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Self-Doubt, Adaptation, Failure: What to Do When You Miss the Mark

This past weekend, I planned every detail for serving 100 people at a curling tournament and planned every last detail to create an amazing experience.  Everyone said the food & hospitality was great, but I was so hard on myself when I failed twice. My homemade mac n’cheese was a big hit, but I underestimated the amount to make. People came to me looking for more of it for which I smiled and redirected them to the abundant soup, salad and bread. While there was plenty to continue to feed them, I shrugged off that miss only to make another mistake. We ordered sandwiches for Sunday pick up, but when my volunteer confirmed I had ordered it for Saturday instead, I couldn’t believe I made that mistake. We picked up the sandwiches and stored them until Sunday. I soon learned that bread can not withstand salad dressing and tuna fish for 24 hours. I felt so bad, but did anyone really notice? Probably not, but I did and again felt I missed the mark. 

So what does too little mac n’ cheese and soggy bread have to do with business? It is a story about being human and how we are conditioned to respond to such failure.  In business we fail to prepare leaders to manage these setbacks. We focus on the 1% of failure and fail to celebrate the 99% of successes we take for granted each day. I see so many C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow lacking a framework, I’m compelled now to share some ideas to change your mindset. 

What to do when you miss the mark!

Self Doubt: Acknowledge it! By doing so, it shows you’re growing. Reflect on why you feel this way. Did anyone else doubt you or just you? Was there an experience in the past that you’re projecting now? It’s okay to have these feelings, but the key is in how fast you can move on. What did you learn? Can you take note and apply next time? Self doubt can quickly move you to action.

Adaptation: With this new insight, can you create a system that helps you to adapt to self doubt, identify an action, improve and repeat. Adaptation is your skill to respond to changing conditions and the ability to execute with a new current state. Did you make a mistake in a presentation? Could you have reviewed with others in advance? If yes, can you do this going forward to minimize risk? I know you can! So is it really self doubt any longer?

Let’s talk about failure: I suggest you shift your mindset. Consider you have 100 opportunities of success each day. How do you feel about being 99% successful? You wake up in the morning, take your vitamins, put out the trash, pack your lunch, get the kids to school on time… why do we adopt the narrative of failure? Could we celebrate 99% good and with that 1%, celebrate an opportunity to improve? If nothing else, you build a good story to tell others and get a laugh from our humanity!

Returning back to mac n’ cheese and soggy sandwiches… I now know that curlers are hungry people; really hungry! If I have to feed 80, I now know to prepare for 90. With regard to ordering food a day early; next time I’ll have someone else check my work. Error proofing was not built into my process. I’ve accepted this and despite some soggy sandwiches, I had plenty of soup and other leftovers to keep our curlers happy! 

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action. 

Don’t let “missing the mark ” be your narrative and dictate your ability to adapt and and improve everyday. You know you’re wildly successful and occasionally you’ll be human in the process.

Are you getting ready to do another presentation, but you fear failure because your last one did not go so well? Did you fail to get that initiative over the finish line, but learned more about stakeholder management? Not sure how to manage through another crisis because the last one you were in did not fare so well?

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders simply need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leader support. To learn more about our next event, you can visit our page and register. 

Would you rather have a quick 1-2-1 to discuss your specific challenge? Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Direct Message me on LI or contact me via my website and let’s have a conversation.

Until then, I wish you much success. 

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Three Questions to Set the Stage for Q2 Like a CEO

My first quarter has been absolutely amazing! I’ve been true to my theme of Simplicity and focusing on the levers to grow my business: investing in my business, my reach and my well being. I’m pleased to share that we’ve been moving forward according to plan, but amidst my joy I contemplate about how others are doing. I’ve seen so many people focus on their 1st quarter only to see their best laid plans start to fall apart and then they repeat the cycle of hurry up with activity vs. reflecting and asking well placed questions. When we think vs. just do, we get focused and back on track must faster and here’s how: 

 How are you feeling?

   Excited, accomplished or frustrated, tired and feeling off track?

 I was feeling off track this month and realized I had to finalize my goals and actions. Now that I have my monthly goals set and my weekly & daily accountability tracking, I feel like I’m set up for success and realizing peace of mind.  I start here, because if you don’t analyze your gut, mind & heart about achieving your goals,  we need to make quick course corrections now.

After working with a client for about 3 months, I asked them how they felt. They said things seemed calm and felt good about working on strategic work vs getting caught up in the weeds. I was grateful for the feedback and was rooted in needed accountability processes to manage the chaos. Feeling is a good barometer, but we always need to know that things are going well.

    What are others saying about your Q1?

 If you’re projecting your goals and regularly communicating them, stakeholders will respond to you. It may show up such as “How can I help?” or “can I get a copy of that report?” or “can you come and present that at our next meeting?”, or “can I provide you some feedback”. When the world is responding, it’s a good indicator you’re focused. 

As a bonus, I propose you journal these events. When we take note of how others are responding to you, it reinforces these behaviors. It also provides self feedback on what to continue, start or change. It may be that you’re getting lots of attention in one area, but not so much in another area; you have an opportunity to course correct in multiple areas. Leaders do this over and over as part of their personal development. 

Are you still passionate about the work?

 If you’re not, your energy will wane and so will the project. Ask yourself what is hard, challenging, or areas where you’re not confident. This is the time to speak to your inner circle just to validate you’re still on track. Sometimes talking to someone else will give you clarity and the passion will come back. If you are passionate, move on. If not, when were you passionate and what changed? (failure to delegate, lack of support).

THE CEO’s COMPASS is a great tool to help you see where you’re off track

Are you capable of getting the work done or do you need help?

 So many leaders feel a sense of pride to do it alone. Please don’t wait too long for technical support. I call this corporate courage; when leaders find the strength to ask for help the moment they feel it in their gut they’re off track. I find leaders simply need a place to talk through the challenges and why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leader support. To learn more about our next event, you can visit our page and register. 

Now that I’ve shared with you some questions to confirm if you’re focused and on track, let me know about your conclusions. If you are on track, let’s celebrate together! If you’re not on track, who could you turn to for support? Do you have a colleague, a mentor or an accountability partner? Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Message me and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success. 

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Secrets Behind the CEO’s Task List

A C-Suite task list is a balance between strategic work, tactical work and personal development. Studies show at the C-Suite level the balance should be 70/20/10, but depending on the season it can vary. High performers love tactical work. The quick wins of putting out fires and completing tasks can easily throw the schedule off balance. When you stay consistently in the tactical work and never return back to the steady state of 70% working on the future, things get off track.

I used to get stuck in the tactical, but soon learned I lacked skills in prioritization, decision logic and how to not procrastinate on strategic projects; breaking them down into bite size chunks. That’s where leaders fail as did I, but now I have some tips to help you stay in this zone. 

Before I continue, ask yourself:

  • Why don’t you stay in the zone of 70/20/10?
  • Is it easy to check the box on tactical work and you lack the skills for strategic work? 
  • I also ask you if you’re up to the C-Suite role or not? 

If you like the tactical work and find your value in being a SME and go to person, then accept your place and be fine with it. We sometimes think we need to do more, but if where you’re at is just fine, then you can stop here. But if not, let’s talk more about the secrets of the CEO task list.

Framework:

  • It’s not a task list, it’s your performance management system! We set up these systems for the front line, but why not you? It sounds like leader standard work from the lean world and it is, but I’m breaking it down for you to make it easy.
  • Qualify the 5-8 Projects you have to move forward or continue to monitor. Qualifying them will help you to stay focused and strive for 70% strategic, 20% tactical, and 10% personal development
  • It has to be achievable. Set your battle plan for the day or I suggest the week. We don’t get everything done each day, giving ourselves grace, but by the end of the week, we should get it done.
  • Put everything you get done on the list. Disruptions happen for which we address, but never credit ourselves for crossing it off. We have to see what we actually get done in a day and give ourselves a high five when we get 80% done!
  • Cross it off and feel good. When you get to the end of the week, ask yourself if you feel accomplished and did you move the needle in your strategic work? If yes, celebrate. If not, do you have the right things on your list? It’s a constant reminder to evolve your daily / weekly plan and get it right.
  • Reminder: As you look at your next week and assess how much you were able to accomplish the prior week, do you need to have every meeting, do you need to do everything on the list or delegate it? You want to increase your % of success each week so you’re performing at the C-Suite level.

On a personal note, so many people ask how do you do it all? I don’t always get it all done for which I’ve raised the white flag for help. More importantly, I’ve stopped, reassessed and peeled things away or reset my priorities. No C-Suite leader has all the answers nor is it perfect. But they’re resilient, they experiment, they learn from what worked well and what did not, refine rinse & repeat.

I would love to continue this conversation with you via DM. It’s really me on the other side of that screen, no bots, no gimmicks. Message me your questions and I can send you a short voice message with my thoughts.

·   Thank you and much success!

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