Those of you who read my blog know that the most anticipated day of my son’s life arrived on Friday: the big screen debut of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax! He had been waiting for months for the big event and I am delighted to say he was not disappointed…neither was I. In the aforementioned blog, I had written that The Lorax was essentially a story about a boy trying to impress a girl. In addition to rejuvenating my romantic spirit, The Lorax also served as a reminder of some very important leadership lessons. Take the journey with me….
There Cannot Be Progress Without Risk
Ted serves as the hero in the tale of The Lorax. In a world of plastic possessions, Ted braves the elements to find something real in an effort to impress a girl. Ted leaves the confinement of his every day life to explore a new frontier.
In this day and age, risk taking is harder than ever. You are unlikely to put your reputation on the line for an under-qualified candidate if you have 10 applicants with 10 years of core experience. You are unlikely to hire the underdog vendor over the safe choice. You probably will not use unconventional methods to challenge your team to be creative in their process. The safe thing to do is hire the experienced candidate, stick with the tenured vendor, and ensure your team sticks to process. It’s a perfect way to commoditize your people into defendable statistics. And numbers are more important than the people who represent them, right? Wrong!
Method: stick to process, hire safe, and commoditize your workforce.
Result: unengaged workforce, turnover, and lack of organizational development.
Ted’s risk taking jeopardized his existence. His uncompromising goal orientation resulted in a completely different world for his community. To have a cause to believe in, to dedicate one’s self to it and to brave the risk involved can only produce one result: a new frontier.
When was the last time you cared about something enough to risk everything for it?
Unless
The story of the Lorax culminates with one word: Unless!
I had heard Jessie Ventura say that he ran for Governor under one premise: If Not Me, Then Who..? He was certain that he believed in the people of his home state more than most and he was willing to risk his reputation to represent them. Very few of us when faced with opportunity choose to accept it. We stick with the safe thing, keep a few bucks in our pocket, and cower from that which would evolve our career to a grandiose purpose.
Risk is a scary thing. Being scared is as much an affect of excitement as it is an act of fear. We simply choose to believe that only the worst can happen….and do the safe thing!
Plant A Tree
People thought Steve Jobs was nuts to develop a computer that rivaled the PC. No one thought Blake Mycoskie would achieve profit by giving half of his company’s products to charity. Tony Hsieh was dismissed as a hippie when he ventured to develop a company based on the personalities of the employees (not their resume bullet points).
Every great business was built on a great idea. Every great idea was once deemed impossible.
Money for the kid’s clothes is necessary. A meal out with the spouse is nice. A few minutes alone with the morning paper is an essential moment of daily personal reflection. It is all very ordinary. Do you want to be ordinary?
Don’t kid yourself! You want to find a new land, you want to challenge the norm, and you want to be a hero. You do not need to quit your job or change titles. You simply need to embrace what is not there and create it. Do not forget the power of your imagination! Imagination is the basis of the creative force that will turn you into the leader you were unaware you could be.
Onward….
Take a chance. Plant a tree……if for no other reason than to impress a girl!
Thank you for reading!
Dave Kovacovich