Читать книгу The Obvious: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed - James Dale - Страница 13

So, if it’s not about you, then how do you get ahead? Concentrate on what does matter: Results. After you’ve made your quotas, help somebody else make theirs. Find new customers, even for other divisions. Read up on industry trends. Study your competitors. Help young hires find their way. Stay late and re-write presentations. Don’t try to be a hero. Be a problem-solver.

Take the Apollo 13 approach. When we all heard the words, “Houston, we have a problem,” and the mission seemed doomed, who was the hero that saved the day? Was it the commander, Jim Lovell? Or the flight director, Gene Kranz? One of the other astronauts, Fred Haise or John Swigert, or member of the ground team like Ken Mattingly? No, it was not any one of them. It was all of them. They all collaborated to solve the problem, to save the day, and the mission. One of the great rescues of all time, and not one hero … or all heroes.

The best way to lead is to feed. When you’re not just a team member but the one in charge, whether it’s of a meeting, a project, a division, or a company, put everyone else ahead of yourself. Retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch said, “The day you become a leader, it becomes about them. Your job is, walk around with a can of water in one hand and a can of fertilizer in the other hand … and build a garden.”