How To Act Like You Are Quitting When You Are Not

An executive recently shared with me that in the weeks before she finally handed in her resignation, she stopped pulling all-nighters to prepare for board presentations, shut down her voice of self-doubt, and started saying what she really thought about the company strategy. She was overwhelmed with the positive reaction and said she wished she had changed her behavior years ago. She figured she would have tripled her earning potential with the faster promotions and larger bonuses that she would have received.

If you could quiet the voice in your head that tells you no and filters your actions, harnessing that power for yourself and your team without actually quitting your job, imagine the results you would see. 

Think back to a time when you were about to quit your job but hadn’t yet told your boss, your board, or your company. I call this the pre-quit-power-zone, because knowing you will soon be out of the door usually provides people with an explosion of self-confidence and power. Suddenly you find yourself giving feedback that you’ve previously withheld to your peers, telling the truth about misguided strategy, and offering your team parting words of wisdom about what they should do with their careers and lives. 

But why wait? What if you could harness that power for yourself and your team without actually quitting your job?

Here are three simple ideas that I use with the executives I advise to create genuine truth-telling without the need to walk out the door afterwards:

* 1. What Do You Really Want to Say?

Self-doubt is the greatest cause of self-editing. We commonly worry about how someone will react, whether our opinions are valid, or whether there will be consequences for being “contrarian.” All are a complete waste of mental energy. Start being more candid and transparent. When you are already halfway out of the door, it is easy to stop worrying; the trick is to stop doubting and say what you really think right now—before you are ready to walk out the door.

* 2. Share Your Thoughts and Your Intent

Crossed wires and misinterpretation happen when others have to guess your thoughts and intentions. When you are listening to someone else and a thought comes to you, do you share it, filter it, or mask it in another question? Don’t be so confusing. Share your thoughts and your intentions clearly to achieve crystal clear communication. 

* 3. Encourage Speed in Your Team

When the countdown to leaving is ticking, you accelerate your plans and decisions and take bets on people in new roles. What if the next 30 days were to be your last at the company? What would you eliminate, accelerate, and decide? Which of these could you implement today without needing to write that resignation letter?

There is power in winging it—in not over-thinking and being absolutely ruthless in a thoughtful way about where you spend your time, energy, and resources. Write your imaginary resignation letter and live the next 30 days like they are the last in your company. 

Want to learn more about the power of language? Join me for Say What?- 17 Ways to Immediately Inspire Your Team.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Who Do You Call When You Need Honesty?

Imagine you have an incredible opportunity to sell your company or take a promotion. Who would you call for advice?

I hope two or three names immediately popped into your head. Now ask yourself, would those people immediately take or return your call? Would they be willing to provide you candid feedback, acting with your best interests at heart? Have you stayed in touch with them recently so they know the entire context about your business and your life?

The number of those questions you answered with a wholehearted "yes" reveals how strong your inner circle is. It is not unusual for a CEO or executive to be so absorbed in his company, his team, building products, and servicing customers that he lets his inner circle fall down the list of priorities. If yours needs attention, schedule time into your calendar today to reinvigorate your relationships so when that opportunity presents itself and you need advice, your call will be quickly returned.

Andrea Leigh, GM of Canada for Amazon, says, “I always seek out truth-tellers for my inner circle. At Amazon I selected two leaders who were in the painful-but-so-helpful category of leaders. The feedback was brutal at times, but one member of my inner circle was so sharp and insightful I knew I would get the truth and helpful guidance.”

Successful marathon runners use a pacemaker to guide them to match their pace to their target so they can beat their personal best time. Thoughtfully ruthless leaders know they need pacemakers in their connections so they don’t slow down at the most opportune times.

Who are your pacemakers? How strong are those connections? What will you do today to ensure you’ll have the candid and insightful support you need when you need it most?

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

The Number One Way You Can Love Networking

It’s hard to believe, but it really is possible, you can love networking once you stop the NET of networking. 

You need to PrecisionWork not Network – Networking is hated by many because the NET in Networking assumes a large number - when you need to do the opposite, take a precision approach to who you want to meet and find out who can connect you. Three quality conversations are better than 20 superficial ones with a stack of business cards.

I just returned from Harvest Summit and a couple of my current clients attended too. I asked them ahead of time who did they want to meet and I facilitated the introductions. Exciting new opportunities are now in development. If you don’t have the equivalent of a handler at your next event, ask the event organizer, or someone else you know in attendance to introduce you to the right people.

Schedule review time seven days before attending any event. Then take a look at who is speaking, ask the organizer for the attendee list (they might not be able to give you names, but title and company is often good enough) then you can set your PrecisionWork targets for the event. If you can’t get a personal introduction, try saying hello via LinkedIn or Twitter, then at least when you say hello in real life they may have seen your background and know a little about you.

I am running a private teleconference on PrecisionWorking - the New Networking Everyone Loves - reply YES to this email if you want the recording.

Wishing your next event is fruitful not cringeworthy.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this week's VAL-uable Insights, sign up here to get them in your inbox each Monday morning: http://valwrightconsulting.com/newsletter-sign-up/