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Practice
In sports, the ability to shave a hundredth of a second off your time can be what determines the difference between the gold and the silver medal. In turbulent economic times, the same is true-getting the job, the deal, the account is determined by the smallest of degrees.
How, then, can you ensure you’re standing on the winning platform? The same way athletes do: by developing the habits, skills, and disciplines that will stand you in good stead, regardless of the state of the playing field. And in the same way their training routines and practices are designed to leave nothing to chance, you must ensure that your habits keep you in the best shape possible.
When you’re called into the game, you need to be at the top of your game.
What are some of the qualities that dull your edge? Everything from the seemingly innocuous unexamined habit, through disorganization and trepidation, all the way to the flat-out fear that paralyzes your thinking, not to mention your ability to act in your own best interest. For myself, I know that when I’m off my game I tend to adopt the coping skills of Lucy Ricardo-changing what might have been a manageable situation into an operatic showdown at the Copacabana.
Given this, over the years I’ve developed, discovered, and learned from the brightest stars with whom I work a number of ideas, habits, and tools that help me present my best self regardless of the circumstances. For example, I’ve learned how to actively create camaraderie in meetings, strategically choose projects that guarantee the biggest bang for my buck, and consciously create customer satisfaction along the entire chain of my business.
The tips and tools offered in this section, then, are things you must do to fine-tune how you show up every day-mental weight lifting, if you will. And, in the same way those seemingly pointless bicep curls and leg presses you do in the gym ensure you the necessary physical strength to carry your kids to safety if your house is on fire, these tips and tools ensure you the mental strength you’ll need when your interview gets moved from tomorrow to today, your colleagues are gunning for your job, or your boss has been asked to put together his “early retirement” short list. Armed with up-to-the-minute technical acumen and finely honed people skills, you’ll be poised to instead grab that promotion.
1 Retrain Your Brain
“That’s one small step for man…” Most of you are likely able to finish Neil Armstrong’s sentence regarding his first step on the moon: “…one giant leap for mankind.”
I propose that mental strength, and its twin brother, confidence, are gained in much the same way. While I am intent on avoiding the obvious Lao-tzu quote (journey/thousand miles/single step/etc.), I think the sentiment is one it’s important to remember. Circumnavigating, removing, or changing your attitude toward the obstacles you currently face is far more manageable if you break it down into discrete steps. And the fact is that even small changes begin to retrain your brain. This phenomenon, called “neuroplasticity,” is a burgeoning field in brain research, and thanks to the latest brain scanning technology, it is increasingly clear that adults can-and do-sharpen their brains, heal learning problems, and more.
In short, you can teach yourself resilience. Should you be skeptical, here’s an immediate, tangible example of simple brain retraining: Stop reading this and interlace your fingers. Now, unlace them and relace with your other index finger on top.
If you are like most people this switch will feel awfully peculiar. The reason for this is that we generally interlace our fingers with the index finger of our dominant hand on top-it’s our body’s habit. And, like so many habits, we accept it without question. But, as has been pointed out to me, your habits are your destiny-and would you accept your destiny without lifting a finger to change it? What other small physical habits might you look at? Well, you might notice if you always step out of the shower or start down the stairs with the same foot first, or brush your teeth or throw a ball with the same hand. If you do, switch it up. Research has shown that doing so stimulates the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of metabolism, immune reactions, and stress responses-a small price to pay to support your body’s efforts to maintain its weight, stay healthy, and remain calm.
How can you apply this information to your work life? My request is that you pick one thing-one thing only-that you want to change and focus on that for a month. If you have a habit of putting off making cold calls because you dread both the research and the rejection, I want you to pick one person or company that you’ve mentally targeted and rather than give yourself the goal of getting to them today, tell yourself that today is just the day you are going to do the research: find out as much as you can about their background and then write down all the ways in which your skill set can improve their life or business. Tomorrow, I would ask that you write down every possible objection they might have to your suggestions, and how you might counter those objections. For example, if someone were to say, “I don’t have the budget,” your response might be “The meeting’s free.” Time on day three could be spent researching the gatekeepers and deciding what methods of persuasion are most likely to gain you access. Day four you might make the call, and day five send your follow-up email or letter.
Now, you might be thinking, “I don’t have a week to make one phone call-I need things to change now.” Perhaps, but it’s that kind of thinking that causes people to feel overwhelmed, which generally leads to dread and avoidance. Breaking the challenge down into concrete steps and taking charge of each in a methodical way automatically makes you feel more in control.
So, back to cold calls: Week two, I’d want you to target job or person number two. I’m guessing that by now you’ll be quicker at each step-you might even find you look forward to the challenge, and will get two calls in. By week three you could be on a roll, making up to three calls. At the end of the month, it will be a new habit. And while this may not seem groundbreaking in the abstract, doing just one new thing a month guarantees that by the end of the year you will have adopted twelve new habits-which is, I think, the equivalent of one giant leap.
2 Look for Angels Wearing Overalls
Thomas Edison told us, “The reason that so few people recognize opportunity is that it comes dressed in overalls and looks a lot like hard work.” This idea is vital to networking, where an invitation can so often seem like a waste of time, or a request can feel like an underutilization of our skills-not to mention not jibing with where we feel we should be in our careers.
That said, I can state unequivocally that some of the most extraordinary clients I’ve worked with have been the result of connections I made doing pro bono lectures-and not just pro bono: pro bono in a remote location at an unspeakable hour of the morning. I recently picked up some of my most lucrative, ongoing work from agreeing to make myself available for an initial small, somewhat absurd, request: talking to an A-list celebrity on the telephone for fifteen minutes about what she planned to say during her star turn at a major midtown Manhattan Christmas event. The ongoing work for which I’ve since been contracted will see me through the coming year.
Similarly, I have found that some of the most valuable experience I’ve gained has come from doing jobs and learning skills that didn’t initially seem worth my time. For example, when I was working in publishing, I made a point of taking both copyediting and proofreading classes, despite the fact that, as an acquisitions editor, neither of these skills was integral to my job. Why, then, was this information useful? Because it gave me instant credibility with the copyeditors and proofreaders I worked alongside; I understood their language, constraints, and needs, which meant that when I needed a favor-extra time with a manuscript, extra patience with an author-they were more likely to accede. All of which improved my standing with those at the top.
As Samuel Goldwyn said, “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
How, then, can you begin to recognize when the knock at the door is, in fact, opportunity? One way is to broaden your definition of your job-to examine your knee-jerk reaction that thus-and-such is beneath you. Are there skill sets within your industry that others have but you haven’t acquired? Steps in the chain of production you don’t have a grasp on? Internal communication processes you haven’t bothered to examine, much less master? Getting in the trenches with regard to this knowledge will not only make you more effective at your job, it will make you a more effective leader: The people working for you will know that not only can you talk the talk, you can walk the walk. Two of my most successful-and well-liked-CEOs are so effective because they took the time to understand the ins and outs of their rank-and-file employees’ days. One, a retail magnate, set himself to work folding sweaters at a major department store during the holiday rush; the other, the CEO of a food services giant, learned how to drive the eighteen-wheelers his team was using to transport his products coast to coast. Not only did both find their experiences helpful to their understanding of their company, they found them invaluable for building credibility and morale. Another thing I recommend you do is accept networking invitations, regardless of how useless or…
