Define Your Career By Impact, Not Title

3 Ways To Make The Greatest Impact In Your Career (While Ignoring Your Position)

Define Your Career By Impact, Not Title

Today Is the One Year Anniversary that My Son Should Have Died: Ask These 3 Questions Today for Greater Work / Life Impact

“Leadership is a choice, not a position.” — Stephen R. Covey

Today (July 31) is the anniversary of my son being hit by a car a year ago. He should have died. He was crossing the street and a distracted driver hit him without slowing down as he was at the edge of crossing the road.

Today, we are traveling Europe for two months as a family. We are going to 10 countries. So far we’ve been to nine countries. We are in Venice, Italy right now. It’s amazing to see my son so happy and vibrant.

Life is truly a miracle. We know this anniversary could be very different. We are so grateful for prayers, science and great doctors who kept him alive.

I’m really grateful my son Lincoln is here and we are not thinking about his death day (we have another son that died from Whooping Cough).

Through these and several other transformational life experiences that were heaped upon my wife and I, we’ve learned a few things.

In this article I’d like to share what I’ve learned in the macro about life and business. In the micro, I ask three questions I hope you will not take lightly. I hope you will get out paper and pen or you laptop or cellphone and jot down ways you can improve as a humanist and in your own personal development.

There are three things you must know to understand these three questions that will help you create greater work and life impact immediately.

THREE THINGS & QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF TODAY

1. WHO YOU HELP > WHERE YOU SIT

“You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” — Zig Ziglar

It’s more important to define your career by the impact you want to have than the title you want to hold.

Define your career by IMPACT, not TITLE.

Influence does not require position.

There is no leadership without followship. Followship can not be demanded, it must be earned. Moral authority is not given to people with formal authority. Formal authorities believe they are leaders because of a position…they may be, but only effective leaders have moral authority.

Moral authority is earned, not given.

This is why formal authorities are threatened by moral authorities without position. Take one second to think about the great leaders we revere from every country…were they a formal or moral authority? Be a great leader as a moral person, regardless of position, and followship will follow.

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION AND ACT ON IT:

Whose life would be worse off if you didn’t do your job?

…THAT’s finding meaning AND creating impact.

2. WHO YOU ARE > WHO’S WHO

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gaining an edge by stepping on others, engineering results by hiding behind the curtain of committees and politicking your way to the top is never a win.

Every time I go into a company and witness lives shattered by toxic management, hidden agendas and politics, I’m grateful to be an entrepreneur.

Remember who is holding your ladder when you step on others to climb your way to the top; the bottom will be kicked out from under you if you’re a corporate snob and politicker.

Accountants put people on a P&L statement as an expense because of GAAP; bad managers do the same thing — creating a gap. People are your greatest asset. While accountants may expense people in their cubicle, a leader puts them on her “balance sheet” as an investment.

Finding, nurturing and employing great talent is an art in relationship building, not a number to manipulate.

Partnerships fall apart, employees become disenfranchised and bosses look for shiny new people/programs to save money because of the scarcity mentality. They feel like if they can cut someone out, they’ll get a larger piece of the pie.

Life and business aren’t a pie. Life and business are a cake...The right people doing the right things at the right time in the right place create bigger, better “batter” for all to enjoy the cake. When as an abundance mentality is employed, the cake is baked right. When a scarcity mentality is employed, the cake is half-baked.

Note: An investment in people doesn’t have to be financial. Take a moment to actually talk to your people Show them you care. Ask them about their vision and see how it fits with your vision. Work together, not in silos. An investment in kindness costs nothing, but the return on investment is endless.

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION AND ACT ON IT:

Would your life, job (or a new job / business) and relationships improve if you focused on character and competence over looks and likes?

…THAT’s finding meaning AND creating impact.

3. INSIDE YOUR HEAD > OUTSIDE YOUR HEAD

“All the effective leaders I have encountered — both those I worked with and those I merely watched — knew four simple things: a leader is someone who has followers; popularity is not leadership, results are; leaders are highly visible, they set examples; leadership is not rank, privilege, titles or money, it is responsibility.” — Peter Drucker

Pay careful attention to those ideas that keep coming back to your mind.

My wife and I could have curled up into a ball and lived the rest of our lives as victims because her brother and then our baby passed away and then our son who was hit by a car should have died. But that would not have honored the life they lived, it would have made us miserable and suffocated our potential.

Those ideas could change your life and the lives of others for good.

Have you ever been the victim of discovering a problem, creating the solution and then having your head cut off because your peers are scared of their own image?

Your haters will resort to desk-politics, desk-jockeying and desk-envy as a result of your good behavior at work. It makes them look bad. I actually had a file leader ask me to tell people how good he was because people were getting confused on this person’s relevancy in the organization. This isn’t something you do as a leader.

Act your way into relevancy.

Don’t ask your way into relevancy.

Here are some tips to create relevancy (and ignore the haters or become better because of them):

1. Don’t worry about the how of making those compelling ideas reality when they first come.
2. Allow yourself to entertain the idea for a while and see it through in your mind.
3. The how will come in time as you take steps to start making the idea become your new reality.
4. Too many brilliant ideas never get out of our heads and into reality because we tell ourselves we don’t know how.
5. Don’t be so proud that you think you don’t need to go the extra mile to win.
6. They’ll say you’re stupid for doing more than necessary.
7. They’ll say the extra efforts not worth it, but stupid people know better.
8. Stupid-as-the-New-Smart leaders know that doing the crazy thing — even if that means going the extra mile — is a winning formula.

You didn’t know how to walk before you walked, did you? Nor did you know how to swim before you swam. Why would changing the world be any different?

ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION AND ACT ON IT:

If you focused on your top priority instead of many lesser activities (falsely believing this effort will get you to the top), would the lesser activities also fall into place?

…THAT’s finding meaning AND creating impact.

Want to Raise Your Impact in Life and Business?

Transform your mind, life and business with this free 76 day challenge (the number of days my baby lived) to level up. This challenge been taken by thousands and thousands of people with great success. You’ll love it. I also am grateful for you taking the time to check it out and experiment for yourself.

Click Here to Get Your Free 76 Day Challenge Action Guide and Checklist to Raise Your Impact in Life and Business.