WHY?

I know a man who is spending a lot of time, energy, and money to train for something he's not suited to.  He thinks it's the "right thing to do," and certainly feels it's a laudable role to have in society.  And, on the surface, it is a nice role.  Useful.  Respectable.  
The only problem is that he's not suited for the role, and he might be training for that role so he can have a laudable, respectable role in society. 


What a waste.  As Seth Godin wrote about music (to paraphrase):  Joshua Bell isn't the best violinist in the world, but he's the best Joshua Bell in the world.  This man doesn't know why he's training for that vocation.  Ask him and you'll get what he THINKS the reasons are, and an assessment of what he WISHES he were, but he really is in it for other reasons.

He has missed the WHY.  


So...why are you doing what you're doing?  I mean, REALLY...why?  Go beyond the surface.  A lot of jobs have paychecks, so that's not the reason. 

shut up and dance

"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. "

"No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings. "

--Peter Drucker

  

In other words: shut up and dance!  And we'll see how great a leader you are when the dance is done.  So, what did you do today?  It's not a metaphor; I really mean, TODAY.   For example, today I talked with a physician about his behaviors.  I approved ordering pizza for our nurses who have worked a ton of extra shifts and overtime--the idea wasn't mine, but I had to approve it.  (It was a great idea.)  I met with the housekeepers at the hospital; we discussed "leaning out" processes wherever we can.  Of course, they already knew where a bunch of waste could be eliminated.  I helped oversee decision-making concerning a patient who had 4 seizures in a short period, and was having a respiratory arrest, and in danger of dying.  I discussed vision and strategy for our hospital with the leadership crew, and they emphasized the dire need for clear vision which is articulated well (and frequently). 

It was a good day, only because I can look back and count a number of concrete, explicit actions.  I danced.  Tomorrow, flip the record over, start a new dance.  (If you understood the "flip the record over" metaphor, you're in my age bracket!  If you didn't...try this as a metaphor: "hit the random mp3 shuffle button and hit 'next'.")

Shut up and dance.  Not every day is your best dance.  Some days you go home feeling like you didn't get a #$%@ thing done.  But you go back to the dance the next day.

"You can't build a reputation on what you're GOING to do."  -Henry Ford