What's Your Hustle Indicator?

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” - Abraham Lincoln

Hustle is a differentiator – in school, business, sports, and our many other life priorities.  Each of us has been blessed with talent and abilities, but how we apply that is what determines our success.  Maximizing our talent requires hustle, the extra effort to go beyond "good enough" to "whatever it takes."

Where you fall between "good enough" and "whatever it takes" is  your “hustle indicator”.  Do you consistently pour your heart into what you do or convince yourself to save it for next time?  Examples include putting that phone call off another day, skipping the networking event, or resigning yourself that the new business opportunity requires too much effort.

Overcoming limited talent with determination makes great movies – Rocky, Hoosiers, andRudy are classic examples.  However, the reality is this behavior is often the exception to the rule.  The truth is we observe talented individuals who fail to measure up every day - athletes who coast and do not reach their potential, business professionals who rely on political skills and their careers stall, and gifted children who confound their parents with average grades.  They have the goods but underperform.  They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste – so is your heart.

As a youth hockey coach, we had a young boy who was not blessed with great talent and yet desperately wanted to make our travel team.  During our tryout evaluations he scored well on the standard categories (skating, passing, shooting, etc…), good enough, but not one of the best. But he made the team over more skilled players because he had the heart of a lion – giving all he had even when the game was most certainly over.  Ask any coach about hustle and they will tell a similar story.

Let’s apply this story to the workplace - what does “whatever it takes” look like in your work world?  Does it get rewarded?

Three keys to promoting your hustle indicator:

Stamina
To truly go the extra step you need to have endurance.  Take care of the greatest financial asset in your portfolio – you.  If you find yourself reluctant to take on major challenges you may simply lack the energy necessary, and this is within your control.  Be diligent about your personal fitness and mental agility to have the reservoir necessary for diligence.  Project energy to build confidence in others that you have the goods to get the job done.

Self Recognition
My experience is the world admires those who hustle but the rewards often go to the high profile, talented few.  Sports and business are all about data/metrics (outcomes) and personal brand (perception).   You may need to reframe your expectations to reward yourself for giving all you have, and not depending on external recognition.

Tough Tasks
"When the going gets tough…" - we all know the end of that sentence.  The reality is only a few volunteer for the most challenging assignments in life, most people rely on someone else taking charge.  The common refrain is “after you”.  Be a fixer and a closer when others are asking for your leadership in tough times.  Ask yourself “am I getting asked or volunteering for what others walk away from?”  If not, why?

Abe Lincoln had it right – don’t wait for your opportunity to come.  Build your stamina, recognize yourself, and take on the tough tasks.  Raise your hustle indicator and prepare for new opportunities.

The Leadership Mirror - Am I the Problem?

“Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

 - Queen, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Do you ever have the feeling you are lying to yourself?  For example, perceiving that you excel at something when the reality is you don’t measure up?  This deception can produce a “positivity bias” that limits our professional success and threatens our ability to effectively lead others.

Our brain is wired to self-preservation and we can easily behave in a way that puts us in the most positive light.  A recent study found when people were asked to choose the most accurate photo of themselves, from a selection of images that were either accurate or altered to make them look more attractive, the majority selected the photo that wasbetter than reality.  The magic mirror alive and well!

In the excellent book Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute, self-deception is described as “the problem of not knowing my role in the problem.”  In other words, self-deception is all about blocking our inner truths.  Once this deception is revealed, a common response is to deflect reality by blaming others or adopting a victim mentality – a situation referred to as being “in the box”.

What is your self-deception – need for control, effective communicator, subject matter expert, sensitive leader, etc…?  
  
My story of self-deception and being “in the box” was about being open to bad news.  I asked my employees to share good and bad news, and they quickly realized my interest in bad news was just talk.  My moment of truth occurred when my managers completed a 360 feedback assessment and my self-deception was revealed.  I learned my managers were working around me to resolve problems, and my boss wanted answers to problems I was unaware of.  My initial thought was to blame my managers, but the reality was I needed to get “out of the box.” I altered my behavior to appreciate and reward my managers sharing bad news.

Three keys to managing self-deception:

Self-Awareness 
Get a clear understanding of your blind spots.  We can deceive ourselves as we achieve positions of power, and my experience is that feedback from others decreases as you rise in the organization.  Validate your strengths, manage your weaknesses, and pay extra attention to building positive relationships.  Managing self-deception is all about understanding how you behave.

Humanity 
As leaders we pledge to treat people with care.  How do we really know?  The answer is to see others as people not objects.  Ask people “what is going on in your world?” to keep the focus on them not you.  Another effective way to connect is learning and using first names.  Think about your last experience at the coffee shop or restaurant – what was the server’s name?  Strangers represent new opportunities.

Vulnerability 
The responses “I don’t know” or “I dropped the ball” are not examples of weakness – they leave us open and project confidence.  People can perceive arrogance and lack of integrity a mile away.  Admit your mistakes and know your limitations.  An effective response is “I made a mistake and here is what I learned”.

Understand your blind spots, treat people with care, and leave yourself open to learn.  A mirror is a reflection of how you see yourself – let it be the leader you need to be, not the leader you pretend to be.