The One Simple Thing That's Keeping You From Being Successful
- The Process Maven
- Jul 25, 2017
- 6 min read
Successful people inspire us. We study them intensely, we write books about them, we read articles about the "14 things every successful person does", and then we try to learn how to emulate them and apply their habits in our own lives. We all want to be successful in some form or fashion that fits our personal definition of success. This is all right and good. Awesome even. However, I believe there's one key element missing for many people in achieving their success. And it's so simple! Often people focus so much on the doing (the hard work!) and once they've finished the goal, they quickly move on to the next goal on their list and never look back. They work so very hard to achieve, but they miss out on one of the most important pieces of being an outlier- communicating their value. Communicating value is two-fold - communicating both to others and to yourself.
I added a book to my LifeHacks page this week - "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. It's a fantastic read and I highly recommend it. In this book, Malcolm presents fascinating research on the lives of successful people. Among such elements as recognizing and capitalizing on unique opportunities and "The 10,000-Hour Rule" (the hard work I mentioned above), he presents the idea that intelligence and natural ability can only go so far in success, and that one particular skill, as described by psychologist Robert Sternberg as "knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum affect" can make a mildly successful person into a wildly successful person. What a thought! Being "smart enough" or "talented enough" or "lucky enough" can only take you so far! This is when you should pump your fist in excitement and break out in a huge grin, knowing that even though you will most likely never be the world's genius or the most extraordinarily talented at this or that -
(There's always someone more talented than you after all, unless you can out-do all 7.5 BILLION people living on God's green earth at this very moment, which if you can, I salute you) -
you can still achieve great success if you know how to communicate yourself well to others! Whoa. Let's learn to tap into that potential right this very moment! Today I'm going to share some of my thoughts on how to communicate your value inwards, upwards and outwards, tying that last big red bow, the icing on the cake, on your hard-earned achievements to make sure they are heard in a way that sticks.
Why Does It Matter?
If I haven't convinced you yet that taking the time to convey your achievements is important, I have 3 more reasons to seal the deal.
1. It demonstrates your usefulness.
Spend a year writing a new book, a very very good one, but then don't tell anyone about it, assuming it will just "be found". Sounds silly doesn't it? Who in their right mind would do that?! Well, if you save significant cash for your company or come up with that next BIG thing, how is anyone to know unless you tell them? Most people are of the opinion that their bosses or customers or people in general will "just know" or they will find out some way or another. They don't want to brag after all. This is a travesty to your hard work and a risk NOT work taking! Tell people what you have improved, money you've saved, milestones you've passed, (or novels you've published). Reinforce how priceless and useful you are, and provide ammunition with which to spread the word.
2. It builds your own confidence in your ability to deliver.
Having a clear record of delivery that you can reflect on builds your confidence in mighty ways. You have tangible examples of the ways you've impacted your business or achieved your goals. This confidence growth compounds over time, exponentially even, spurring you to higher and higher levels. Use your delivery record for positive self-talk on days you feel discouraged. Those days will certainly come. Remind yourself of the momentous enhancements you've influenced in your team or company. You will inevitably have challenging days that leave you drained or feeling like a failure. Instead of falling mercilessly into self-deprecating talk, keep your chin up and remind yourself of your past successes.
3. It allows you to learn.
You are not perfect. So don't try to be. You will make mistakes. You will see things you could have done better. You will have regrets. Do not waste your mistakes! Use them. They are powerful. When you track your record of delivery, this will enable you to reflect on how you could have approached things differently. Consistently improve yourself. View your mistakes as stair steps, not potholes. Do not wallow in your self-pity. Keep yourself always moving up!
The Right Way - That Sticks
There is a right way and a wrong way to communicate your value. The wrong way unravels your hard work. The right way sticks. This way involves 4 key elements-
Visual:
Visual representation of ideas sticks. According this article by Shift Disruptive Learning, after 3 days 80-90% of the information you've spoken to someone will be forgotten, but 60% of visual information is retained! Isn't that wild? Either someone remembers 10% or 60% based on how you convey your message!! Not only that, but visual information is processed 60,000 times faster than text, and improves comprehension by 400%! Sounds pretty convincing to me. Show your contributions in graphs, tables, or diagrams. Anything that will visually summarize and emphasize your gains will reinforce your value. I've created a few examples for you below to spur ideas. After all, I knew you'd be disappointed if I didn't include at least some level of nerdiness to this post.
Concise:
Keep your communication simple and to-the-point. If you flood others with pages and pages of your work, it will irritate them, not impress them. Instead, stick to your top 3-5 accomplishments and make it easy enough to get through in about 5 minutes tops.
Logical:
Ensure your communication follows logic. A equals B equals C. Not A added to D subtracted from E divided by 2 times B equals C squared. Nothing irks me more than a confusing mess of words that I don't have the time nor energy to decipher. It does not leave a good impression.
Targeted:
Tie your achievements back to the business bottom line, to your boss's goals, or to your customer's interests. How precisely are you contributing to cash flow and net income? How exactly are you meeting needs? Assign numbers to everything possible - dollars, time, number of employees, etc. Numbers stick more than words! And they are a whole lot easier to put into the graphs mentioned in my first point.
The Wrong Way - That Irritates
There are a handful of prevalent errors in communicating your value that you should avoid. I want to share 3 that I see as vital to not dip into.
Pride:
The first is crossing the line between confidence and pride. This is a very challenging line to walk as most humans tend so easily towards pride, and may be different for each individual. I caution you to consider what your line is, and how you can err on the side of confidence. Be mindful and intentional.
Bragging: Another common mis-step is to be overtly open about your contributions in a way that comes off as bragging. It's similar to pride, but more clearly expressed in words. I caution against this, as it can lead to resentment and hard feelings, ultimately making it harder for you. Rather than blast your accomplishments in someone else's face, seek to learn from them as well as share your learnings. You both come out better that way!
Over-Communication:
The last common mistake is over-communication. This also varies individual to individual and boss to boss. Be careful to find a desirable balance of communicating your value to others and to your superiors. Always stop to consider how it will be accepted or perceived. Gauge responses and adjust as necessary.
There are loads of other great traits to seek to develop to become successful. You have to put in the hard work - 10,000 hours to be exact. You need to be lucky in some cases to have the right opportunity. You need the ability and courage to recognize and capitalize on opportunities that come your way. You need some level of talent and wit. Read Outliers cover-to-cover if you're interested in finding more. Or check out some of the other great books I've listed on my LifeHacks page. However, don't miss the easiest trait of all that can have a biggest impact - Communicating your value! The 10 or 15 minutes you've spent reading this article can change your path to success if you apply it. Don't let all of your hard work go unnoticed, by yourself or by your boss.
© 2017 by The Process Maven
Comments