Please allow me a “proud dad” post here. But I think you might get some value out of it as well.
My oldest daughter Skylar Hasseman is an aspiring dancer. She just finished her Freshman year at Kent State University (and did very well) but it struggling with the idea of whether to return. Like many young people (and not so young people) she is trying to decide which is the best path for her to reach her dreams and goals. So in working to build her own personal brand, she has decided to create dance videos that showcase her dancing and her choreography skills. (You can subscribe to the channel here).
Her first video went up last night and (again proud dad here) I think it looks great. You can check it out here.
But what does this all mean to you? Great question. I think she is battling with what many of us work on. How do we work toward our goals? How do we stand out in a loud world? What if no one likes what we are doing? You understand. If you are like me, you have heard those voices in your head.
So here are 3 Lessons you can learn from my daughter and her video.
1. She Chose Herself: Dance is something where you can wait your whole life waiting for someone to “choose” you. You go to auditions. You are judged at competitions. You wait to get chosen. She decided to take a different (or maybe just an additional) path. She created an opportunity to showcase her skills on her own.
2. She Took Action: How many times have you said, “I have an idea…” only to let it go because it might be too hard? It’s those ideas that you need to take action on if you want to stand out.
3. She “Shipped:” The project is never done until it’s out there. She could have waited to get one more shot. She could have continued to work and edit and wait until it was perfect. Instead, she pushed it out into the world. I am proud of that. This first project can be deemed a success. That’s great stuff. Now, if she wants to really take this path, she needs to create more and more consistent content to build her brand. Whether or not she does that is up to her. But what’s cool, is that she knows that now.
It’s Monday (as I am writing this) and that means it’s time for the WIG meeting at Hasseman Marketing. You might be asking, “What’s a WIG meeting?” It stands for the “Wildly Important Goal” and the concept comes from the book 4 Disciplines of Execution. We have a weekly WIG meeting each Monday to keep each other accountable and to try and push the company forward.
Quickly, here are the 4 Disciplines…
1. Set a Wildly Important Goal: In each organization, there are constantly things that have to get done. These are the every day tasks that tend to take up your day. When you try to role out a new strategy or initiative, these every day tasks (the whirlwind) get in the way. By setting just one wildly important goal, it helps to focus the team.
2. Create Lead Measures: I love this part. I am a huge believer in goals, but by the time you can measure if you accomplished them, they are in the past. So 4 Disciplines tells you to set “lead measures” for your goals. These are the things that you have control over (no one can stop you) and will lead toward your goal (if done consistently). For example, if the WIG is to lose weight, the lead measures might be eating a healthy diet and exercising. These lead to where you want to go!
3. Keep a Scoreboard: If you come across a group of kids playing basketball, can you tell if they are keeping score. Yes…you can. The intensity picks up. They start playing defense. They start high-fiving after baskets. The same is true for your team. We have created a Google Doc that allows us to keep an eye on how we are doing…all of the time.
4. Accountability Meeting: Which leads nicely to our Monday WIG meeting. We get together on Monday (online) for a 10 minute check in meeting. We discuss what 1 thing we wanted to do last week (that moves us toward our goal), how we did on that goal, and what we are going to do this week.
I really like this system. If you have spent the time to set a Wildly Important Goal, focusing on Lead Measures is a more productive way to schedule my week. These are things I can accomplish…no one gets in my way. And if I don’t do it, it’s on me. From a leadership perspective, I like it because…
It’s helps me keep in touch with my team: At a glance I can look at the scoreboard and see how they are doing. Yes, the activity is tracked by the honor system. They could be padding their numbers, but most of the time I think the numbers are accurate. Either way, it gives me a sense.
Creates Competition: With the right team, your team starts to compete on their own.
Helps You Notice Patterns: When your team is busy, the pro-active measures take a back seat. You notice that with this system. And if you are paying attention, you can point it out. Better yet, your team will notice it on their own. Also, we all have patterns in activity…I noticed that my activity starts to trail off toward the end of the week. I had no idea…until I saw it on the scoreboard!
Re-Focus on the Goal: Each week we get together and re-focus on the goal. This reminder and accountability can have powerful benefits. If you want to dig in further, check out the book! But if you want to chat about how to implement this into your team, let me know. I will gladly do my best to help.
Social media can really be a wonderful thing. We get the opportunity to connect with people from around the globe and reconnect with people from our past. We get to share and communicate, and it gives each and every one of us a voice. But we all know that there are some things about social media that are not as good. People have a tendency to get themselves in trouble by making some pretty simple mistakes. So here are 7 things that you (or the people your organization) should STOP doing right away.
Stop Complaining About Work or Co-Workers: If you are complaining about your co-workers or your job, and you think they can’t see it, you are wrong. They will find out. It’s unprofessional. And if you don’t care that you lose your job, just keep in mind that your next employer will be checking social media on you too.
Stop Passive Aggressive Complaints: This is when someone is obviously complaining about something that happened but does not want to address it in person. “Some people should just stop…” or posts of the like. If you have a problem with someone, be a grown up and talk to them about it.
Stop Claiming Free Speech: The First Amendment was created so that we could speak out without fear of being imprisoned by the government…not for being a jerk on Facebook. You do have freedom of speech, but you don’t have freedom of consequences. Stop acting like you do.
Stop Looking for a Reason to be Mad: It seems like some people wake up each day searching for a reason to be outraged. If you look for reasons to be angry all the time, you will find them (this post for example). Stop seeking out reasons to be mad and you might actually get happier.
Stop Comparing Your Life to Others: The fact is, most people (myself included) sometimes put up our “highlight reel” on social media. We post the pictures that look great. We show our vacations, not the times we are crying in the corner. Just be better than you were yesterday…stop worrying if Frank is on vacation again.
Stop Saying “Woe is me:” We all have challenges, and social media can be a place to vent…sometimes. But if you are constantly complaining about your life, then stop it. Take that time and energy and go out and change it.
Stop Forgetting Social is Public: I am always a little amused when people are surprised that what they put on social gets seen by people. It’s a public forum. So when you post things, just understand that your co-workers, your boss, your customers and even your future employer can and will see it.
These are just seven things to stop, but it’s a good start. Let me know if we have forgotten any that we need to add to the list. Again, social media can be great. But be smart…and it can be even better.
