You might think that the pandemic is the true cause of many of us focusing on short-term issues and being reactionary.
But I have news for you.
For the years I’ve been advising Chief Marketing Officers and CEOs, this problem has haunted them.
Too much short-term thinking can severely limit your career as well as your best-laid marketing strategies.
In this episode, I share the screen with Dorie Clark. She is a prolific entrepreneur, professor, standup comedienne, communications coach, and Author of The Long Game. Dorie is my role model for creating a lasting impact, and a good friend.
Dorie and I discuss the key requirements for cultivating strategic patience, and how to create a growth mindset. And here’s a secret we also share: we are both cat moms!
Key points covered in this episode:
✔️ When you make ten year plans versus solely focusing on one year plans, you don’t have to know how you’re going to do it. If you have a vision, even if it seems bold and extreme, you just need to move a few things forward an inch every week. Just keep going.
✔️Keep thinking in waves. Dorie shares where many good, intelligent, and talented people go wrong in their careers: they keep doing the same thing. “That’s the trick in careers…Sometimes you can’t just keep doing the same thing. You have to make transitions and think in different waves appropriate at different times.”
✔️ Focus on success, not perfection. Don’t spend hundreds of hours making this perfect, amazing product or service before discovering if anybody wants it in the first place. “It’s OK to test the little things to make sure people want the thing that you want to be providing them. When you have that data, it may not even be risky at all because you know with some degree of certainty whether something is going to work or not.”
This tip hits home for me. I invested two months improving my production studio (with the help of digital stylist Bill Connolly and my partner, Michael Taylor). Then I started to livestream. Forty-three episodes later, I gained traction, credibility, and a powerful audience.
✔️ To avoid burnout, we need to learn to toggle between sprint and marathon modes. When in the testing, learning, and planting seeds phase, remember to alternate your pace, knowing when to hustle hard and to take a pause to rest and recuperate.
How do you creatively and proactively engage teams in today’s settings? Drop me a note and share your own tips.
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