This article was originally published by Brien Dunphy on LinkedIn.
“Which is more important,” asked Big Panda, “the journey or the destination?” “The company.” said Tiny Dragon.
Have you ever considered the impact the company you keep has on every area of your life? Whether you are working towards a promotion, hitting a sales target or simply striving for a healthier life, we are all working towards something, and we are doing it in a context with company. Often we look at a goal that we are failing to meet and we think it is impossible to achieve, or that there is something wrong within us that prevents us from making our dream a reality, but overlook a critical element… the company we keep.
Popular culture, self-help books and magazine headlines tell us it's all our fault. That if we just worked harder, if we just had more "hustle" we would meet our goals. Countless articles and books are written every year, pointing the blame squarely at us, telling us we don't have the willpower and determination to succeed.
If you find yourself habitually setting goals and not achieving them, or you find yourself falling into old patterns of behavior, consider the problem may not solely be you… but it very well may be who and what you surround yourself with. Instead of only looking inward to the actions you are taking (or not taking), also look outward to the distractions around you, the places you frequent and the company you keep.
Mindset is extremely important to achieving your goals, but you also need to look around at the environment you are working and living in. The environment that surrounds you greatly influences who you will become. And your environment and the company you keep go hand in hand. Jim Rohn famously said, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Who are you spending the most time with?
A person can show up one way in one environment and a different way in a different environment. What you choose to surround yourself with has a dramatic impact on your performance. I see this in my coaching practice regularly when a person makes changes to their environment (including the people they surround themselves with) genuine change happens.
If your environment isn't set up to help you succeed, you will not accomplish your goals. If you're trying to quit smoking, spending time with smokers isn't going to help you quit smoking! If you are trying to lose weight, keeping unhealthy food in the fridge isn't moving you towards your goal. I knew someone who attempted to beat an alcohol addiction while working as a bartender… the sad result was predictable. The same rule applies whether you are building a business, aiming for a sales target, or leading a team.
If you want to grow, surround yourself with people who are growing and who spur you towards growth. As Dan Sullivan said, "Surround yourself with people who remind you more of your future than your past." Peer pressure is a powerful thing - use it to your benefit! Peer pressure can move you in the wrong direction or propel you forward in the right direction.
So how do you create an environment that helps you succeed? Instead of focusing solely on the destination (the what) invest time in planning the journey (the how). Make intentional decisions not only on the path forward but your environment and the company you keep as well.
Analyze your environment and ask yourself:
What around you is slowing you down? ...is causing you to stay stuck?
Who are the people, places, and things that invigorate and propel you forward?
Who are the people, places, and things that distract you from what is most important?
Does your work environment help you thrive or only survive?
It may seem easier to stay where you are and not make hard decisions. But consider the difference between what is easier and what is best. Think long-term and ask yourself the hard question, "What needs to change to bring out my best self?"
You have the power to change your environment… Who you become depends on it.
This article was originally published by Brien Dunphy on LinkedIn.
Several weeks ago, I logged into LinkedIn to share my most recent article and started thinking about all of you - the people in my network. We come from a variety of industries and share varied experiences, yet we have one thing in common - we are all somehow connected.
As I sat there, I couldn’t help but think about the story our network tells of us. Beyond the places we have worked, the education we have been blessed to receive and the clients we have served, our network tells the story of the relationships we have built - those we’ve helped and those who have helped us somewhere along the way. Have you ever taken the time to think about your network and what it says about you and your professional story?
Your network is one of your most prized possessions professionally. It tells a story about who you are, what you provide and how well you provide it. It also serves as an authentic and unsolicited trumpet of your professional story. Beyond a list of who you’re connected to, your network is a resource bank for the present and an opportunity for the future.
Needless to say, cultivating that network is essential. But how can you do that well? It’s much easier and less time-consuming than people make it sound. Here are some quick tips and best practices.
Start the Conversation
Take initiative and reach out any (and every) time someone comes to mind. Resist putting it off until later. There is no better time than right now to do what you say you will do. Putting the reach-out off for a better time inevitably leads to forgetting to connect and missing the opportunity. Send that text or LinkedIn message. Share with them positive ways they have benefitted you or the value they brought to whatever context you know them from. People deserve to feel validated and appreciated. If you appreciate them, let them know! Let them know how they have inspired, encouraged, or even changed you for the better. Celebrate their successes. Whether it’s a new job or promotion, celebrate with them! And make it a point to stay in regular contact. To take it a step further, create a list of those you would like to stay in contact with and then mark your calendar to reach out regularly to those in your network.
Be a Champion
Do you know someone who is just great at what they do? Champion their professional services whenever the opportunity arises. When someone you know is looking for a service provider, make the connection. Do you know someone great at digital marketing, bookkeeping or graphic design, or someone who has helped you in your business? Yes, share their services with others; but even more than that, if they’ve added value to your business, tell that story as you make the referral. You will make a connection that not only benefits the person you are referring, but also the colleague you are referring them to. When you connect others, you are giving them value by giving them access to someone they did not know before.
Make Their World Better
Find ways to collaborate and offer value. There is always value you can add to the people in your network. Can you find ways to collaborate on a project? Can you help answer a question that they have, or can you connect them to someone that can get them that answer? Consider how you can add value to their business or career. Think beyond the usual to the skills and knowledge that you are uniquely positioned to provide. It can be as simple as pointing them in the right direction by sharing an article that you think would be of benefit to them. Commit to leaving everyone you engage with better, stronger, lighter than they were at the start of your conversation.
When cultivating your network, always put people first. Authenticity is important, be genuine and seek to help. It can take time to cultivate your network, but it is worth the effort. Now stop the scroll and reach out to someone in your network!
(And...it goes without saying, thank you for being a part of my network)!
This article was originally published by Brien Dunphy on LinkedIn.
Recently, one of my clients came to our coaching session on the verge of tears. A mother of two and co-owner of a medium-sized business, she was exhausted from yet another 60-hour work week. Meeting after meeting (many of which could have been handled with a simple 5-minute phone call) left little time to get her actual work accomplished. Every time she sat down to focus on her tasks, she was interrupted by notifications on her phone, an urgent email from her staff, or an emergency only she could handle. Everything seemed urgent, and she found it difficult to discern the important from the trivial. After a day full of interruptions and fighting fires, she felt defeated and exhausted. Going home was not the respite she hoped for, either. After picking up the children from aftercare, she rushed home, ordered Uber Eats and attempted to help her children finish their homework just in time to check her inbox one last time before bed. Her husband did his share, but he, too, had a demanding career and was just as overwhelmed.
When we took an inventory of what her days looked like and what she was actually accomplishing, she was surprised to find that with all the activity in her days, there was little productivity. The needle wasn’t moving as much as she expected. Important priorities kept getting pushed back by the demands of the urgent. That new client she was hoping to land, the new product her company was trying to launch, all those projects were “in progress” but when she took a step back, she realized little progress was being made. Incredulous, she asked, “How can I be so busy and accomplish so little?”. In her state of constant activity, she failed to realize that she wasn’t actually moving toward her goals. The tyranny of the urgent was drowning out the important, leading to a constant state of motion, little productivity, and no margin in her life.
This is a common predicament many of my clients find themselves in. They confuse activity for productivity. Activity is to be in a state of motion. Productivity is to be in a state of motion toward a desired goal. No matter where we stand on the corporate hierarchy, from CEO to factory floor, we can all find ourselves in a state of frenzied activity yet not actually getting anywhere. We can all get so caught up in checking the boxes on the items on our list that we fail to see that we aren’t moving forward and working steadily towards our goals.
Why is this such a common predicament today? Many feel that unless they are busy, they aren’t contributing to the team. They have bought the lie that the busier they are, the more important they are. “I’m so busy, therefore I am accomplishing a lot. I am a valuable member of the team because I am working so hard,” is a faulty way of thinking that leads many executives to succumb to burnout, exhaustion and missed expectations.
It’s as if we are in the proverbial hamster wheel, constantly running in place, moving faster and faster but not going anywhere. As leaders, we must be the example of what productivity looks like. We must be able to articulate to our people what productive (rather than active) looks like. It’s our job to differentiate that - and we need to do that both for our people and ourselves. And let’s be honest, it’s MUCH harder to differentiate for ourselves than it is to differentiate for others!
When the confusion between activity and productivity happens at the top, it can trickle down from the C-Suite to front-line employees, causing immeasurable damage to our teams.
The problem with focusing on activity and not productivity is that not only are you exhausting yourself, missing expectations and not moving forward towards your goals, you are leaving untapped potential on the table. When you work on the wrong things, you are missing out on the benefits of working on the right things and you inevitably become dissatisfied with your outcomes.
Stephen Covey, in his bestseller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” put it this way, “Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential.” We each have goals, dreams and potential waiting to be tapped. When we focus our energy on the wrong things, or waste our energy, we shortchange ourselves and our dreams. Don’t get caught up in the trap of busyness! Like I said in my previous post, your dreams are worth the fight! Don’t waste your days focused on the activity that you miss the productivity and forward motion needed to make your dreams a reality.
What could you be accomplishing if you were focused on being productive instead of being busy? Put 15 minutes on your calendar for this week to reflect on where you are trading productivity for activity and decide what you will choose to do differently moving forward.