Checking the Box...
Everyday I see people wanting to “check the box”...
- Have that meeting
- Send that email
- Have that conversation
- Finish that presentation
- Participate in that seminar
Everyday I see people satisfied because they “checked the box”...
In a world where “being busy” defines success, and technology fills every empty moment of our lives, there is a satisfaction with just...
“Checking the box”
And, every time I see I it, I feel it, I cringe...
While checking the box allows you to “move along to the other task”, checking the box so very often, if not always, fundamentally fails to deliver on why the box is there in the first place.
The difference between “checking the box” and being present, being thoughtful, optimizing the moment is EVERYTHING!
Think of making a dinner and freezing it ahead of time when friends come over versus cooking it right in front of them, drinking wine, laughing, and tasting your newly crafted creation together... it’s wholly different.
Think of someone reading slides with lots of corporate speak versus someone speaking from the heart, sharing personal experiences about why they care about the topic... it’s wholly different.
I see the difference in the reactions that the two generate, in the culture that the two create...
Checking the box proliferates a “job”...
Showing up, being present, optimizing the moment proliferates a “calling” or a “purpose”...
It makes ALL the difference.
We are all so very busy that just “checking the box” feels like all we can possibly muster... The difference in the time it takes is typically moments... The difference in impact, in affect, in engagement is potentially transformational.
Yesterday we were working on our internal employment performance feedback process at EMG. We call it our “ONE Thing”. I was working with a few people who take the concept extremely seriously. They are passionate about what the process can and should do for our organization. They are amazing people. We were in the process of rolling it out... and we were in a rush. The whole process was about “checking the box” and getting the process started... it felt wrong. Or, not wrong, it felt “normal”, “uninspired”... like the potential to MISS an opportunity... So, we didn’t.
We were going to roll out the presentations to the coaches and then we were to proceed to the employees...
Those “roll outs”, those “meetings” which are often thought of as the painful “to dos” that we must “get done” in order to get the process started, are actually the potential magical moments that will take this from a unwanted corporate process to an engaged personal opportunity for transformation...
The difference in a 30 minute meeting that is a painful experience, and one that is engaging and energizing can be almost singularly defined by...
Is the person leading the meeting “going through the motions” or “checking the box...” OR was the person “engaged and energized” themselves...?
The thing that I have learned... which I want you to consider seriously, is that the person
“Checking the box”
Often cares ALOT and is passionate about what they do...
They are just intimidated by showing how much they care, by being seen, by speaking from the heart, by being authentic...
In the interest of “caring” they bring forward their most serious “corporate speak” instead of speaking from the heart...
They try to make the meeting “perfect” by making it sound like some foreign idea in our own heads of what companies are supposed to sound like, instead of sounding like people who care...
They say stuff like “the employee” instead of saying “YOU!”
As leaders we must be aware of the opportunity that presents itself to us everyday to make a difference... to make it matter... to make it count...
Our jobs in creating leaders is about SETTING people free from the “rules” that they think they are supposed to follow...
Great success is not achieved by “checking boxes”...
That is how forms are supposed to be filled out.
Great success is achieved by unleashing yourself, your passion on the world... by allowing the simple things that we work on be meaningful and important... by tying all that we do in some rational way to that which we want most... to our highest strategy... to our personal ambitions... to each other!
It’s not achieved by making sure your to do list was finished, but rather to make sure your to do list was accomplished...
Writing a letter is not about writing a letter, it’s about conveying feelings and ideas.
Making a presentation is not about making a presentation, it’s about engaging and inspiring people to think deeper and bigger...
Sending an email is not about sending an email, it’s about showing people who you are, why you care, why they should...
Many people don’t see the difference beforehand, but the vast majority of people, and I would argue all, FEEL the difference afterwards...
Don’t just write... EXPRESS...
Don’t just present... INSPIRE...
Don’t just talk... CONNECT...
Don’t just do... CREATE...
It makes ALL of the difference, not just in how others experience your leadership and your person, but it makes all the difference in how YOU experience LIFE!
That is why I encourage everyone to TURN ON THE CAMERA... SHOW YOUR FACE... let people see that you care... that you are present... talking to THEM... Don’t just let them hear your words, when you can let them experience you! Almost everyone wants to HIDE from the camera, and yet they are the voice on the other side of the speaker... If you want to LEAD effectively, BE SEEN! Not to promote yourself... but to connect with people.
Take just one more moment. Don’t just check the box... think about WHY the box is there.
Take just one more moment. Don’t just check the box... PAINT outside the lines...
Take just one more moment. Don’t give them what you think... give them what you feel... show them why you care... and they will understand why they should!
It’s not a “corporate performance review”...
It’s an opportunity to transform yourself...
You are not trying to convince everyone... just one more person than would have otherwise engaged... one more person than last year...
In leading, in parenting, in business, in life, in coaching, in sharing...
Raise your bar...
Life is not a form to be filled...
It is magic to be created...
See the difference. Feel the difference.
LIFE IS SHORT... AND EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE IS WORTHY OF YOU!
Be mindful, be thoughtful, be present in what you do...
Your dreams...
Your happiness...
Your entire life experience...
And, that of those you lead...
and, those you care about...
DEPEND on it.
Don’t “check the box”...
JUMP ON TOP OF IT!
Wrap it... Embrace it... Redefine it... Expand it...
CRUSH IT...
And, UNLEASH YOU!
Make it count...
And watch the world around you grow, change, transform...
YOU...
MAGIC...
In harmony,
Nestor