The killer instinct or how to nurture the T-Rex inside you

Surely that is wrong - surely this cannot be the title. Not from me anyway - after all I am a bit of a poster boy for all that other stuff, the facebook-type posts on management in the post-modern age. I am (sometimes) - but every now and again I realize just how misaligned we all are with the people around us. Just how easy it is for behaviours, and gestures to be misconstrued and the work place to turn into a playground. And for everyone to simply miss entire years by losing focus and missing out on their own goals.

It is crucial to realize that we are in it to win it - and I do not mean kill others to win it / I mean to define " it " (it is so very different for each one of us) and win it for ourselves and through our own brand politics. So how do we win it? How can we win it with so much competition around? and distractions? and circles? and feeling inadequate? well - I don't really know, BUT I do know one thing. If you keep stumbling on to your promotions you will eventually stumble off the ladder! What do I mean? There is one quality that does not receive enough attention: laser focus! That bright red beam showing the way. Maybe the killer instinct is not the right word for it - maybe removing obstacles in the way of the laser reaching its target is completely an ill-defined way to go about things. But at one stage moving from 0 to hero , from 10 to 100 you will need a plan. That is all this is. And what are you willing to put on the line for that plan. And once and for all we need to understand that we are not passive bystanders in our own evolution.

"Oh they will notice me" , "they will be reward me" -- these might be great for Santa's wish list but for any professional they amount to business purgatory in my view. Nobody owes us much - we owe it to ourselves to be awarded and to make our voice heard. And to listen while we are being heard. That last bit is particularly important because listening, taking the feedback, using it to adjust our laser is probably the most important thing. The T Rex is considered a mean attacking machine - killing and doing way with those poor other dinosaurs found in his/her path. But you know what else they are famous for, perhaps less so? their hypersensitive hearing. This was not an indiscriminate attack robot - this was a highly evolved player fully attune to his/her environment. Every stimulus was picked up. And processed. And this is still one of the best pearls of wisdom I can impart on to the world. If any. The killer instinct, at least how I think of it, is not about turning your brand into a board-room blood bath - but it is about objectives, listening and understanding what it takes to get there. Do you want to call it "the hard decisions"? Maybe you do, maybe you don't but it is still about not being the nice guy, but being the steadfast one - the one that can indeed make it happen for everyone. You see that is why it is important as a manager not to simply follow someone else's agenda - not to focus on your boss's objectives. Your passion can only be fueled by your own goals not the ones others set for you.

So if that little T Rex inside scares you - it is ok. Being scared is ok. But before becoming extinct, the T Rex listened intently. Understood the world around them. And eventually they evolved. Do not be scared if from T Rex you do evolve into a flexible, versatile mammal - that is how evolution works. And your brand can take it. Remember, the laser points the way - and the focus needs to be laser sharp.