Readiness for great ideas
There is no dearth of ideas to solve a problem. However, there is a reluctance to accept a good idea as it requires courage to change and imagination to see a different possibility. As leaders, you may find yourself fighting hard to convince the people around you of an idea. It is good to start with understanding why people do what they do. Appealing to their interests is much faster than highlighting how great your idea is.
Leadership and parenting
Leaders and parents are role models. It is what they do and not what they say that gets followed.
Many years ago, a very senior leader sat next to me to help me with a simple query as he saw me struggle with it all alone. The lesson stayed with me. Years later, I made myself available for my team when they needed me the most.
Ben Franklin recalls how his father invited sensible friends and had meaningful discussions. Ben Franklin went on to demonstrate that when he established himself as a successful printer.
“At his table, he liked to have, as often as he could, some sensible friend or neighbor to converse with, and always took care to start some ingenious or useful topic for discourse, which may lead to improve the minds of his children.” – Benjamin Franklin
First-day mindset
When I begin each day of my work. I say to myself it is my first day. It allows me to set aside all niggling thoughts of what didn’t go well so far and start with enthusiasm and continue to be bold about my dreams. It is an allowance I give myself in my mental bank account to start fresh.
“There’s so much stuff that is yet to be invented. There’s so much new that’s going to happen…and that this is still Day 1 in such a big way.” – Jeff Bezos