Great workers respect the challenge they face. They do this whether they are tackling a routine task, climbing a mountain or turning around a company
Some people do not respect a challenge and fall off the mountain. One leader explained how they fell into this trap.
“Several years ago I learned a severe lesson. It came off the back of achieving a success, but then I went into another role and messed it up badly
“During the previous five years I had built and sold a business. The work was challenging, but my colleagues and I enjoyed working towards a common purpose.
“Three months after selling the company I was much richer, but there was something missing. I needed to restart working. So I took on a senior role with another business.
“I felt the new role would be relatively simple, but that was my undoing. The role was ‘not as advertised’.
“The work did not provide a sense of purpose and I began making sloppy mistakes. Eventually the business and I decided to go separate ways.
“This taught me a valuable lesson. Nowadays I do my due diligence and make sure I am motivated to achieve the goal.”
Looking at your own life and work, can you recall a time when you respected a challenge? What did you do right then to rehearse and then deliver the required results? Let’s explore these themes.
Respecting A Challenge
People perform many routine tasks each day as a matter of course. They get used to driving a car, solving problems at work and dealing with other issues. They may get into trouble, however, if they fail to concentrate or prepare properly.
Great workers do the following things when considering whether to tackle a challenge. They aim:
To research the challenge;
To rate their motivation for tackling the challenge;
To make sure they respect the challenge.
Imagine that you have been offered the opportunity to tackle a particular project. You may have the chance to launch a new business, take over a failing team, lead an initiative across a company or do another activity.
Your interest is piqued, but you also have reservations. On the one hand you think it could be interesting. On the other hand, you may have done similar things before, so it could feel mundane.
You want to do satisfying work and have a reasonable chance of success. This calls for doing a reality check before committing yourself to the challenge.
Your first task will be to gather information. One approach is to explore questions on the themes of What, Why, How, Who and When? These can be used to researching any potential project.
What
What are the stated goals of the project? What are the real results to achieve? What will be happening that will show you have reached the goals? What is the picture of success?
What is actually happening now? What is the state of play? If the project is already going: a) What is going well; b) What can be done better and how? What are the successful and unsuccessful patterns?
What are the key challenges you will face? What are the resources you will need to tackle these challenges, do superb work and reach the goals? Will these resources be available?
What are the things you can control on the project? What are the things you can’t control? How can build on what you can control and manage what you can’t?
Why
Why do people want to do the project? What will be the specific benefits for the various stakeholders – such as the company, customers, colleagues, community and other groups?
What will be the pluses and minuses that you and other people may encounter on the road towards achieving the goals? How can you build on the pluses and minimise the minuses? Looking at the pluses and minuses involved, are you prepared to accept the whole package?
How
How can you do your best to reach the goals? What are the three key strategies you can follow that will provide the greatest chance of success? How can you use your own and other people’s strengths to reach the goals?
What are the potential difficulties you may meet along the road? How can you anticipate and prevent these difficulties happening? How can you manage the difficulties if they do happen?
How can you make sure that you go in with your eyes open? What are the things you can and can’t expect from the culture – the organisation or company – in which you will be working?
What could you to do thrive, rather than just survive, when working in or alongside the culture? What will be the support required? How can you get some early successes?
Who
Who are the key stakeholders – the people you must satisfy? What is their picture of success? What is their mental model about how they believe people should work in order to achieve success? What do you believe are the overall Dos and Don’ts they ask people to follow?
Will you feel okay working with these people? How can you proactively keep them informed about the progress towards achieving the goals? How can you create enough space to make sure you can get on with the job?
Who are the people you may need on a team? What are the qualities – the spirit, strengths and skills – they will need to demonstrate? Looking at the people already in the team, try answering the following questions.
Which of the people already have these qualities? Which people may have the qualities? Which people probably don’t have the qualities?
Bearing these things in mind, what are the decisions you may need to take about people? How can you do this in a moral way? How can you employ the right people in the right places in the team?
What are the specific results that people in each of the roles will need to deliver? How can you make clear contracts with them about their contributions towards achieving the goals? How can you make sure that people are given the support required to do the job?
When
What are the specific results that must be delivered by when? What are the key milestones? What are the short, medium and long-term goals? How can you get some early successes?
How can you continue to ensure that the project is on track and people deliver the goods? How can you continue to do reality checks about: a) What is working; b) What can be better and how? How can you encourage people on the journey?
How can you do everything possible to reach the goals? How can you ensure that people do the basics and, when appropriate, add that brilliance? What else can you do to deliver the picture of success?
Imagine that you have researched what may be involved when doing a particular project. Bearing in mind what you have explored, the next steps is to rate your motivation for doing the work.
You may be considering whether to write a book, run a marathon, climb a mountain or do another activity. You may be considering whether to lead a team, shift a culture or tackle another challenge.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to look ahead at a potential project and rate your motivation for doing it. It invites you to complete the following sentences.
Rehearsing Tackling The Challenge
Imagine that you have chosen to do the particular project. The next step is to show respect for what needs to be done by rehearsing every aspect of the journey.
The theme of rehearsing properly is explored elsewhere in the book, but here are the headlines. It can be useful to focus on the picture of success and:
To rehearse following the key strategies that will give you the greatest chance of success;
To rehearse dealing with the potential challenges along the ways;
To again rehearse doing your best to achieve the picture of success.
Imagine that you feel ready to embark on the journey. It can then be useful to rest before clicking into action. You will then move on to the next step.
Delivering The Desired Results
When Tackling The Challenge
Great workers show respect by giving their full attention to tackling the challenge. They do this whether counselling a person, climbing a mountain, leading a creative project or doing another activity.
They follow the key strategies most likely to deliver the desired results. They also do this by managing their energy and efforts in the most effective way.
Such people work at the appropriate pace. Sometimes they may buy time to think; sometimes work intensely. Sometimes they may work in short bursts; some work for long stretches.
Great workers continue to use their antennae when tackling the challenges. They keep asking themselves the following questions.
What are the real results to achieve? Am I on course to deliver these results? How can I keep on course to deliver success?
What is actually happening? What is going well? How can I build on these things? What can I do better and how? What are the potential things that could happen in the future? How can I manage these things?
What else can I do to achieve the desired results? How can I do these things? How can I finish in a good way and achieve the picture of success?
Whatever challenge you tackle, the aim will be to respect the work. Such an approach can enable you and other people to reach the summit – rather than fall off the mountain – and get down safely.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to clarify how you can respect a challenge, rehearse tackling it and deliver the desired results.
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