You’re Not Qualified!

In his book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't Jim Collins quotes Darwin E. Smith, CEO of Kimberly Clark as saying, "I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job."

The opposite of this mindset is being apathetically content with where you are right now. I used the word "apathetically" because contentment is not wrong at all. In fact, it is one of the keys to personal sanity. But contentment in the present should always be coupled with a desire to be better tomorrow. This is, I think, a major key to success in any area of life.

So, we who desire to be successful should never stop trying to become qualified for the job. We should never stop learning. We should never stop allowing ourselves to be stretched outside of our comfort zone. We should never stop seeking for ways to be better today than we were yesterday. In fact I think this is the personal duty of every individual alive, a strong influence upon success, and a certain key to personal fulfillment

This post is a re-post from Feb of 2008.

Leading Our Peers

In my life I have found a common thread that seems to bond people together and that bond is not healthy. The bond that I am thinking about is dislike or criticism of others. For some reason many people gravitate toward those people in their lives that they can comfortably voice their criticisms of others with and even gain a sense of moral superiority from that person’s validation of those criticisms. I have also found that relationships held in place by those un-healthy feelings tend to wear us down and spread an overall feeling of cynicism and distrust.

There is nothing so disruptive to success in any organization than distrust and cynicism. Whether it is found in the home, the community, or the work place it pits people against one another and destroys any hope of common effort in reaching goals and winning. While it seems to be one of the natural tendencies of humankind, it is also one of our most self-destructive traits, because if the organizations to which we belong are not successful then we will ultimately fail.

I have also found that some of my most valued relationships are with those people with whom I feel compelled to be positive, to look for the good in others, to rejoice in the success of others, and to desire the best for others. I have found greater happiness when I surround myself with people who won’t listen to my negative words. They find them sophomoric and me immature for engaging in that behavior, so I don’t speak poorly of people around them. The odd thing is that somehow that effort translates itself into my actual feelings for that person, and I find myself actually liking them, wanting to help them, wanting to see them succeed. Before, I would take pleasure in seeing them fail, but now I desire to help them avoid failure.

If a key to success in any area of life is valuing people and desiring to see them succeed then I suggest that our success may begin when we start talking like successful people and stop talking like children who are consumed with selfishness.

Arguing vs. Debating

As I think about conflict in the work place, in the home and in the everyday relationships of life I am struck by the idea that there is a very basic difference between arguing and debating. Perhaps the words themselves don’t carry the difference that I see within their core meanings, but the way in which each activity is carried out and the reason for each activity has convinced me that they are different, and one is actually helpful, indeed necessary for success, while the other is harmful and even detrimental to success.

Arguing is what we do when we are simply contrary toward another person or a basically bull headed individual. We disagree with another person’s point of view or idea for a project because we don’t like them or their idea is not our idea. Clearly, it doesn’t take me to tell you that this is counterproductive in any business or relationship.

However, what strikes me as important is the very core difference found in debating as compared to arguing and the fact that debating may actually be a necessary ingredient for success in business and even relationships. Debating is a mutual event where two or more parties disagree in principle not because of personality. In the end both parties want the same thing, i.e. that which is best for the company, community, or relationship. They may disagree on how to achieve success, but in one thing they are united, success is essential and they need debate their way toward a course of action that will take them there. Debaters who have this mind frame are always willing to back away from their ideas when another idea is presented that is better and more capable achieving the goal because they are not more personally vested in their ideas than they are in the business or relationship.

The key question that arises from this idea is how do I become a debater and stop being an arguer? I really don’t know other than to say that it requires a personal change of heart toward the business or relationship and the self. I have to become confident enough to be humble and humble enough to believe that others present as much if not more value than I do. That’s not any easy thing to do, but it is a worthy cause to engage in.

Being Qualified

In his book "Good to Great" Jim Collins quotes Darwin E. Smith, CEO of Kimberly Clark as saying, "I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job."

The opposite of this mindset is being apathetically content with where you are right now. I used the word "apathetically" because contentment is not wrong at all. In fact, it is one of the keys to personal sanity. But contentment in the present should always be coupled with a desire to be better tomorrow. This is, I think, a major key to success in any area of life.

So, we who desire to be successful should never stop trying to become qualified for the job. We should never stop learning. We should never stop allowing ourselves to be stretched outside of our comfort zone. We should never stop seeking for ways to be better today than we were yesterday. In fact I think this is the personal duty of every individual alive, a strong influence upon success, and a certain key to personal fulfillment