What Every Young Leader Should Know about Showing the World They’re Serious

If you’re under the age of thirty-five, the default posture of the world is not to believe you.

I know. Total bummer.

But it’s not your fault – it’s just human nature. Age equals credibility. And there’s no way to speed it up.

Actually, I take that back. My friend Tom Reilly once suggested: “If you want people to take you seriously, either go grey or vacate.”

Not a bad idea. Certainly worked for Taylor Hicks.

But outside of follicular augmentation, the smartest move for a young leader is to position her attitudes, behaviors and language in a consistent manner that shows the world she’s serious. That shows the world she’s not messing around.

Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, entry-level employee, college intern or new kid on the block, consider these suggestions:1. Beware of the copycats. Commitment is an easily confusable entity. And if you don’t learn to discern the difference between commitment and its cheap imitations, everything you do will be like winking in the dark. Honestly ask yourself these questions:

Are you truly committed – or just curious?
Are you truly committed – or just involved?
Are you truly committed – or just concerned?
Are you truly committed – or just interested?
Are you truly committed – or just legally obligated?
Are you truly committed – or just not unhappy enough to change?
Are you truly committed – or just biding your time until something better comes along?

Approach these questions as a personal audit. Use them as an accountability tool to sustain your level commitment. And if you think it sounds like a lot of work, you’re wrong.

It’s not a lot of work – it’s a ton of work. But that’s the whole point: The reason commitment costs so much is because it pays so well. Are you willing to make the investment?

2. Choose ubiquitous over anonymous. If attention is currency, anonymity is bankruptcy. Which brings us to the central question: Are you everywhere? If so, the world already knows you’re serious.

If not, here’s my suggestion: Approach everything you do as a form of marketing. In 2001, a survey conducted by The Washington Post that indicated the following:

“Self-employed businesspeople spend an average of forty-three minutes a day marketing themselves.”

If you do the math, that’s eight percent of your entire day. Which leads to my next question: What the hell are people doing for the other four hundred and thirty minutes?

Answer: The wrong things.

Here’s the reality: Marketing is everything and everything is marketing. The challenge to twofold. First, to change your definition of marketing to “transferring emotion.” That’s it.

And second, to find a way to (respectfully) transform everything you do into some form of marketing. Emails. Phone calls. Meetings. Blog posts. Everything.

Remember: People who only do marketing “here and there,” will only get new business here and there. How many minutes did you spend on marketing yesterday?

3. Ship only great work out the door. Piano man Ben Folds reminds us in the song One Down, “People tell me to just make up junk and turn it in. But I was never okay with turning in a bunch of crap. And I don’t like wasting time on music that won’t make me proud.”

Sadly, many of my colleagues fall victim to that trap. They publish average books with average content. They give unremarkable speeches with unremarkable slides. They write boring blog posts using boring examples.

And it’s not like they’re going broke – they’re just not going for broke. That’s the next way to show the world you’re serious: By refusing to execute mediocrity. Because without making this baseline decision, without setting this standard of excellence, you leave yourself vulnerable to attack. And the sexiness of average will seduce you like six-foot blonde in a black dress.

Remember: Being amazing isn’t enough. The other half of the equation is the willingness to wage a war against mediocrity. Burn the beige. Vaporize the vanilla. Banish the bland. Nuke the normal. Murder the average. Are you giving the future something to rah-spect?

4. Consistency is the ultimate commitment device. Every time I find a blog that hasn’t posted since the Clinton Administration, a small part of me dies inside. Seriously: If you’re not going to stay up with it, don’t bother. Something isn’t always better than nothing.

If you want people to take you seriously, remember my personal mantra: “Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness.” Whether you’re publishing online content, leading a Wednesday night bible study, interning at your dream job or trying to be a better parent, consistency is not an accident.

It’s a sequence of intentionally consistent, similar actions. It’s a timeline of credibility. Personally, I wear a nametag everyday. Plus I got one tattooed on my chest. Plus I post a “number of consecutive days” counter on my website. Those are my commitment devices. What are yours?

Because if you want to win, you can’t just commit – you have to communicate to the people who matter most that you’re fully committed. Remember: Commitment without evidence is pantomime. How will you reinforce your positive pattern of execution?

5. Consider what affects your ability to be taken seriously. In Napoleon Hill’s classic work, The Laws of Success, he writes that the world will forgive you if you make mistakes – but it will never forgive you if you make no decisions. That’s the secret: To achieve definiteness of decision.

Interestingly, the word “decision” comes from the Latin decisio, or “agreement.” Which means it’s a function of values. Which means you gave it serious thought. And which means it’s a part your core.

The challenge (according to many of my clients) is actually pulling the trigger. Overcoming the paralyzing uncertainty of taking that crucial first step. And that’s why I suggest the following: Violently refuse to get snared into an endless tangle of anxiety, regret and second-guessing.

You can’t go through life regretting every decision you make just because it might not have been the best possible one. It’ll eat you up inside like a tapeworm.

Shakespeare was right: Delays have dangerous ends. Ginsberg was right too: Reluctance to make a decision is a form of resistance.

And the bottom line is: People won’t take you seriously if they’re too busy questioning your decision-making ability. It’s time to put a stake in the ground. What are you unconsciously doing that’s marring your credibility?

6. Real commitment is unthwartable by circumstance. As a musician, I learned a long time ago that it doesn’t matter if you break a string – it matters how quickly you return to the music.

This same principle of stick-to-itiveness applies to the song of life. If you want to show people you’re serious, try not walking away from the eyes of the world when they roll at you. Instead of acquiescing to your circumstances, yield to your core. Use your values as navigators.

When things go wrong, when people lash out at you, or when you screw the pooch in public, ask yourself, “If I were me, what would I do in this situation?” Doing so will initiate an instant calming sequence that draws people to you.

After all, in times of crisis, people turn to people who are calm. Calm is what builds trust, mitigates stress, remedies confusion and inspires followership. And it’s the perfect way to show the world you’re serious.

As long as you remember: There’s a direct correlation between the ability to make a name for yourself and the willingness to make an idiot of yourself. Are you impervious to embarrassment?

In conclusion, we remember to the immortal words of Bill Cosby:

“Anyone can dabble, but once you’ve made that commitment, your blood has that particular thing in it, and it’s very hard for people to stop you.”

JUST REMEMBER: Commitment isn’t just an obligation – it’s a demonstration.

It’s a constant exertion of your values.
It’s a consistent extension of your truth.
It’s a consummate expression of your core.

That’s how you show the world you’re serious.

And the best part is: When you do, your commitment doesn’t just become noticeable – it becomes billable.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you prepared to turn your desire into your obsession?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011!

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The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 4

Stick-to-itiveness can be learned.

Aka, “Stick to it.”
Aka, “Stick with it.”
Aka, “Stick in there.”

All you have to do is shift your attitude completely – work hard, smart and long while nobody notices – and design a daily practice of self-determination and commitment.

Hey. I said it could be learned – not that it would be easy.

Up to the challenge?

Cool. Fortunately, I’ve already published part one, part two and part three in this series.

Today we’re going to explore part three with additional strategies for sticking with it – whatever “it” is:1. Shut yourself up. In 1933, newspapers around the world announced the death of a Chinese man named Li Chung Yun. Now, the rumor was that he lived to be over two hundred years old. Whether or not that’s true, nobody knows.

But Yun did deliver a series of twenty-eight three-hour lectures at a Chinese university. The topic: Longevity. And when asked for advice on lengthening one’s life, his greatest counsel for stick-to-itiveness was always two words: Inner quiet.

When was the last time those two words described your mindspace? For most people, that’s a tough question. For some people, that’s an impossible question. But that’s why Yun’s philosophy of inner quiet is more relevant than ever before.

The reality is: Our society doesn’t reward idleness. Money likes speed, not stillness. And when you factor in the information overload, the acceleration of technology and the (almost) non-existent attention span – it’s no wonder people can’t shut themselves up.

Have you ever actually tried just doing nothing? It’s like a workout. Apparently non-action is the hardest action of all. But in my experience, practicing regular intervals of inner quiet – every day – is the backbone of stick-to-itiveness. Tomorrow’s strength comes from yesterday’s stillness. At what point did you shut your brain down yesterday?

2. Find a place to put the fear. Are you scared? Perrrrrfect. Fear is a great compass for finding what matters. You just have to be bold enough to put your arm around fear’s shoulder and listen to what it’s trying to tell you. The world isn’t trying to knock you down – it’s trying to educate you.

The question is: Are you willing take notes? That’s when stick-to-itiveness develops. When you’re willing to view your shitstorm as a tempering experience. And when you’re faithful that there are many answers waiting for you to find them.

Here’s one of the mantras that keeps me going: “I look forward to looking back on this.” With that attitude, you approach your fear – which, by the way is completely human and natural and expected – as a teaching mechanism. You stop trying to change what you are only able to understand. What scared you this week?

3. Unholster the humor. In the documentary Why We Laugh, author, comedian and activist Cornell West explained:

“Humor is a diversion from despair. We laugh to keep from crying. And comedy is the tool of the spirit to pass through the wilderness of misery.”

It’s easy to get over things once you figure out what’s funny about them. And if you think you’re not funny, look again. If you’re a human, you’re funny. The challenge is excavating the constant and inherent hilariousness of your daily experiences.

Here are a few questions you might ask throughout your day: What’s funny about this? How can this mistake morph into something positive and humorous? What is the funny message the universe is trying to give me through this?

Ultimately, your answers will build a foundation of funny to help you melt on through the tough times. Humor doesn’t have to trivialize your tribulations. Every step is a spark that defies the darkness. How will you laugh your way through the struggle?

4. Develop strategies for responding to resistance. I’ve been playing guitar for almost twenty years. And I’ll never forget what my teacher taught me on our very first lesson: “If you break a string, don’t freak out. Everybody does it. What matters is how quickly you return to the music.”

That same principle of stick-to-itiveness applies to the song of life. My suggestion is to practice noticing things before letting them nag you. Don’t allow the world to choose for you. The most expedient way to overcome opposition is to respond, not react. The difference is that reacting is a reflex – responding is a choice.

In Grounded Optimism, my friend Kristi Govertson summarized this idea beautifully, “Sticks and stone will break my bones but the words I tell myself and choose to agree with either hinder or hurt me.”

The point is: You always have a choice. Always. Strength comes from facing storms. But not from inside your cozy house with your nose pressed against the glass. Instead, from bolting out the door and dancing in the rain. What fuels your strength to remain steadfast in your aims?

REMEMBER: It takes guts to stick yourself out there – but it takes gusto to keep yourself out there.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your secret for sticking with it?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “13 Ways to Out Develop Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 3

Stick-to-itiveness can be learned.

Aka, “Stick to it.”
Aka, “Stick with it.”
Aka, “Stick in there.”

All you have to do is shift your attitude completely – work hard, smart and long while nobody notices – and design a daily practice of self-determination and commitment.

Hey. I said it could be learned – not that it would be easy.

Up to the challenge?

Cool. Fortunately, I’ve already published part one and part two in this series.

Today we’re going to explore part three with additional strategies for sticking with it – whatever “it” is:1. Call upon the full range of your faculties. At my yoga studio, our instructors remind us to use every part of our body to achieve the total expression of the posture. Even the parts that are relaxed.

Erin says, “Just because something is disengaged doesn’t mean it’s unimportant.” After three years of practicing, I’ve seen this principle play out during every class.

It’s the stillness of one leg that fuels the exertion of the other.
It’s the rock-solid locked knee that frees up the motion of your lumbar spine.
It’s the relaxed, drama-free facial expression that counteracts the inevitable mental exhaustion.

The cool part is, this is a principle non-yogis can apply to their lives. To call upon the full range of your faculties, all you have to do is ask the right questions. Try these:

*What unique aspects of my personality can I enlist to slog through what matters?
*What personal skills have I not tapped into yet to sustain stick-to-itiveness?

You don’t need yoga to stick it out – you just need you. Who, according to Walt Whitman, contains multitudes. Maybe it’s time to start using them. Are you making use of everything you are?

2. Increase the probability. My favorite scene in The Bucket List is when Jack Nicholson makes a crucial decision: He’s going to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world.

Confused, Morgan Freeman asks him how specifically he plans to accomplish that. And in one word, Jack says it all:

“Volume.”

Now, a lot of the time, that’s what stick-to-itiveness means: Playing the odds. Trusting the numbers. And you have to believe that even the weakest step toward the top of the hill still helps you through the strongest storm.

And you have to trust that if you stay determined – not deterred – eventually, you’ll engineer your way through the landscape of your life current craziness.

Remember: Going until you cannot beats stopping when you still can. Are you a pioneer of carrying on, or a purveyor of calling it quits?

3. Practice pressing the off button. Stress is a funny thing. It’s related to ninety-nine percent of all illnesses; yet it’s one of the healthiest tools for jumpstarting a new realm of human ability.

Truth is, stress can’t hurt you if you learn how to displace the impact. That’s how you press the off button: By finding a counterweight. Something that creates an inner sanctuary. Something that provides rest, recovery and renewal to balance out your tension. And something that allows space for quiet within yourself.

Yoga, meditation, singing, dancing, writing, massages, turning your cell phone off for twenty-four hours, watching low-budget horror movies by yourself in the middle of the afternoon, whatever works.

The whole point is to gather the quiet so you’re able to stand up in the storm. Otherwise, if you never take the time to press the off button, you become so action-oriented that you forget to stop and reflect on what’s happening.

And that’s when you painfully discover that persistence without reflection is blind ambition. Have you pressed the off button lately?

4. Maintain a strong focus when surrounded by chaos. Good news: You don’t have to be overwhelmed by circumstances. You just need to ask: Which part of this chaos can I tame? That’s how you avoid the ocean of overwhelm.

By taking charge of your emotional climate and, with a steady gaze in your eyes, tapping into your indispensable stabilizing element. That’s my new favorite phrase: Indispensable stabilizing element. Damn that’s good.

And the best part is, everybody has one. For me, it’s my breath. Not just because I’m a yogi, not just because I meditate – but also because I once had a collapsed lung. And I certainly know how essential it is to have a healthy relationship with your breath to sustain stick-to-itiveness.

Your challenge is to indentify your indispensible stabilizing element. And to create a system that enables you to access it instantly. Then, to practice using it every day. Do so, and you will rise again, more balanced and more steeled each time. What’s your inner bolster?

REMEMBER: It takes guts to stick yourself out there – but it takes gusto to keep yourself out there.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your secret for sticking with it?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “13 Ways to Out Develop Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

www.stuffscottsaid.com.

The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 2

Stick-to-itiveness can be learned.

Aka, “Stick to it.”
Aka, “Stick with it.”
Aka, “Stick in there.”

All you have to do is shift your attitude completely – work hard, smart and long while nobody notices – and design a daily practice of self-determination and commitment.

Hey. I said it could be learned – not that it would be easy.

Up to the challenge?

Cool. Fortunately, I’ve already published nine ways to do so.

Today we’re going to explore the remaining strategies for sticking with it – whatever “it” is:

1. Refuse to be watered down. Starting one thing after another doesn’t make you committed – it makes you a comma. Strangled by indecisiveness, you score (yet another) “incomplete” on the report card of life. My suggestion: Focus like hell. Don’t permit your time to be ruled by other people’s priorities.

And beware of falling in love with everybody’s plans but your own. Instead, pick a lane – then stay in that lane – no matter how closely the truck behind you is riding your ass. Like my friend Robert Bradford reminds me, “Every time you add a comma to the description of what you do, you suck a little bit more.” Is this an opportunity or an obligation?

2. Reject the good to invite the best. Winston Churchill was a putz. He’s well known for saying, “Never, never, never give up!” This is a dangerous suggestion. In reality, sometimes quitting is the smartest move in your playbook. Especially if you’ve been persisting down the wrong path for too long. Which happens all the time.

People get all self-congratulatory for exemplifying stick-to-itiveness – only to discover that their ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Your challenge is to answer two questions before popping your bottle of Dom: (1) Does sticking with this mean inviting the best?” and (2) “If I chose to quit, what will the reason be?” What are you willing to say no to?

3. Risk today’s time for tomorrow’s treasure. Stop looking for the easy win and start running the developmental gauntlet. Science fiction novelist Tobias Buckell made a poignant observation on this issue: “Mastery is found not in the easy initial spurt of learning, but in the journey along the flat plane before the next major leap.”

It’s about being patient with yourself, having confidence in yourself and adding value to yourself. Remember: No incremental progress, no incidental profit. Are you willing to invest time on endeavors that you won’t benefit from until next year?

4. Beware of oncoming excuse barrages. It’s easy to tell people, “No more excuses!” Especially if you’re my high school football coach. He loved that line. To bad our team went 2-13. Unfortunately, that mantra – even thought it looked cool on a t-shirt – wasn’t the most practical suggestion for reinforcing commitment.

The (real) first step is to administer a shot of self-awareness when you make an excuse – which, by the way, is a self-legitimized story you tell yourself about yourself. A helpful question to ask yourself is, “What lie is this excuse guarding?”

I know. It stings. And calling bullshit on yourself requires tons of courage. But when you let action eclipse excuse, commitment becomes a non-issue. Is there anyone else who has the same excuse as you, but is moving ahead successfully nonetheless?

5. Surround yourself with persisters. Their enthusiasm will infect you. Their action will motivate you. And their velocity will inspire you. Here, try this experiment. Think about the five people you spend the most time with. On a scale of 1-10, estimate how well each person personifies stick-to-itiveness.

Then, grab a calculator and take the average of those five scores. Ultimately, you’ll develop a realistic reflection of your own level of commitment; since you’re nothing but the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And if you’re not thrilled with the score, maybe it’s time to rearrange your relationship priorities.

Remember: Life’s too short to surround yourself with people who don’t challenge and inspire you. Who inspires your persistence and determination?

6. It’s easy to persist when you know who you are. And, perhaps more importantly, who you aren’t. Otherwise you wind up selling your soul for a couple thousand bucks and a shiny new iPad. My suggestion is to physically write out your Personal Constitution. Here’s how: The word “constitution” derives from the Latin constitutio, or, “ordinance.” Therefore:

Your constitution is the composition and condition of your character.
Your constitution is the established arrangement of your non-negotiables.
Your constitution is the description of your decision-making mechanisms.
Your constitution is the system of fundamental values governing your behavior.
Your constitution is the aggregate of personal characteristics comprising your foundation.

And the best part is: It’s a living document. It’s amenable. And as you grow and develop personally and professionally, various elements of your Personal Constitution reserve the right to modify. Hell, I’ve updated mine six times in the past year. But in so doing, I’ve also upgraded into the best, highest version of myself. Ever. And it’s been like rocket fuel for my ability to persist. What are you a living document of?

7. Chaperone the dance between belly and brain. One you take seriously; one you take literally. One you humor; one you heed. One is run by your ego; one is run but your ethos. One is full of crap; one is full of truth. And this distinction is helpful to understand, especially when you’re thinking about quitting.

Don’t feel guilty. Quitting is underrated. That’s a thought everyone entertains at some point. The secret is whether or not you’re asking the right organ for advice. My suggestion is simple. First, use your brain to ask the following questions: Is growing still going to happen? Do I still have time to do what’s important? Why did I pursue this project in the first place? Will increasing my energy be enough to make a difference?

Second, use your body to answer those questions. Whether or not to persist will become abundantly clear in no time. Is the angry voice of your ego making it difficult to hear the subtle voice of your intuition?

8. Stop parading your poverty. Bitching to people about how hard it is, how much you despise something or how much farther you have to go isn’t a merit badge. I don’t care what your frat buddies say – it’s not cool to hate your job. Don’t get swept into the seductive undertow of using misery to get attention.

Look. I know persistence is painful process. And I encourage (insist on!) using healthy methods for expressing your frustration. But throwing a pity party won’t make the process any easier. No matter how many guests show up, no matter how cold the beer is.

If you’re going to vent, see if you can’t do it without excessive ornamentation. What pollution does your attitude introduce into the air?

REMEMBER: No matter what Staples says, easy buttons are lies.

It takes guts to stick yourself out there – but it takes gusto to keep yourself out there.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you quitting because it’s easy, or because it’s hard?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “13 Ways to Out Develop Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Who’s quoting YOU?

Check out Scott’s Online Quotation Database for a bite-sized education on branding success!

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Tag: stick-to-itiveness

What Every Young Leader Should Know about Showing the World They’re Serious

The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 4

The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 3

The Official Nametagscott Guide to Stick-to-itiveness, Part 2