So, what did I do??? Did I embrace it, hide it or ignore it?
I ignored it.
Just kidding, that
would have been a pretty lame story (although it would have been shorter to
write).
I decided to suck it
up and take failure as feedback. Easier said than done. I don't know about you,
but talking about my personal failures is hard and I don't like doing it.
However, I embraced my new-found role as the driver of the struggle bus. I emailed
the group, admitted that I led the meeting poorly and provided them with a
revised path going forward. What came next really surprised me. This e-mail
actually helped to change my frustration and embarrassment into motivation. I
could freely talk about the failure and figure out the reasons things went
south. I don't have all the answers to why ending up on the struggle bus
happened. I am confident that the team will be in a better position to start
talking about it now that it is out in the open though. We also have a better chance
of being successful in the future.
So my advice to you
is the same advice I gave myself: ask the tough questions and ask for feedback
about the things you are leading. Also, call it like you see it. If it is going
great -- awesome. If it is a struggle bus -- call it a struggle bus. I think it
will help you to engage the team and make changes that will help all of you be
more successful in the future.
Embracing your
failures is leading the Interstates Way!!! And here's another Paul Harvey quote to wrap things up, "And
that…is the rest of the story. Good Day."
Continue Leading the Interstates Way!
Scott Peterson
Friday, February 27, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The Struggle Bus - Part 1
This week's post comes from Scott Peterson.
Have you ever heard the term "the struggle bus"? If not, let me enlighten you. What it means is that a task/event/meeting was more difficult than you had planned and it did not go well (e.g. feels like you are running in mud). Just a couple of weeks ago I was not only on this bus, I was driving it. Not a good feeling. I was leading a meeting that ended up going differently than what I thought (or hoped) it would. The general purpose of this meeting was about brainstorming, exploring and getting feedback from the group. I got caught up in the moment and fell into the trap of "get 'er done" and lost sight of the original purpose.
That night and the next morning I kept thinking about that meeting. Finally, I asked myself, "Should I embrace this, hide it or ignore it?" I also thought back to some encouraging feedback about failures I received from two EIL grads in the last 6 weeks. While talking about failure doesn't always sound encouraging, their examples made a huge difference for me, so I want to share them with you:
1. One person sent me a quote from a fortune cookie that said, "Failure is feedback. And feedback is the breakfast of champions." They included a note that encouraged me to continue pushing people to give and ask for feedback. I also love the idea (even though it's scary) to look at failure as feedback by reflecting on it and learning from it.
2. Another grad shared a story of how they felt like they failed at EIL during a role playing section about corrective feedback and sidetracks. My role was to be the person who needed corrective feedback and they asked me to be defensive about what I was hearing -- so I used my Oscar-worthy acting skills. I ended up derailing that person from giving me the intended corrective feedback during that exercise. More than a year later that person sent me an email to say thank you for that experience; that's because that (perceived) failure allowed them to learn more, be more prepared and ultimately more successful with giving corrective feedback when it really counted.
Back to the question -- Embrace it, hide it or ignore it? As Paul Harvey used to say (for those of you who are a little younger than me, Paul Harvey was a big-time talk radio personality from the 60's-90's), "Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story….."
Have you ever heard the term "the struggle bus"? If not, let me enlighten you. What it means is that a task/event/meeting was more difficult than you had planned and it did not go well (e.g. feels like you are running in mud). Just a couple of weeks ago I was not only on this bus, I was driving it. Not a good feeling. I was leading a meeting that ended up going differently than what I thought (or hoped) it would. The general purpose of this meeting was about brainstorming, exploring and getting feedback from the group. I got caught up in the moment and fell into the trap of "get 'er done" and lost sight of the original purpose.
That night and the next morning I kept thinking about that meeting. Finally, I asked myself, "Should I embrace this, hide it or ignore it?" I also thought back to some encouraging feedback about failures I received from two EIL grads in the last 6 weeks. While talking about failure doesn't always sound encouraging, their examples made a huge difference for me, so I want to share them with you:
1. One person sent me a quote from a fortune cookie that said, "Failure is feedback. And feedback is the breakfast of champions." They included a note that encouraged me to continue pushing people to give and ask for feedback. I also love the idea (even though it's scary) to look at failure as feedback by reflecting on it and learning from it.
2. Another grad shared a story of how they felt like they failed at EIL during a role playing section about corrective feedback and sidetracks. My role was to be the person who needed corrective feedback and they asked me to be defensive about what I was hearing -- so I used my Oscar-worthy acting skills. I ended up derailing that person from giving me the intended corrective feedback during that exercise. More than a year later that person sent me an email to say thank you for that experience; that's because that (perceived) failure allowed them to learn more, be more prepared and ultimately more successful with giving corrective feedback when it really counted.
Back to the question -- Embrace it, hide it or ignore it? As Paul Harvey used to say (for those of you who are a little younger than me, Paul Harvey was a big-time talk radio personality from the 60's-90's), "Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story….."
Thursday, February 12, 2015
18 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Was 18
If
you could go back to when you were 18 years old and give yourself some advice,
what would it be? Here are 18 nuggets of wisdom from several Interstates team
members.
1. Don’t worry so much about what other people think about you – just be yourself.
2. Life isn't always fair; fair is not always equal and equal is not always fair.
3. You will use algebra again in your life. The periodic table...not so much.
4. Your parents are always right, and they are not going to be around forever.
5. Be carefree not careless.
6. It's important to take care of both your body and soul.
7. You won't always be able to eat pizza before bed every night and not gain weight.
8. Take more pictures – especially with your friends and family even if you aren't wearing makeup.
9. 30 is not old. Neither is 40.
10. When the check engine light comes on in your car, STOP DRIVING IT! It will probably cost more if you don’t!
11. Failing does not make you a failure.
12. Work hard in college, but not too hard. Have fun and make friendships that will last a lifetime.
13. You must boil the water before adding noodles.
14. So much of life is about showing up…showing up for work, showing up for class, showing up for important family functions.
15. You can never spend enough time on the important stuff and any time spent on stuff that doesn’t matter is too much.
16. The mullet is not a good look.
17. Cheerleaders don’t always wear skirts. Part of a leader's role is often to cheer and support others on to victory.
18. Understand just how quickly 35 years can go by.
We want to know what YOU would add. Leave a comment sharing something YOU wish you had known at 18.
1. Don’t worry so much about what other people think about you – just be yourself.
2. Life isn't always fair; fair is not always equal and equal is not always fair.
3. You will use algebra again in your life. The periodic table...not so much.
4. Your parents are always right, and they are not going to be around forever.
5. Be carefree not careless.
6. It's important to take care of both your body and soul.
7. You won't always be able to eat pizza before bed every night and not gain weight.
8. Take more pictures – especially with your friends and family even if you aren't wearing makeup.
9. 30 is not old. Neither is 40.
10. When the check engine light comes on in your car, STOP DRIVING IT! It will probably cost more if you don’t!
11. Failing does not make you a failure.
12. Work hard in college, but not too hard. Have fun and make friendships that will last a lifetime.
13. You must boil the water before adding noodles.
14. So much of life is about showing up…showing up for work, showing up for class, showing up for important family functions.
15. You can never spend enough time on the important stuff and any time spent on stuff that doesn’t matter is too much.
16. The mullet is not a good look.
17. Cheerleaders don’t always wear skirts. Part of a leader's role is often to cheer and support others on to victory.
18. Understand just how quickly 35 years can go by.
We want to know what YOU would add. Leave a comment sharing something YOU wish you had known at 18.
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