Throughout history, societies have often glorified pursuits and behaviors that can be expected to shave many years off your natural life expectancy.
For some, formal reviews are a time to step back, reflect on the previous months and get ready for the stretch that lies ahead. For others, documenting their mid-year is one more thing on their plate, a mildly annoying time gobbler that just crowds out other priorities. And for leaders with large teams, it’s a time-consuming task that can easily turn into a low-value box-checking exercise.
At what point in your life will you peak? When you’re at the top of your athletic capabilities or physical attractiveness? When you’re in your best earning years? When you hold the most power and influence?
We all know people – friends, colleagues, coaches, mentors, leaders – who are simply great at helping others be the best that they can be. You may well be one of them.
I was in my mid-twenties, with very little business experience. Like many young people that age, I was keen to prove to myself and others that I could contribute in useful ways but had nothing remarkable to point to that would give me any special claim to anyone’s attention. I had potential as we all do, but that potential was still completely unrealized from a professional standpoint and could easily have remained so.
Well over ten years ago, in what now feels like a completely different life, I attended a management meeting with a few hundred colleagues.
I admit it freely: Whether it be books or movies, I’m a huge science fiction fan. I recently re-watched one of my perennial favorites—James Cameron’s 1986 ‘Aliens’ starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley.
Work can be hard and it definitely has its highs and lows. But for many people, pride in a job well done ranks right up there in terms of what gives meaning to their lives. Does work get the respect it deserves for the reasons it should?
Here’s an interesting question for you: Should you run your team at work as a high-performance athletic program, or as a community sport club? Stop. Don’t answer just yet. I know, I know: You’re a high-performance type of person.
I was chatting with a colleague a few days ago. He was telling me about the way he likes to scrutinize the numbers every single day and I was telling him how I really don’t. “I’m a mathematician by training”, he offered. “I like numbers.” “I’m a lawyer by background”, I replied. “I like words.” What ensued was one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had in a long time.
