Connecting It All to Our Purpose

I remember laughing out loud at my new boss during the first 60 day review I had experienced as a new employee since I was a teenager. In early October of 2014, I started a position with a new company for the first time since March of 1996. During that initial performance evaluation just two months later, Rob commented on how detail-oriented I was and how that was impacting the work I was doing to process payroll, manage the company’s human resource system, and help him with safety training. As I laughed, he said “I realize you haven’t changed jobs in a long time but I’m not sure you’re supposed to laugh when I give you a compliment.” We had a great relationship from the start, and still do today, so he wasn’t offended like a lot of bosses would have been when they’re too caught up in their title. I explained to him that I was anything but detail-oriented! However, I had worked really hard to create systems that would help me handle the details I was responsible for without completely falling on my face… Those same systems have also been what’s allowed me to grind through those details I don’t care much for, like writing and being meticulous about how I use my calendar, while keeping my clear purpose top of mind!

At the risk of being accused of beating the proverbial dead horse, I’ll stress once more that no leader will ever have the luxury of only doing the things we truly love to do. In fact, a large majority of the tasks we’re responsible for completing on any given day will be things we don’t really enjoy - and some of them will just plain suck! Having systems in place to help us manage those less than desirable tasks will help us avoid dropping any of the balls we’re juggling, but that won’t always be enough to help us tolerate them - let alone like them!

Even with having what I believe are some solid systems in place for close to two decades, I still have to work at how I manage the way I think about the more excruciatingly detailed tasks on any given day… As we looked at How We’re Wired Impacts How We Pursue Our Purpose, I shared how Fast-paced and Task-Oriented I was. While I take pleasure in checking those tasks off my list, I can assure you that each task on that list DOES NOT have a ton of detail included. One of the things that fuels me the most is getting massive results. I’ve always lived by the idea of “if one is good, then ten has to be better.” (When I applied that to how I approached weekend softball tournaments, things could often get sketchy…) To keep from going completely nuts as I work through the systems I’ve put in place so I can effectively work through even the most painfully detailed tasks, I’ve learned that I absolutely have to keep focused on the overall results I’ll be able to achieve.

I won’t pretend that I ever really love the detail work that I can (usually) tolerate by sticking with the systems I have in place, but I definitely love the results I’m able to achieve through the process! And for me, seeing those results feeds my fire to work even harder. Don’t misunderstand me here, though. Any time I mention the systems I use, I try to be very intentional to emphasize that I’m not suggesting they’ll work the same way for everyone. I highly doubt that you’re wired just like me, so your systems will need to support your needs. The point really ties back to how we think about the tasks we’ve created those systems to help us manage, and connecting even the most annoying tasks we’ve got to push through back to our own clear purpose. When you get that part down, you’ll experience the energy I do from getting results - and that’s where we’ll pick up next time!