier for opportunities to come.

While both are important, the first is more important because it is what makes the difference. What’s the use of getting a lot of opportunities if you can’t take advantage of them?

At this point, most of the world knows that U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps broke the all-time record for most medals won by an Olympian. And, there is a very applicable lesson about preparation we can all learn from Phelps. You may recall that in Beijing in 2008, Phelps won one of his medals while swimming with his goggles full of water. He couldn’t see a thing and still won gold. After that race, Phelps said that while he had never competed before with water in his goggles, he had practiced that way. Bob Bowman, Phelps’ coach, made sure he had the water in the goggles experience to prepare for that scenario in Olympic competition.

When it happened in real time, Phelps’ preparation enabled him to stay calm and start counting his strokes. He knew how many strokes he needed to touch the wall and didn’t stop swimming full out until he did.

So, how can you prepare yourself for opportunities? Here are three ways to prepare yourself for future opportunities:

1. Be curious

Curiosity makes you eager to know more about the world out there. If you are curious, you won’t be satisfied with what you already know. You will want to know more. As a result, you will see more potential opportunities. It’s like being in a building with windows. The more windows the building has, the more you can see what’s out there.

2. Educate yourself

When you find something interesting, start educating yourself about it. Don’t worry if you can’t do anything about it right now. Remember, you are preparing for the future. Educate yourself in whatever it is that you find interesting. Read blogs, subscribe to magazines, watch videos, read books. Build a prepared mind that “luck” favors.

3. Build an “opportunity fund”

Warren Buffet makes sure that Berkshire Hathaway has at least $10 billion in cash in reserves. Why? So that when the opportunity comes for an attractive deal, Berkshire can immediately act on it. If they didn’t have the money, the opportunity could be gone forever. Similarly, you should prepare an “opportunity fund.” Prepare a certain amount of money that you can use to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Don’t let opportunities slip by just because you don’t have the cash to act on it.

So that’s how you prepare yourself for future opportunities. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Prepare yourself early and years from now people will be amazed at how “lucky” you are.

Everyone is in Sales

Reading this, you might be making some assumptions. You might be thinking, “Wait, I’m not in sales”. Salespeople make “cold calls” and “pound the pavement.” You might think ‘sales’ is a word in a salesperson’s title and believe that “they” are supposed to develop business for the organization.

You may also think that sales is not MY job because “I work in accounting or operations”. If I am even somewhat correct about any of these assumptions, then you might find this article relevant.

No matter what your job title might be,  Everyone Is In Sales! Success in sales is not defined by how much you talk but how well you listen. It’s not about sharing how great your company is but how many solutions you can bring to your customer’s business.

Selling is a part of the fundamental communications process that human beings do each day. Sales is not about gimmicks or shortcuts. It’s not about new techniques, fast talking, or misleading others. The foundation of sales is about honesty, trust, strong communications and building relationships. It is about caring for others.

If you are in accounting, you deal with people to collect money or close the books. YOU are in sales. 

If you are in operations and a problem develops, you must communicate what is going on. YOU are in sales. 

When you are talking to your boss during your review or talking to your child’s principal about their performance in school, you may be trying to communicate a certain message or ‘sell’ your point of view. YOU are in sales.

Follow where I am going with this? Once again, from the break room to the boardroom, everyone Is In Sales.

Personal Innovation

Recently, the “BUZZ” in business literature has been about innovation. However, just as important is innovation for each of us individually. It is not only companies that must innovate, but also individuals must innovate. Here are two reasons:

We are living in changing times. We now compete globally even at an individual level. This is a dramatic departure from eras when only countries and companies were competitors on the global stage. If individuals must now compete globally, then individuals, like countries and companies, must innovate to succeed. Individuals who do not innovate suffer the same fate of companies who don’t innovate: they will be left behind by competition that consistently renews itself.

We must all differentiate ourselves to avoid commoditization. Up until recently, we may have felt “safe and secure” because very few people in our environment had the same skill set. Now, individuals with the same skill set may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. Skills and knowledge can be transferred from all over the world rapidly and easily. This means that we all face the danger of our skill becoming a commodity. People around the world with the same skill set as you are suddenly within easy reach. No matter how far they are, they are actually only seconds away. They can very easily be selected to do your job, especially if they are cheaper than you.

If all this sounds scary, look at it in a different way: instead of only your immediate environment, the world is an opportunity – and what a great opportunity! But the ingredient you need to success is differentiation.

What’s so special about you that other people don’t have?

What makes you different from the others?

To answer these questions we have no choice but to innovate.

It's that time of year for thousands of Seniors across North America. Graduation!

It’s one of the greatest rights of passage and a cause for celebration!  It’s also that time when people we all know and some we have never heard of step to the podium and dispense wisdom and advice. 

 

Without question, some of this advice will be especially meaningful. In particular, consider Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech("Connect the Dots") at Stanford University and Randy Pausch’s 2008 address ("We don't beat the reaper by living longer. We beat the reaper by living well.") at Carnegie Mellon University.

This year, however, my favorite so far is Maria Shriver. Take a look.

While I have never been invited to give a commencement address, I have been asked for advice by both my students and young professionals.  Here is a synopsis of what I say:

1. The real key to success is not smarts. It comes from drive, energy, passion, ambition, enthusiasm, excitement, initiative, discipline, and the confidence to keep trying again and again.

2. Don’t worry about what to do with the rest of your life. Like everyone else, you will be a different person five years from now. Instead, think about what you want to do with the next three years. Most careers are a logical progression and in many cases, a series of unplanned, opportunistic choices.

3. Relationships are important. In a romantic partner, looks are nice, brains are nice and money is nice, but character is essential. Ultimately, the same is true in all our relationships: character is the most important thing you should look for in friends, partners of any kind, employees, clients or bosses.

4. The worst thing you can do if you want to get somebody to listen to you is to criticize. As human beings, when attacked we attack back, even when we are wrong. The goal is not to be “right”, the goal is to build a relationship.

Never give up

Dean Karnazes has run over 200 miles. At one time.

Take a moment to fully appreciate that: 200 miles in a single run. Think about the last time you went for a run, it was probably less than an hour.

It’s not because he has bigger lungs or stronger legs. It’s all in his mind. It’s not a physical thing. Now, it’s easy to say that people like Dean Karnazes are “freaks” and that’s why they can do the incredible things they do.

But isn’t that just an excuse?

Doesn’t that give us justification to not attempt the same things? We can sit back in our comfortable chair and say “well if I was Blessed with lungs like his then I would do the same, but I’m not, so I won’t”.

But we’re just kidding ourselves when we do this aren’t we?

Dean Karnazes is not a freak. He is a normal guy who has chosen to do some incredible things. He was nobody before he decided to do this. In fact, there are people with bodies far more suited to endurance running than his who haven’t done anything.

The fact is – anyone can choose to do something incredible.

And ‘anyone’ includes you…

The Importance of Hard Work

You do not come across success just by hoping for it. To achieve true success, you need the strength of mind and body to struggle and work hard to reach your fullest potential. You need the right attitude, self-discipline, and the ability to put your goal before all other desires if you are really driven towards reaching success. There is, after all no substitute for hard work. As Henry Ford said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get”, and the more successful you get!

The truly successful person keeps trying and struggling. Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times while he was working on the light bulb and yet he never dreamed of giving up – this is the hard work and the determination that marks a true success. Indeed, success is not measured by the position that you are in today, but by the amount of hard work you put in and the number of obstacles that you overcome to reach your goal.

There are no short cuts to success. Hard work, complimented with a willingness to struggle to achieve success is the only way to reach your goals.

Remembering Steve Jobs

Like many, I respected Steve Jobs and his genius, and I am deeply saddened by his passing. The reality is that even if you have never owned an Apple product, Steve Jobs impacted all our lives.

There are many lessons we can all learn from Steve Jobs brief, but brilliant life. In particular, if you have not seen his 2005 Commencement address at Stanford, it is time well invested.

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Take these lessons and apply them to your life–personally and professionally. Once you stop setting new goals to strive for, your strategy for your career or your life becomes timid and leads to stagnation and decline.

“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”

You have today. What will your legacy be?

What can your organization learn from a mouse?

It's hard to imagine a place more magical than Walt Disney World. We are heading back to Disney and I’m sure we will have a great time!

On my first trip, I marveled at how clean Disney parks were and how friendly the cast was. How does Disney keep its cast members so motivated?

The motivation, the desire to perform well on the job, the feeling like they can make a difference is not just about training, it's about great leadership. Disney takes pride in having great leaders who create an environment where people want to do their best. Cast members want to do their jobs in 90-degree heat and 98-percent humidity, and keep on smiling while they are doing it because they feel like they are adding value and contributing.

The secret to Disney's success isn't magic pixie dust. It's a secret Walt Disney realized years ago: "You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world but it requires people to make the dream a reality.”

Walt Disney's dream of creating a magic place where dreams can come true has obviously been fulfilled. What can your organization learn from a mouse?

Century Ride for Cancer

Like many of you, cancer has touched my family, many friends, and colleagues. To support ongoing research and new treatments for this disease, I will be riding 100 miles in the in the Century for the Cure cycling event on September 10, 2011, sponsored by The Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Use the link below to go visit my donor page, and please consider supporting me.

Keep in mind the commitment I'm making to help end this disease. While I’ll be riding, I hope you'll be a part of it with me. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Support me!

What I have learned from being a college professor

As the spring semester draws to a close, I realize I have learned a great deal as a professor, especially from my daily experiences with students. It is from these experiences that I made this list of things I have learned from being a college professor:

• Teaching gives me hope for the future. I am fortunate to work with some amazing students. Their dedication to academic excellence and the pursuit of truth often humbles me.
• I love the “aha” moment. When a student or class has been struggling with an idea and finally grasps it, the satisfaction and excitement is almost palpable. It is addicting.
• Teaching (like leading) isn’t just about the classroom or the lecturing; it is about being a model for your student. Modeling is another type of teaching that we do with students. Modeling is often times more effective than the lecture.
• Freshmen seem like they are getting younger and younger, and, no, it is not because I am getting older.
• It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” Really.
• Don’t start a question with, “This is probably stupid.” or any similar self-deprecating statement. The only thing stupid is that phrase.

At Tax Time: Money and happiness

Many people associate money with happiness. However, thinking about money frequently is likely to make us less happy. With money always on our minds, we work more and spend less time with loved ones. To increase the richness of our life experience, time, not money, should be our focus.

A series of surveys and experiments examining the effect of focusing attention on money or time found that people who focused on money, no matter how much they had, were more likely to work more and socialize less.

This work was conducted by Professor Cassie Mogilner at University of Pennsylvania. She commented “passing the hours working (although productive) does not translate into greater happiness.”

On the other hand, focusing on time motivated people “to spend more time with friends and family and less time working; behaviors that are associated with greater happiness.”

Long work hours decrease happiness by cutting into time that could be spent with partners, friends, and family. “Simply increasing the relative salience of time (vs. money) can nudge someone to spend that extra hour at home rather than at the office, there finding greater happiness” says Cassie.

The Pursuit of Happiness: Time, Money, and Social Connection Psychological Science 21(9) 1348–1354, Mogilner, Cassie