By way of reminder..
The key to greatness. There doesn’t seem to be ONE. Here’s what we’ve stumbled upon so far. First, you’ve got to know who you are and what you want. You must build a strong CORE. Nobody achieves greatness generally. The more clearly you “see your shore” the better. Specificity is a good thing. Do you know, clearly, what you want?
Second, you must want and desire the perfecting of the path. Deliberate, Purposeful, and well designed practice is required. REAL, HARD, WORK. Are you willing to invest MORE than the 10,000 hour minimum?
Most of us answer yes to the first and maybe to the second. Let’s assume you have answered yes to both.
What should you expect about this journey and when and where it will get really tough. Good question. Here’s the rub. Most of us give up not at the dip, but at the plateau. The road to greatness is NOT linear. It’s taken in “fits and starts.” In between these bursts of performance gain will be long periods of the plateau. You will work and work and work and see little or NO evidence of gain. Most quit here. On the long straight section of the trail with nothing in front of them but the dry and the dusty.
Lets assume you get through the plateau and experience the next burst and keep working toward your 10,000 hour minimum. There seems to be one more key to greatness. This is the hard one, I believe. This one is really hard because it plays into one of our greatest FEARS.
Great performers, even after they’ve experienced a burst, break their routine before it becomes dry and dusty. They do not simply outwork us and keep going through the plateau. They understand that experimenting and taking risks is paramount to the burst.
They take the risk. They risk looking FOOLISH!
They change their golf swing, right after crushing the field. They introduce clothing products, when they are selling mountain chains exclusively. They introduce an energy bar exclusively for women, when the “experts” tell them that women don’t want one. High performers “do it, anyway.”
Greatness requires a strong CORE. One that you’ve built. That answers unswervingly, who you are and what you want. And, greatness requires deliberate, purposeful, and well designed practice. MORE than 10,000 hours.
AND, greatness requires that you get comfortable looking foolish. Yes, foolish.
U2 risked it all when they made the decision, in the height of popularity, to “cut down the Joshua tree.” They took a chance that could have cost them market share and lost them listeners. The next expression of anything requires that the artist, the athlete, or the associate, embraces the fear of looking the fool.
Do you know who you are and what you want?
Are you willing to look foolish to learn how to build you and your team toward greatness?
Tell me more…
BUILT TO LEAD 