Take Your Seat At The "Big" Table

This weekend marks Thanksgiving in Canada. Apparently, we Canadians say "Thank you" first ... just in case it's a competition.

I remember being a kid at Thanksgiving and sharing the fold-out card table with the other kids while the grown-ups sat at the big table for turkey dinner. I remember the first time I got my chance to take MY seat at the big table and what a great feeling it was to be recognized as a grown-up. But I had to ensure I conducted myself as an adult for fear of losing my place at the big table.

At your job, do you sit at the big table or the fold-out card table? Simple question. Profound answer. Are you in the big strategy meetings or just the social planning (play) meetings? I think it's incumbent upon every single employee to shoot for sitting at the big table. I think that by your employ, you are required to earn your place at the big table.

You are not just an employee. Likely, you are a customer as well, or your family members or neighbors are customers. You have a certain influence that they, outside of the company, do not have. This is especially true of people who work for phone companies, utilities, grocery stores, banks, government, oil companies or any company or organization whose products or services you purchase.

It could be argued that if you left the organization tomorrow, you would probably still be a customer - so technically you are a customer first and an employee second. So take your place at the big table and advocate on behalf of your fellow customers. Force those who have also seated themselves around the table to see that they too are customers first and employees second.

Stop the me-me-me mentality of cutting services to make bigger and more obscene profits at the expense of your revenue stream (your customers). Explain to your co-workers that when you focus on customer satisfaction levels first, your quarterly financial statements improve.

An Attitude of Service must prevail. An Instigational® Attitude will start the discussion. An Attitude of Gratitude will cause you to be thankful for not only your customers continuing to do business with you but your ability to take your seat at the table of influence and do something great on behalf of your customers.

You, by your employ, have an influence within your organization that those outside of the organization do not have. Don't squander your opportunity. Force your organization to rise above mediocrity and into greatness. Greatness, after all, is just one step beyond mediocrity. All it takes is one idea or suggestion to rise above the other ordinary, boring organizations who wallow in their mediocrity. You can do something great here.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

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Do You Have Instigational Attitude?

This morning, on Seth Godin’s Blog, he featured a video which you will find below.



Guy #1 is the Instigator. He has the Instigational® Attitude – the “who cares what other people might say” attitude.

Instigational® Attitude takes chances and instigates events just to see what will happen. The Instigational® don’t form committees hoping that there will be enough people joining in so as not to embarrass themselves. Instigators don’t wait for others to get on side. They act because they can. Instigators usually have a lot of leadership ability and a great deal of self-confidence. It’s why there are so few people capable of holding an Instigational® Attitude because it requires confidence and the willingness to take risks, to stretch yourself and have no concern about how it will end up.

The Instigational® know that however things end up, they’ll be OK. No biggie. Nothing ventured - nothing gained. The Instigational® usually end up having more colorful lives not because they attract more fun stuff (which they do) but because they are willing to step out of the collective average mentality and try something different. The first guy sure did.

During the video, initially, not much happened, other than the first guy dancing. But then along came an “influencer.” An influencer may not necessarily be a resident of the collective average because his job requires a little stretch too. When an influencer sees a good idea that he may not have had the creativity to conceptualize or the courage to carry it out alone, he is willing to join along and also, “see what happens.” But at this point, it’s just a couple of guys having a party all by themselves.

Then along comes Guy #3 who has been wrestling with joining in. Guy #3 is not as willing as the Instigational® but just a little less willing than the Influencer. But once he’s decided, he’s all in. This guy makes all the difference. As Seth Godin says, Guy #3 takes the dancing from being an experiment and makes it the beginning of a movement. As soon as Guy #3 jumps in, others follow. There is no distinction between Guy #4 and Guy #40 is there?

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT: What is it you’re doing to make your workplace different or your life-experiences different? Do you have the Instigational® Attitude? If not, do you at least have the Influencer Attitude? Or are you sitting back waiting for someone else to turn it into a movement so that you can join in?

It’s sad that you care more about being judged by others than you do about doing something meaningful for yourself. Take a look around your workplace and see it for yourself: only a handful of people are prepared to step out and make their mark. Everyone else is just a follower. As much as you may believe you have the Attitude of Leadership, if you’re waiting for someone else to go first, you’re not leading. Leaders lead. Followers follow.

The great thing is that you get to pick which of the two you will be.