The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.
_ Edward Gibbon, English historian (1737 – 1794)
Do any of these scenarios describe you?
1. You’re successful, yet somewhere along the way you’ve hit a wall. You feel bored, burned out, unchallenged. Family, friends and relationships are less rewarding. You’re maintaining rather than creating. Your plate is full, and the thought of a bigger plate is depressing.
2. You’re a seasoned executive or owner asking yourself, “What’s next?” You’re driven by a strong sense of “I’m not finished yet,” and you reject the status quo. You’re unsure of where you’re going.
3. You’re a high achiever, but you or your team has failed, maybe in a big way, and it’s gnawing at you in ways you cannot shake. It hangs like a dark cloud over you and your organization.
4. You’re in charge. It’s lonely at the top. The pace and stakes are high; the future uncertain; the demands are unrelenting. There’s not enough of you to go around. You don’t have all the answers.
If you’re feeling lost at sea, here are a few navigation aids that can help you find your course and get back to enjoying your career and your life.
Learn to embrace setbacks. If you haven’t failed, you haven’t tried. As John Maxwell points out in his book, Failing Forward, failure contains the raw material for future success. Learn its lessons and embrace it. Don’t be deterred. If you do not run, you cannot win. Addressing the root causes of a failure is your admission ticket to the next level.
Achievement is not possible with a negative mindset. Ever. You become your dominant thought, good or bad. It’s a rule of life — sooner or later, you get what you expect. So reframe your thoughts and stay positive. You’ll only sustain missions and goals that excite you.
You’ve been successful for a reason. But along the way, your days became full of “stuff.” Now, it’s time to refocus — eliminate all the nonessentials from your day. Build the team. Address the root causes of clutter. Rediscover and restore what you enjoy and do best.
It’s about focus and fundamentals. Consider the difference of one degree — 211 degrees Fahrenheit makes tea; 212 degrees Fahrenheit powers a battleship. Do you want to sip or to win?
Perfectionists, beware — best is the enemy of better. It’s about the pursuit of excellence, not about the pursuit of perfection. Take Olympic athletes – their goals are growth, achievement and progress. Commit to taking small, imperfect steps to build momentum. Try, learn, adjust, retry. A constant state of uncertainty is the norm.
At this level of performance, it’s not about subject-matter expertise, but about leadership. Leaders say “no” to maintenance and focus on transformation. To what? And how? Allow others to make their own decisions. Mobilize resources to get answers. The intelligence of an organization resides in the conversations of its people. Create an atmosphere where they can be effective. Diverse people and perspectives provide solutions that endure (Frans Johansson, The Medici Effect).
God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. Trust is your company’s immune system. A leader too far ahead of the troops is seen as the enemy.
As an accomplished business owner or senior executive you ask, “What’s next?” Why stop now? You planned your first career, now plan your second. Take advantage of experience and wisdom. Build something that endures. William James said, “The best use of a life is to spend it on something that outlasts it.”
So here’s to business and to life. If you’re going to spend the rest of your life in the future, why not create the one you desire? Business is a tool to enable you to accomplish what you want to do in your life.
What do you want to accomplish?
