#23 - Talk It Up
Hello,
Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between. - Maya Angelou
A few weeks ago, I met a bright recent graduate. Articulate, cultured, with great presence and an impressive educational background, she has started at a Firm whose name on CV would give anyone a halo of instant credibility. She delivers great performance. Problem? She is in a great Firm, but stuck in a wrong job. A way out? For her, it was literally looking for a way OUT, for external opportunities in other Firms. This approach intrigued me: although the problem was just the role & function, she seemed to be giving up completely both on the role AND the Firm. Too soon, in my humble opinion.
When asked for advice, I told her a story of another young graduate I had a chance to meet a few months back. He had started in a graduate programme in a role he hated. He could have given up on it, ending up with resentment and bitterness about his first work experience, marked by lack of guidance and support from the management. Instead, he networked his way into a role he loved. How he did it? It took patience, a lot of conversations to learn holistically about the business, and willingness to roll up the sleeves and deliver on assignments no one wanted. How it started? He decided to see his current role as an opportunity and talk it up.
This newsletter is about talking it up.
Talking it up is NOT wishful thinking, not about seeing la vie en rose. And it’s not about just talking.
Talking it up is being aware of the best, the worst and anything in between, and yet CHOOSING a narrative that helps think and behave like a winner. It applies to fresh graduates, to seasoned professionals and to CEOs.
How You Can Make Your Company Great
“We all want to be proud of the company we work for. It enhances our reputation, makes us look good and gives us access to the best people. The majority of us want to work for companies with glamorous reputations. If you work for one of these companies, you are probably working for them for what they can do for you. But not everybody is fortunate enough to be able to work for the outfit that is currently favoured. So, given that not everyone in your company is an idiot, what are you personally going to do to make it company of the year?
Start by talking it up.
Begin thinking and behaving like a winner. it will stop the rot. It will temporarily halt negative thinking and a defeatist attitude. (…) People will soon get the idea.
Don’t expect top management to lead the way. They are too busy running the company. Decide you’re going to make the company great; at least decide you’re going to make a difference.
Observe that an organisation’s reputation is usually built on one or two key accounts. Then pick the ground on which to make your assault.
Realise that companies’ reputations are also built on one or two people. Aim to be that person or one of them. You’re halfway there. You’ve made the decision to do it. Now all you have is your wits, your talent, your guts and this little book to help you. You’re on your own. Just do it. Better.” - It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be
Level Up Your Vocabulary
“We do not think in words and phrases. We think only in pictures and/or images (…) The mind pictures we see are modified by the kinds of words we use to name things and describe things.
Look at it this way. When you speak or write, you are, in a sense, a projector showing movies in the minds of others. (…)
Suppose you say, “We face a problem.” You have created a picture in the minds of others of something difficult, unpleasant to solve. Instead say, “We face a challenge,” and you create a mind picture of fun, sport, something pleasant to do. (…)
The point is this: big thinkers are specialists in creating positive, forward-looking, optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others. To think big, we must use words and phrases that produce big, positive mental images.” - The Magic of Thinking Big
Level Up Your Presentations
“You have the power to change the world. I’m not saying this to be cliché, you really have the power to change the world. Deep inside of you, every single one of you has the most powerful device known to man. And that’s an idea (…)
But an idea is powerless if it stays inside of you. If you never pull that idea out for others to contend with, it will die with you. Now, maybe some of you guys have tried to convey your idea and it wasn’t adopted, it was rejected, and some other mediocre or average idea was adopted. And the only difference between these two is in the way it was communicated. Because if you communicate an idea in a way that resonates, change will happen, and you can change the world (…)
You can change the word that you have control over, you can change your sphere. I want to encourage you to do that. Because you know what? The future isn’t a place that we’re going to go. It’s a place that you get to create.” - The Secret Structure of Great Talks
Stay healthy, keep safe, choose the stories you tell yourself and others.
Arina
Illustration: Rawpixel