How to cultivate greatness in your work?

There is always room in great. Plenty of competition in mediocre. But how do you cultivate greatness in your work?

Four things that have personally helped me a great deal over the course of my career:?

1. Learning by doing.

Over the years I have come to realize the current optimal level of work is a 50/50 split between a specialist and a manager. Previously as a senior leader of two small companies, I religiously guarded a significant portion of my time for deep contributions. Why?

• I learned a ton about the organization I was part of building.?
• I knew it made me happy because I wanted to contribute more than meetings.

Start by figuring out what is your own optimal balance of work. This is personal for everyone.

2. Focus on the doing.?

There are a lot of misconceptions around how success is achieved, but if there is one thing I know is true then you absolutely need to fail.?

Usually repeatedly. Then pick yourself up. Fail (read: do) some more. Then maybe, become a centimeter more decent at what you set out to do.

This might seem like an arduous journey, but it does not have to be. When you are focused on the joy of doing great stuff then there is little room for fear of failure.

Recentre your focus. And greater joy will follow.

3. Learn the basics. Then defy the basics.

When we are beginning at anything we usually follow a set of guidelines. And they are incredibly useful. You can learn a TON by studying and applying Kotler's textbooks as a junior marketing associate.?

But at some point, it won't help you any further. At some point, it becomes apparent that in order to catch the consumer's attention, we must think differently. In order to think differently, we must live differently.

In the marketing industry we all read the same Nielsen, Kantar reports. Or hire the same researchers. If you draw your inspiration only from well-known sources, you are probably not wrong at any point in time.?

But you most certainly won't be great.?

4. Embrace your creativity.

Often people think of some professions as "not creative jobs" - like a financial trader. Or an accountant. Or a marketing professor.

Life has taught me otherwise.?

Greatness comes from knowing the basics. Applying the basics year-on-year. And then gradually starting to add your own magic to existing principles and exploring the boundaries of what is possible.

Beyond existing frameworks, creativity feeds greatness. The top 1% in anything are incredibly creative people, on top of having mastered their craft.

Enjoy.