What makes you a success at work helps you succeed as a leader too
Similar to last week’s post on taking care of yourself as part of being a good leader, this week’s post covers a few of the Jedi mind tricks successful people do to get that way. Chances are, you used them to get where you are now. So here’s the question—are you still in the same mindset?
I stumbled on a post on LinkedIn—The 7 Things Successful People Never Say— which, besides the overly-simplistic premise and title, speaks a real truth—there are things that successful people don’t have in their mental vocabulary. While successful people might say these things at some point, when you get down to it, they don’t actually believe those things. This is all good, but let’s expand our thinking. Let’s consider that these are also seven things great leaders never say either.
It’s a mental vocabulary change.
Before we go on, let’s look at what these “never to be uttered by successful people” phrases are:
- “That’s not in my job description.”
- “It can’t be done.”
- “It’s not my fault.”
- “This will just take a minute.”
- “I don’t need any help.”
- “It’s not fair.”
- “This is the way it’s always been done.”
If you read the article on LinkedIn, you can read the reasons why these phrases are success killers; not that you have to read them, you already know why these are such terrible things to say. These phrases are just the first steps towards not achieving your goals. Let’s then turn our attention to these phrases to team leaders in general.
Leaders can’t forget how they got there.
Think about each of those phrases in turn. It’s not your job…leaders must be willing to take on the tedious drudge work just as much as anyone else. Don’t need help? Everyone, every person, sometimes needs help to get things done. Can’t be done? Well, maybe if you’re trying to travel faster than the speed of light, but there’s a lot else out there that is up for grabs. Removing these phrases from how you operate means you are building a culture of possibility, collaboration and change. If you embrace asking for help, giving reasonable deadlines, accepting fault, and trying for the impossible, your team embodies these ideals that build a foundation for success. It’s not hard. It’s how you got to where you are now.
You must stop saying a few words, and your success can spread to your team.
