The Curse of Being Average

I like to speak to audiences everywhere, and while I do it for a living (as well as consult), I do some of it for free.  Speaking gives me a platform to display my expertise, and you should use it to display yours, too.

What you want more than anything in business is to be an expert in your field.  Nothing adds value to your “brand” more than differentiating yourself from the crowd.  Every field is full of mediocrity, and the last thing you want to be is average.

In a recent speech to jewelers, I encouraged them to be anything but “normal.”  Normal is average.  Average is like most everyone else.  You don’t want to be like everybody else.  At least I hope you don’t.

You want to be different.  You want to stand out from the crowd.  You want to be exciting, attractive, unique – differentiated from whatever is normal, average, and, frankly, boring.

When I speak, or consult, I want to be anything but average.  Frankly, I’d rather be bad than average because if I’m bad, at least I’d know that I have to get better.  The curse of being average is that we may not recognize our need to get better.

If you can’t speak well enough to be an expert, you need to get better.  If you need help getting better, ask for help from someone you trust.

Leadership Excellence

Good leaders understand the inherent strengths and shortcomings of individuals and know how to get the maximum from each. Leaders see the potential in people that others miss. Life-and all firms and organizations, even families-is not populated with gifted over-achievers. It’s full of people who genuinely want to be appreciated for a job well done. They want to know that their actions helped make a difference toward stated corporate goals.

Not all your people are rocket scientists or CEO material, but a little encouragement can help an average person excel. People need to belong, but they also want to contribute. They want to be part of something, but they also want to stand out. With reference to psychologist­ Earnest Becker, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman’s In Search of Excellence presented a management mantra: People want to be part of a winning team but a hero in their own right. As a leader, you have an obligation to help them do both.

Leadership requires an almost unimaginable set of skills. Perfection is unattainable, and no leader or organization can afford to tempt it. Instead, what you want is excellence and continuous improvement.

 
Here are a few Business & Life Tips to think about…..

Business Tips:

• Convert a dream to a vision. Then, develop an execution plan to carry it out. Last, set the example and gain buy-in from your people.
• Investing time and energy in people is about the best possible use of your time. So why is it that leaders spend so little time doing it?
• Try for small successes first. Build on positives. Eliminate negative thinking. Success begets more and larger successes.

Life Tips:

• Your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness. Be careful not to allow your confidence to become over-confidence.
• Children are often more creative than adults because their minds aren’t constrained by the realities and experiences of life.
• Contentment vs. complacency: It’s the difference between being joyful with what you have and being lazy about improvement.

Tags: Advice, Business, Business Development, Business Tips, Developing Leaders, Dreams, Knowledge, Leadership, Leadership Excellence, Leadership Problems, Leadership Skills, Learning, Life Tips, Management, Personal Development, Success, The Mind of a Leader, Vision