David

  • What role does Luck play?

    I had a wonderful professor in University, Denis Shackle, who facilitated a classroom survey on our belief in luck, destiny, and fate. You had to respond to questions like “I am able to influence the outcomes in my life” and “Fate plays a large role in whether I will be successful or not”. The higher your score, the more likely you were to attribute events and outcomes to fate, chance, luck, etc. Dr. Shackle used the survey to convey a message and a warning: Your mindset plays a major role in your ability to influence the outcomes in your life. And a low score is great, but a score of 1 might indicate an unconstrained ego.

    The average class score was ~20 and I scored ~5. I have always been a strong believer in an individual’s ability to significantly influence their life, almost to an extreme degree. I generally subscribe to his philosophy and line of thinking; if you have the mindset that your life will be dictated by luck and out-of-your-control chance, you’re less likely to take ownership for your actions. Conversely, if you believe in your ability to act and influence your life, you’re more likely to feel empowered to do so.

    Luck is defined as: success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. Yet, you hear people attribute outcomes to luck all the time. “I was lucky enough to get into the PhD program!”. Never mind the years of schooling, intense study efforts, and preparation required. “I’m so lucky I have a good boss. She finally gave me the promotion I’ve been hoping for!”. Forget the many projects you delivered with exceptionally high-quality, the times you went above and beyond for your clients, and the tremendous impact you had on the company.

    So does that mean the outcomes in people’s lives can entirely be explained by their actions alone? Not quite. There are tragic examples of bad luck, such as being diagnosed with a certain illness or cancer. And importantly, there is one hugely influential aspect of your life that I believe fits squarely in the definition of luck: your genetic makeup and the family you’re born into. You don’t get to pick your parents and your upbringing is entirely out of your control. And, you still have the power to influence your life regardless of how lucky (or not) you are on the family front.

  • Showing up for your team

    At some point in your professional career, your team will go through a challenging period. It’s natural for there to be ups and downs at work, as there are in life. Through some of my own mistakes and trial and error I’ve come to believe there are certain principles that resonate with teams when addressing challenges, regardless of the cause.

    1. Address the issue head on. Never shy away from a problem. If you see it, your team sees it. If you proactively address it, it will be better received than if your team has to raise it with you. Never put on an overly positive air or insinuate the situation is better than it is. Pretending it’s all good, if you don’t feel that way, is sure to be poorly received. People pick up on inauthenticity and it reduces trust in you and raises questions about your judgement.
    2. Be as transparent as possible. The more information you can share about the situation the better. Calibrate what you share based on the maturity of the team, and in some cases, limit information to respect people’s privacy. For example, if I’m speaking about financial performance with a more junior team, I will likely use higher level references and go into less detail than I might with a senior executive team. But generally, the more you can share the better. It contributes to the team’s professional development and breeds trust.
    3. Share how you’re feeling and discuss the plan. It’s ok to be vulnerable, even if you’re feeling stressed or anxious. Vulnerability based trust is powerful. And if you’re feeling that way, the team has probably already picked up on it. But make sure to pair those feelings with a clear sense of direction and ideally an action plan. Hearing your leader say “I’m really, really stressed about the timeline for our new plant opening and I’m worried we might be delayed” is scary if that’s the end of the message. Hearing, “I’m really, really stressed about the timeline for our new plant opening and I’m worried we might be delayed. I’ve put in an order with two alternative suppliers for the key part we need and have reached out to our facilities in Mexico as an alternative backup. I should have more information next week on where we are” is better.

    Every leader will be put in the position of managing through a challenging time with their team. How you do so and communicate will leave a lasting impression. More so than how you navigate the good times.

  • Come Home Early

    For many years and trips, Julia and I maximized every minute of vacation. If we traveled by plane, we’d seek the last returning flight Sunday evening. We’d return from a trip, exhausted. Maybe unpack, maybe not. Go to bed and get right back to work the next morning. It always made for a rough re-introduction to the rhythm of work life. But we always got the most out of the trip – one more morning in the sun, one last good meal, or one more opportunity to explore our destination.

    Then a few years ago, I started to convince Julia to take an earlier Sunday return flight. Come home in the afternoon. Or at least the early evening. We’d have a bit of time to at least unpack, have dinner at home, and plan for the week ahead. Still a rushed turnaround but a softer transition.

    More recently, we started to take it one step further: return from vacation on the Saturday. Sacrifice one day of vacation travel for the benefit of an entire day at home to re-orient before returning to work. You get a full day at home and two good sleeps in your own bed. You have a whole day to fully unpack, do laundry, grocery shop, and complete whatever chores you have. You can review email, Teams/Slack, or whatever other work you need to, at a calm and leisurely pace. It makes the Monday morning return an easy one. We did this recently on return from vacation in Hawaii and while I feel less ‘fun’ admitting it, I love doing this. Coming home early is worth the sacrifice. I woke up Monday morning fired up and ready to be back.