"The harder you work, the luckier you get."

I don’t really believe in “luck”. I do believe in karma. In a power greater than myself that works in mysterious ways and is always tilted in our favor. I do believe in manifesting what you want in this world. But mostly, I believe in doing. Wishing is fun, but based on the number of times I wished for a pony when I was a kid, it doesn’t reliably work. Hoping is good – you do have to have hope (see last week’s post)! But hope alone isn’t going to get it done. Visualizing the future that you want – even the serve you want to hit on the tennis court – is vitally important. Having great talent is important, too. But none of those things really move the needle on success unless you DO SOMETHING.

The greatest tennis player in the world can’t ace her opponent without actually hitting the ball. And she can’t consistently hit that ace unless she works at it, day in, day out. The most talented runner in the world doesn’t run faster unless they put in the miles.

The same is absolutely true in our working worlds. The best leaders didn’t get lucky and win the leadership lottery.? They worked on their skills – honing their ability to craft clear and energizing messages. They practiced negotiating at different levels and in different contexts to be ready to flex that muscle. They learned the nuance of their business by studying the industry, the financials, and the trends. They read books and watched people they admired and tried things that looked like they might work and failed and succeeded and kept on trying. And they became truly great leaders when they worked hard on themselves, strengthening their self-awareness, increasing their capacity for empathy, and normalizing asking for help.

You can’t simply sit in the lotus position imagining a bright future or make a wish on a four-leafed clover and expect to be great.

Be like Ted. Work hard to get lucky.