Welcome to an HRZone round-up! Deftly curated, clearly signposted, we do the hard work to give you bite-sized information on topics relevant to you. Take a look for your reference, click through for more information, and don't forget to come back soon!
1. "Our choices and priorities reflect what and who we value most." –Lolly Dascal, Founder, Lead from Within
Whatever we think, whatever we feel, whatever we believe, means nothing unless we follow them to action.
This is a good self-development point: we need to look at what we do on a daily basis and see how our choices and priorities lead to this action.
Can we make a big positive change by shifting our priorities?
2. "Bring up awkward issues with forward-facing curiosity. Ignoring poor performance leads to no performance." –Dan Rockwell, INC Top 50 Leadership Expert
Curiosity is a key choice for approaching things with an open mind in a non-judgemental way.
If we choose to be curious, we not only help avoid biases and emotion-driven thinking but we are more able to tackle traditionally negative topics such as performance problems by re-faming them as opportunities for growth, mutual respect and mutual improvement.
3. "Growth and comfort never coexist." –Ginni Rometty, CEO, IBM
If you're not growing, you're stagnating. Sounds harsh but maybe it's true.
Are the timeframes for the 'what worked yesterday won't work today' as short as hours/days/weeks?
Maybe if we aren't trying something new and learning from it we're using sub-optimal solutions.
4. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." -African proverb
A reminder of the need for consequence and compromise when prioritising in life – reminds me of the TED talk Hard Choices about differentiating between two very similar options.
If we want collaborative, innovative, successful businesses, that requires a compromise in speed – we simply can't make decisions as fast when we have to involve other people, but we don't mind because we believe the outcome will be better if we do.
5. "It's always more important to be kind than to be right." –Rich Simmonds, leadership consultant
This is an interesting one that will likely divide opinion. I can see people counteracting it with 'it's better to be respected than liked.'
But I think they are separate messages. It's important to do the right thing for the business, but you can do this in a kind way – you don't need to be right in terms of winning the argument, coming out on top, or maintaining the high ground.
6. "To grow as a person, find the biggest shoes you can, and work hard trying to fill them." –Kyle Bryant, Founder, Cinesational Video
This is a good reminder of the importance of faking it until you make it, and aspirations, and excellence being nothing more than a habit you have to build.
It's also suggestive of quote number three, that growth and comfort are terrible bedfellows.
7. "Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in life." –Tony Robbins, life coach
Everyone knows Tony Robbins.. but you might not have seen this one.
It's a positive reminder for leaders that assumptions and biases about their team or their organisation may just come true due to self-fulfiling behaviour.
Giving people a blank slate in your mind is a gift we should extend to all.
