The Harder You Work the Luckier You Get
Happy New Year Impactmakers!
I write this (or at least this part of this) from DTW (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport) at around 5:45 am. This was not what I had in mind for my long holiday weekend to begin the year. But here we are, instead of in the comfort of our home as expected.
I thought these three days (1/1/21-1/3/21) would be a great way to lay out a plan for the year…really organize everything, ya know?
I spent the end of 2020 in my wife’s hometown in mid-Michigan having a nice low key close to the year. We were supposed to travel all the way home to Florida on New Year’s Day (yesterday). However, we only made it to Detroit.
My plan to watch football and plan the perfect year of impact has been disrupted. I have two choices:
Assume that 2021 is on the same path as 2020 and move back into “survival mode”.
OR
Acknowledge that the amount and type of work I put in this year will dictate the results.
I am positive that I will take the latter. I am ultimately writing another blog entry and have the same amount of time to brainstorm about 2021. I just need to be flexible.
Productivity and Purpose
How many books are there on management and organization? I would imagine there are thousands. The concept of productivity has been a topic of ours before. See what Dr. Travis Parry (Episode 16 of Speaking of Impact) and Andrew Tarvin (Episode 20 of Speaking of Impact) have to say about the subject. Work life balance is an unattainable myth.
It’s more reasonable to seek harmony between your “work” and your “life”.
Some people may find deep purpose in their career. Listen to Quinn Tempest in Episode 22 of Speaking of Impact. She encourages people to define their purpose, which is of paramount importance when planning. It was a part of what I had in mind for my long weekend of preparing for the year.
But, what if something unexpected happens (like my current scenario) or you are deep into a career with no purpose?
I stress planning ahead so as to be prepared and flexible. It is not an attempt to control everything and force your purpose. That is impossible. In fact, I am aware of numerous stories of people working terribly hard to attain something that they don’t actually desire. They try so hard to control a specific result (that someone else expressed as important) that they lose sight of other opportunities.
We learned from Debbie Peterson in Episode 23 of Speaking of Impact that, “Sometimes we don’t realize that things need to change until we’re forced to change.” The belief that you can be in control often blinds you to the changes that need to be made and distracts you from a meaningful purpose. Flexibility is a key component to preparedness, not authority. Ironically, it can lead you to defined meaning.
Hard Work versus Control
How do we identify the difference between hard work and control?
The key ingredient to the formula humility:
freedom from pride or arrogance; the quality or state of being humble
You can’t do everything. Nor should you.
Read Vicki Zakrzewski’s “How Humility Will Make You the Greatest Person Ever”. All three of her tips for cultivating humility resonate. Number two however, sticks out particularly for me.
Here I am encouraging you to be humble and think less of your self to be more productive and she suggests that you practice mindfulness and self-compassion. It may seem counterintuitive, but those who are humble are actually spending time on self-care and have a very healthy belief in themselves. According to Vicki, it’s an “accurate picture of themselves”.
The humble that walk among us know what they can control and what they can’t. They are comfortable with it.
“Great Bob, I’ll be humble, so now what?”
I’m glad you asked!
First of all, humility doesn’t appear over night. It must be practiced. All of Vicki’s tips indicate things that must be practiced. In many cases that practice is hard work!
Control is the attempt to dictate what happens in a given scenario. It’s often for selfish gain.
Hard work is what needs to be done to reach a goal. It may start as a solo practice but it often morphs in to an effort to reach a common goal amongst multiple parties.
To answer your question, consistently practice your humility, and find the people that fill the gaps that you have acknowledged.
The Gridiron
And so I call on Vince Lombardi again. I have written about his ideas before in the September 29, 2020 edition of E-Impact.
Vince statue in front of Lambeau Field where the Green Bay Packers play
Vince said:
“The harder you work the luckier you get.”
This a borderline Yogi Berra type quote. Which brings to mind the idea that I should comment on some of Yogi’s great quotes. Any suggestions?
Back to Vince. I have made it no secret that American football, the gridiron, is my favorite sport. Vince is one of the greatest coaches of all time. I am sure Packer fans would insist. I’m willing to hear the Bill Belichick arguments from all you Patriot homers.
I wonder what Vince and Bill would say about hard work and control. I am not sure, but given the fact that National Football League (NFL) teams have 53 man player rosters (there have been some COVID related adjustments this year) and staffs of 30-40 people, I believe they have mastered hard-teamwork and released some control.
Vince is no longer with us, but I often find myself thinking of what he said because he was a tremendous leader. He had an uncanny ability to motivate a large group of highly talented, yet diverse people.
This past summer, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting the Green Bay Packer’s Hall of Fame & Museum. I am not a fan of the team, but I am of the NFL and it’s history. That experience gave me some great examples of Vince’s skills.
Lambeau Field where the Green Bay Packer’s Hall of Fame & Museum is located
The Packers teams that Vince led were among the best to ever be assembled. One could argue that Vince had an easy job. Just send a lineup of all-stars out to play and watch them dominate. However, the level of competition, even back then, in the NFL was the highest there is.
Vince knew there were certain things out of his control as the head coach of a football team. However, he was sure that hard-teamwork was essential to the Packers’ success.
With a team and staff of nearly 100 people, there is no way to dictate every movement and every play. It requires exceptional preparedness and flexibility to win a football game. I love the sport because there is the greatest diversity among participants. Compare the skills of a kicker and an offensive tackle. They have nothing in common athletically, but at any moment in a game, they could be called on to execute. The head coach has to stress that a team work hard together to be successful.
Ray Lewis once said, “You pay me to practice during the week. I play for free on Sundays.”
There’s no doubt that NFL players are blessed. They get to play a kid’s game and many of them are paid handsomely. However, the most successful ones are the most well prepared. Ray and his teams worked extremely hard during the week to be ready for three hours (sixty minutes of game time) on the weekend.
Peyton Manning was notorious for incredible mastery of his team’s playbook AND the tendencies of the other team’s defense. This requires hours upon hours of film study.
As the head coach of a team, Vince’s job was to make sure his whole team and staff practiced habits like Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning. He acknowledged and successfully filled his gaps.
Teaming
It’s clear that I have a bias towards football, but these lessons can be drawn from team sports in general and outside of the world of athletics. Teams of all kinds work together to be successful.
If you are in business and you want to scale, what do you need?
You need a hard working team!
I have quite of bit of energy today (despite currently being 30,000 feet in the air and confined to a small seat). I assure you the exclamations are genuine. Maybe it’s potential for some new beginnings, but there is something about this time of year. Interestingly, it’s also a critical time in the NFL season and the college football playoff started last night. My football bias is showing again.
Teaming is a powerful concept. A cohesive team can do incredible things in sports, in business, and in impact.
It’s amazing how the harder a team works, the “luckier” it gets. Ultimately, the luck is really better or more opportunities. There may be no way to guarantee success (especially in a competitive environment), but preparing well provides more chances and allows a team (or individual) to capitalize on those chances.
The Ingredients for Luck (Opportunity)
Humble Yourself
Acknowledge the Gaps
Fill Them With the Correct Teammates (not subordinates)
Work Hard Together
The Airport Adventure
You are probably wondering how exactly my wife and I ended up in the situation mentioned above. In order to get home from her hometown, we have to take a short flight from Midland Bay City Saginaw International Airport (MBS-Yes, it’s international. They fly to Windsor, Ontario, Canada.) to DTW. By the time you get to cruising altitude you are preparing for landing. We arrived safely and four hours before our connecting flight to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL).
We went to our assigned gate (A68) immediately upon arriving at DTW. There was a plane and plenty of people to indicate there was a large flight leaving from that gate. My wife took a walk and I worked on the first Impact Insights of the year which included this relevant excerpt:
“Armed with some new ideas, let us strive for greater impact in 2021. If you are deep into an initiative, great. Stay at it and build your team. I am not a fan of New Year's resolutions without action. So, if you need a resolution to kick off your impact project, make sure you "do" and not just "say". Take this long New Year's weekend to flesh out your ideas and plan. Then, get to action. Don't believe it's a coincidence that we have three days this year to "prepare" for the next trip around the sun. Use the time wisely.”
Upon noticing that we should have began boarding by that time, Trisha checked her Delta app and found that the gate had changed.
We sprinted through the airport (the tram is not working during pandemic) with two carry-on suitcases and personal bags to Gate A30.
At A30 we were greeted by an honest but not so apologetic agent and not a plane. We actually made it before the scheduled departure time. The lady at the counter told us that the plane left early and no gate change announcements were made. She had no intention of helping us. How is this acceptable?
During our four hour layover we heard numerous gate announcements (it seemed there wasn’t any shortage of flights despite COVID-19) and passenger alerts. One message was even about a lady who left her laptop somewhere. The airlines DO care for their customers.
I always hesitate to point fingers, but I’m convinced that this one wasn’t our fault.
We spent the next hour moving back and forth between the help line telephones and different gates to reschedule our flight (the one we are currently on) and acquire a hotel voucher for the night. Thankfully, we made it to a hotel and were able to get some rest (and watch the college football playoff). Sadly though, our checked bag was on it’s way to FLL already.
We learned a couple lessons from this experience.
Periodically check your gate on a long layover.
Pack some essentials in your carry-on in case you get stranded
This isn’t the same type of preparedness to win a football game, or to scale a great impact project, but it’s a lesson in putting yourself in a better situation in case of something unexpected. In this case, it would have been pretty easy work to do so, but it highlights preparedness nonetheless.
Luck is not a substitute, but a product of hard work.
When Opportunity Knocks (there’s that September 29th E-Impact blog entry again) be ready to kick the door down by working hard.