PROVE YOUR WORTH DAILY AND NEVER STOP GROWING
Few things speak more loudly than excellence at one’s craft. Ralph Waldo Emerson is believed to have said, “If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon or make a better mouse trap than his neighbors, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.” If you become excellent at what you do, others notice, and they will seek you out. Expertise always has value.
The skill people seek me out for is my communication ability. I spent the first ten years of my career working diligently at becoming a better speaker. I studied communicators. I worked hard to improve my messages. I practiced my craft every week, usually several times a week. I spent almost a decade trying different things out to discover my “natural” style. In time, I became really good at speaking, and developed credibility. My skill became valuable, and it gave me a platform to do other things, such as write books and teach leadership.
BECOME AN EXPERT AT YOUR CRAFT
The first place you should strive to prove your value is in your craft. Most people don’t start out as leaders. They demonstrate skill or ability in a particular area, and they get recognized for it. Expertise in a craft or profession does not make someone a leader, but it often gets a person promoted into leadership. It gives them their chance.
What can you do every day to help you become better at your core competency?
1. LEARN YOUR CRAFT TODAY
On a wall in the office of a huge tree farm hangs a sign. It says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty-five years ago. The second-best time is today.” There is no time like the present to become an expert at your craft. Maybe you wish you had started earlier. Or maybe you wish you had found a better teacher or mentor years ago. None of that matters. Looking back and lamenting will not help you move forward.
You may not be where you’re supposed to be. You may not be what you want to be. You don’t have to be what you used to be. And you won’t ever arrive at total mastery. You just need to learn to be the best you can be right now. As Napoleon Hill said, “You can’t change where you started, but you can change the direction you are going. It’s not what you are going to do, but it’s what you are doing now that counts.”
2. TALK ABOUT YOUR CRAFT TODAY
Once you reach a degree of proficiency in your craft, then one of the best things you can do for yourself is talk your craft with others on the same and higher levels than you are currently achieving. Many people do this naturally. Guitarists talk to other players about guitars and gear. Parents talk with others about raising children. Golfers talk about clubs, courses, and technique. They do so because it’s enjoyable, it fuels their passion, it teaches them new skills and insights, and it prepares them to go to higher levels of ability.
Talking to peers is wonderful, but if you don’t also make an effort to strategically talk your craft with those ahead of you in experience and skill, then you’re really missing great learning opportunities. I enjoy talking about leadership with good leaders all the time. In fact, I make it a point to schedule a learning lunch with someone I admire at least six times a year. Before I go, I study up on them by reading their books, studying their lessons, listening to their speeches, or whatever else I need to do. My goal is to learn enough about them and their “sweet spot” to ask the right questions. If I do that, then I can learn from their strengths. But even that’s not my ultimate goal. My goal is to learn what I can transfer from their strength zones to mine. That’s where my growth will come from—usually not from what their specific actions. I have to apply what I learn to my situation.
Try it. The secret to a great interview is listening. It is the bridge between learning about them and learning about yourself. And that’s your objective.
3. PRACTICE YOUR CRAFT TODAY
The only way to improve at your craft is to practice it until you know it inside and out. At first, you do what you know to do. The more you practice your craft, the more you know. Then the more you practice, the more you recognize what you don’t know. Hopefully, this spurs you on to dig deeper and learn more. But as you do more and learn more, you will also discover more about what you ought to do differently. At that point you have a decision to make: Will you do what you have always done, or will you try new things, take risks, and seek new levels of ability? The only way you improve is to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.
People often ask me, “How can I grow my business?” or, “How can I make my department better?” The answer is for you personally to grow. By making yourself better, you make others better. And the time to start is today.
DO JOBS OTHERS WON’T
Being excellent at what you do will make you valuable and give you a place on your team. But becoming an expert at your craft takes time. What can you do to prove your worth right now? Take on jobs others won’t—even if they are outside of your craft or comfort zone.
It is said that an aid group in South Africa once wrote to missionary and explorer David Livingstone asking, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.”
Livingstone replied, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.”
That’s the kind of attitude you need to have as you work with someone who can’t or won’t lead. You need to be willing to do what others won’t.
Few things gain the respect of a boss, a team, and the top leaders of an organization more quickly than someone with a whatever-it-takes attitude. These people are willing and able to think outside of their job description and tackle the kinds of jobs that others are too proud or too frightened to take on. These things are what often create job security, elevate them above their peers, and get them promoted to a role where they can make a greater positive impact.
Perhaps you already possess a whatever-it-takes mind-set, and if a task is honest, ethical, and beneficial, you’re willing to take it on. If so, good for you! Now all you need is to know how to direct that attitude into action so that you’re doing the things that will make the greatest impact and create influence with others. Here are the top ten things I recommend you do to become the kind of person others look to:
1. TAKE THE TOUGH JOBS
The ability to accomplish difficult tasks earns others’ respect very quickly. It also helps you become a better leader. You learn resiliency and tenacity during tough assignments, not easy ones. When tough choices have to be made and results are difficult to achieve, leaders are forged. Don’t be afraid to try tough jobs.
2. PAY YOUR DUES
If you want to take on greater leadership roles in the future, you will have to give up other opportunities. You will have to sacrifice some personal goals for the sake of others. You will have to get out of your comfort zone and do things you’ve never done before. You will have to keep learning and growing when you don’t feel like it. You will have to repeatedly put others ahead of yourself. And if you desire to be a really good leader, you will have to do these things without fanfare or complaint. But remember, as NFL legend George Halas said, “Nobody who ever gave their best ever regretted it.”
3. BE WILLING TO WORK IN OBSCURITY
What keeps a leader from having a huge ego? I think the answer lies in each leader’s pathway to leadership. If people paid their dues and gave their best in obscurity, ego is usually not a problem. English novelist and poet Emily Brontë said, “If I could I would always work in silence and obscurity, and let my efforts be known by their results.” Not everyone prefers to be out of the spotlight as she did. But it’s important for you to learn to work in obscurity because it is a test of personal integrity. The key is being willing to do something because it matters, not because it will get you noticed.
4. SUCCEED WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE
People working at the bottom of an organization usually have no choice concerning their coworkers. Whether they like it or not, they often have to work with difficult people. In contrast, people at the top almost never have to work with difficult people because they often get to choose who they work with. If someone they work with becomes difficult, they often let that person go or move him out.
For most people working in the middle of an organization, the road is different. They have some choice in the matter, but not complete control. They may not be able to get rid of difficult people, but they can often avoid working with them. But it’s wise to find a way to succeed with people who are hard to work with. Why? Because it benefits the organization. Instead of putting these difficult people in their place, try to put yourself in their place. Work at finding common ground and connect with them.
5. PUT YOURSELF ON THE LINE
You cannot play it safe and prove your value at the same time. But here’s the tricky thing about taking risks in the middle of the organization. You should never be casual about risking what’s not yours. I call that “betting with other people’s money.” You don’t have the right to put the organization on the line. Nor would it be right for you to create high risk for others in the organization. If you are going to take a risk, you need to put yourself on the line. Play it smart, but don’t play it safe.
6. ADMIT FAULTS BUT NEVER MAKE EXCUSES
It’s easier to move from failure to success than from excuses to success. And you will have greater credibility with your boss if you admit your shortcomings and refrain from making excuses. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to produce results. Baseball coach and tutor McDonald Valentine said, “The higher the level you play, the less they accept excuses.”
Before you become the boss is a good time to discover your identity and work things out. You can discover your leadership strengths where you are. If you fall short in an area, you can work to overcome your mistakes. If you keep falling short in the same way, you may learn how to overcome an obstacle, or you may discover an area of weakness where you will need to collaborate with others. But no matter what, don’t make excuses.
7. BE THE FIRST TO STEP UP AND HELP
It doesn’t matter whom you’re helping, whether it’s your boss, a peer, or someone working for you. When you help someone on the team, you help the whole team. And when you help the team, you’re helping your boss. And that gives them reasons to notice and appreciate you.
8. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
Lack of responsibility can be a deal breaker when it comes to the people who work for me. When my employees don’t get the job done, certainly I become disappointed. But I’m willing to work with them to help them improve—if they are taking responsibility for themselves. I know they will work at getting better if they take ownership and have a teachable spirit. However, we have no good starting point for improvement if they fail to get the job done, and they fail to take responsibility. In such cases, it’s time to move on and find someone else to take their place.
9. PERFORM TASKS THAT ARE “NOT YOUR JOB”
Few things are more frustrating for a leader than having someone refuse to do a task because it is “not his job.” (In moments like those, most of the top leaders I know are tempted to invite such people to be without a job altogether!) Good employees don’t think in those terms. Their goal is to get the job done and to fulfill the vision of the organization. That often means doing whatever it takes—and then some. If you do more than is expected of you, you stand out. People who want to be effective are willing to do what others won’t. And because of that, their leaders are willing to resource them, promote them, and be influenced by them.
BECOME YOUR BOSS’S GO-TO PRODUCER
All leaders are looking for people who can step up and make a difference when it matters. When they find such people, they come to rely on them and are inevitably influenced by them. Team members who can make things happen are their go-to players. They demonstrate consistent competence, responsibility, and dependability. While becoming an expert at your craft is driven by a desire for excellence, and taking on jobs others won’t is about the willingness to jump in anywhere to contribute, being a producer is about having the will to win.
Few things elevate a person above his peers the way becoming a solid producer does. Everyone admires go-to players and looks to them when the heat is on—not only their bosses, but also their peers and team members. When I think of my go-to players, I think of the people who always produce. Here are key ways you can prove your value as a got producer.
1. PRODUCE WHEN THE PRESSURE’S ON
There are many different kinds of people in the workplace, and you can measure them according to what they do for the organization. Go-to producers are the people who find a way to make things happen no matter what. They don’t have to be in familiar surroundings. They don’t have to stick in their comfort zones. The circumstances don’t have to be fair or favorable. And pressure doesn’t hinder them either. In fact, if anything, the more pressure there is, the better they like it. They always produce when the heat is on. Their motto is, “Give me the ball and let me score.”
2. PRODUCE WHEN THE RESOURCES ARE FEW
In 2004 when my book Today Matters came out, I was booked to do back-to-back speaking sessions in Little Rock, Arkansas. After the first session, the site ran out of books. The leader of the organization I was speaking for wanted his people to benefit from the book, and he knew that if he didn’t have it there after I spoke, they probably wouldn’t get a copy. So he immediately sent some of his people out to all the bookstores in town to buy more copies of the book. I think he ended up buying every copy in town and had them there by the time I finished speaking for the second session. What a leader!
If you can be innovative and productive when you have little or nothing to work with, people will begin looking to you for leadership. Your boss will not only value your contribution, he may even start asking for and taking more of your advice. And you’ll be able to start making a greater contribution in your organization.
3. PRODUCE WHEN THE MOMENTUM IS LOW
Organizations have only three kinds of people when it comes to momentum:
Momentum Breakers—people who sabotage the leaders and organization and who sap momentum as a result. These people have terrible attitudes and represent the bottom 10 percent of the organization.
Momentum Takers—people who merely take things as they come. They neither create nor diminish momentum; they simply flow with it. These people represent the middle 80 percent.
Momentum Makers—the people who move things forward and create momentum. These are the leaders in the organization, regardless of whether they hold a formal position, and comprise the top 10 percent. These momentum makers make progress. They overcome obstacles. They help move others along. They actually create energy in the organization when the rest of the team is feeling tired or discouraged. These are the difference makers leaders rely on.
4. PRODUCE WHEN THE LOAD IS HEAVY
Good employees always have the desire to be helpful to their leaders. I’ve worked with many of them over the years. I always appreciate it when someone who works with me says, “I’ve finished my work. Can I do something for you?” But some go-to producers carry a heavy load anytime their leader needs it, not just when their own load is light.
The keys to becoming this kind of player are availability and responsibility. Being a heavy load lifter is really an attitude issue, not a position issue. If you have the willingness and capacity to lift the load of your boss when he needs it and asks for it, you will have influence with him.
5. PRODUCE WHEN THE LEADER IS ABSENT
The greatest opportunity for a someone in the middle of an organization to distinguish herself is when the leader is absent. It is at those times that a leadership vacuum exists, and potential leaders can rise up to fill it. True, when leaders know they will be absent, they usually designate a leader to stand in for them. But even then, there are still opportunities to step up, take responsibility, and shine.
If you step forward to lead when there is a leadership vacuum, you have a very good chance of distinguishing yourself. You should also know, however, that when people step up to fill that vacuum, it almost always exposes their true colors. If their motives are good, and they desire to lead for the good of the organization, it will show through. If they are attempting a power grab for personal gain and their own advancement, that will show through too.
6. PRODUCE WHEN THE TIME IS LIMITED
I love a sign I saw at a small business called “The 57 Rules to Deliver the Goods.” Beneath the title it read:
RULE 1: DELIVER THE GOODS
RULE 2: THE OTHER 56 DON’T MATTER
That’s the philosophy of go-to producers. They deliver no matter how tough the situation is.
Rod Loy told me a story about when he was a leader in the middle of an organization. At a large meeting, his leader described a new program that he said he was putting in place. Rod listened with interest, because he had not been aware of it. It sounded great, but then his leader announced that Rod would be leading the program, and anyone who was interested in it could talk to him about it after the meeting.
Rod had not been informed of his role in this program, but that didn’t matter. During the rest of the meeting while his leader spoke, Rod quickly sketched out the design and action plan for the program. When the meeting was over and people approached him, he communicated his plan and launched it. Rod said it may not have been his best work, but it was good work under the circumstances. It created a win for the organization, preserved his leader’s credibility, and served the people well.
You may never find yourself in the kind of situation Rod did. But if you adopt the positive attitude and tenacity of a go-to player, and take every opportunity to make things happen, you will probably perform as he did under similar circumstances. If you do, your boss will come to rely on you, and the people we rely on increase their influence and credibility every day we work with them.
MAINTAINING YOUR BALANCE AS YOU PROVE YOUR WORTH
The things I’m suggesting you do to prove yourself are not easy. And they can produce a lot of stress, especially since I’m asking you to take the high road as you work with your boss. But doing these things will give you the best chance to shine and succeed, even working for someone who doesn’t lead. How do you accomplish all this with grace, tact, and calm?
1. FIND A WAY TO RELIEVE STRESS
You will never completely eliminate the stress of trying to achieve success while working for a bad boss. So what do you do? Find healthy outlets for relieving the stress you experience: hit golf balls, jog, take up kickboxing, practice yoga, go for walks, get a massage. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it is a good, healthy outlet for when the stress gets to be too much for you.
I have to admit, I don’t experience a lot of stress. (I don’t work for a bad boss!) But I do get very busy, and that has its own challenges. For many years, I ate too much, especially when I was traveling a lot. But that’s not exactly a healthy habit. Today I’m watching what I eat. And I’ve redoubled my efforts at exercising. It’s making me healthier in both body and mind. I also play golf when I can, and I love getting a massage. You need to find what works for you and make it part of your daily routine.
2. KNOW WHAT TO “OWN” AND WHAT TO LET GO
Nothing frees a person from tension like clear lines of responsibility, but you don’t always get that with a bad leader. So you need to ask what you need to own. That’s what I did when I became the senior pastor at Skyline Church in California in 1981. When I met with the board, they wanted to ask me lots of questions, which they did for several hours. When they were done, they got ready to dismiss the meeting, and I let them know that I also had some questions. The first and most important one I wanted to ask was what I had to own personally. (Even leaders at the top still answer to somebody. The board was my boss.)
I asked the members of the board to give me their short list of things I had to do that no one else could do for me. What had to get done that I could never delegate? They gave me four things to put on that list:
• Take final responsibility for the organization.
• Be the main communicator.
• Be the main representative of the church.
• Live a life of personal integrity.
One of the best things you can do is ask your boss what is expected of you. But you can’t expect one conversation to settle the issue. Bad leaders are often inconsistent leaders. The list of what you need to own will likely change. Even when you work with a great leader, the list can change. So you need to maintain an ongoing dialogue concerning your boss’s expectations, and do your best to own what you must, and let go of what you can’t or shouldn’t do.
3. NEVER VIOLATE THE TRUST OF YOUR BOSS
If you want to know what will increase the tension of your position to the breaking point, it’s violating the trust given to you. That can mean abusing the power of your position, intentionally undermining your boss, or using the organization’s resources for personal gain.
Whatever authority has been invested in you is entirely dependent upon your faithfulness in serving the people who gave you that authority. Accordingly, you must guard against the temptation to try to advance at the expense of your boss. And it would be wise not to allow yourself to have an “if I were in charge” conversation with another staff member. If you have difficulties with your leaders, talk to them about it.
Obviously, the loyalty I’m suggesting should never cross ethical lines or legal boundaries. There’s nothing wrong with helping or compensating for a boss who makes honest mistakes or performs poorly. However, if your boss is doing something that’s clearly wrong, you should not support it. If he asks you to do something dishonest, decline to do it. It he asks you to cover up something or remain silent about wrongdoing, you shouldn’t. It may cost you your job, but your integrity will remain intact.
NEVER STOP GROWING AS A LEADER
The final step you need to take in order to be successful working under a bad leader is to keep growing and improving as a leader. Why?
THE BETTER YOU GET, THE MORE PEOPLE LISTEN
As a student of leadership, would you rather spend an hour with a president of the United States or with the person who runs the local convenience store? It’s no contest. Why? Because you respect most and can learn best from the person with great competence and experience. Competence is a key to credibility, and credibility is the key to influencing others. If people respect you, they will listen to you. President Abraham Lincoln said, “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” By focusing on growth, you become wiser each day. And your leadership continues to improve.
THE BETTER YOU GET, THE GREATER YOUR VALUE TODAY
If you were to plant fruit and nut trees in your yard, when could you expect to start harvesting from them? Would you be surprised to learn that you had to wait years—three to seven years for fruit, five to fifteen years for nuts? If you want a tree to produce, first you have to let it grow. The more the tree has grown and has created strong roots that can sustain it, the more it can produce. The more it can produce, the greater its value.
People are not all that different. The more they grow, the more value they can produce. In fact, it’s said that a tree keeps growing as long as it is living. I would love to live in such a way that the same could be said for me—“he kept growing until the day he died.” I’m seventy-two, and I’m still striving for growth and trying to increase my value today.
If you look back at past accomplishments, and they don’t look small to you now, then you haven’t grown very much since you completed them, and you’re not growing enough today. If you look back at a job you did years ago, and you don’t think you could do it better now, then you’re not improving in that area of your life.
If you are not continually growing, then it is probably damaging your leadership ability. If you’re not moving forward as a learner, then you are moving backward as a leader.
What kind of a plan have you put yourself on to keep growing? Are you reading leadership books? Are you asking questions of experienced leaders and learning from them? Are you challenging yourself to learn something every day and to apply it? Are you taking what you’re learning and teaching it to others? You need to be intentional and aggressive in your pursuit of personal growth.
THE BETTER YOU GET, THE GREATER YOUR POTENTIAL FOR TOMORROW
Who are the hardest people to teach? The people who have never tried to learn. Getting them to accept a new idea is like trying to transplant a tomato plant into concrete. Even if you could get it to go into the ground, you know it isn’t going to survive anyway. The more you learn and grow, the greater your capacity to keep learning. And that makes your potential greater and your value for tomorrow higher.
Indian reformer Mahatma Gandhi said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” That is how great our potential is. All we have to do is keep fighting to learn more, grow more, become more.
If you want to influence your team, your boss, and the people at the top of your organization—and keep influencing them—then you need to keep getting better. An investment in your leadership growth is an investment in your ability, your adaptability, and your promotability. No matter how much it costs you to keep growing and learning, the cost of doing nothing is greater. Founding father Ben Franklin said, “By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid only of standing still. Forget your mistakes but remember what they taught you.” To be better tomorrow, become better today.
Most people have no idea how far they can go in life. They aim way too low. I know I did when I first started out, but my life began changing when I stopped setting goals for where I wanted to be and started setting the course for who I wanted to become. I have discovered that the key to personal development is being more growth oriented than goal oriented.
There is no downside to making growth your goal. If you keep learning, you will be better tomorrow than you are today, and that opens the door to a better future, whether in your current organization or in another. Keep adding value to yourself by learning your craft, getting things done, and growing as a leader, and you become so valuable that you can have more options available to you and can start to make better choices.
In the end, isn’t that what motivated you to read this book? You want the freedom to make better choices so that your life improves? When you work for a boss who can’t or won’t lead, you feel trapped in a no-win situation. But when you learn to work with difficult people, be productive in a challenging situation, become a valuable contributor, and develop yourself as a leader, everything changes. Your potential goes off the charts. Your prospects improve. Your “luck” changes. People seek to recruit you for their team. Organizations want you. Do your best, and your time will come. And when you get your chance to be the boss, you will do a better job. You will value and empower people, and they will spend their time being productive, instead of trying to figure out how to work around a boss who doesn’t lead.