The Power of Invisible Work

"Don't judge your insides to someone else's outsides"- Rob Lowe

In today's world, we often recognize people's results and outcomes. It's relatively easy to do, as we can all observe their accomplishments. But that rarely tells the whole story.

There is a lot of "invisible" work done by anyone who wants to accomplish much in this world. It's impossible to achieve greatness without putting in the work. For example, a professional golfer will need roughly 1,728 hours a year to be competitive. That works out to 6 hours a day for 48 weeks. That's the amount of work done away from the cameras and limelight to be competitive, not win a tournament. Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours" rule is as frequently cited as it is misunderstood. The 10,000 hours of practice needed is to be competent in a skill, not to be a master of a topic or skill. Mastery takes even more. Mastery takes everything.

We will see the level of mastery shortly when the Olympics begin. You will hear about the endless work over decades that athletes put into their skills for what may be only a few seconds or minutes of actual performance. That level of effort requires tremendous dedication, persistence, and sacrifice.

It would seem to make sense that you would want to be committed to whatever you are willing to pursue, right? Who wants to waste valuable time and effort on something that wasn't worth it? Yet, many people show up for work, put in 8 or more hours of uninspired, and say they are "burnt out, stressed out, and fed up. Your work should be more than just a paycheck; there should be a purpose or reason for doing what you do.

If you talk to anyone who is pursuing a significant goal, you will quickly realize they have committed a substantial amount of time and mental energy to the pursuit and the details of each step in the process. The climber, Alex Honnold, who scaled El Capitan, one of the hardest granite sheer walls without ropes, didn't take on that feat without training. It took him decades to learn the skills needed to be an expert rock climber; then, he spent years working out the intricate movements required to conquer the challenge. Alex worked on a ten-foot section of the wall for days to ensure he knew the exact spot for his fingertips to hang onto so his body was supported and he didn't fall to his inevitable death.

Alex and many others live out the meaning of the expression: An amateur works until they can get it right, a professional works until they can't get it wrong. Which are you, a professional or amateur?

You can almost perfectly track your effort to the amount of sacrifice you are willing to suffer. Olympic hopefuls are eager to sacrifice their bodies, years of their life, and opportunities to make money, all for the chance to beat others in a competition. They will endure so much just for the chance to perform. Are you willing to do the same to be a strong leader? Are you willing to put in the amount of work required to be an elite leader and help others? Do you have a list of leadership skills that you are working on? Are you scheduling time each day and week to intentionally work on your skills?

If you are up for the challenge, you will joyfully embrace the invisible work others won't do or see. You will use that feeling as fuel when your energy is low. You will rack your effort and results, falling in love with the idea of making progress, even a tiny improvement.

Unreasonable goals require unreasonable effort. Be unreasonable in pursuit of the goal of being the best leader possible.

What have you done to keep yourself motivated doing the “invisible work”? Share a best practice or feel free to leave a comment.