325. The Leadership Shortcut You Need To Know About
There are no shortcuts to success. But there is a faster way to get there. Fortunately, I know how to do it. And everything I do, I do for you.
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Profound realizations sometimes occur at the most random moments. It happened to me yesterday on an Uber ride.
Michael, my Uber driver du jour, seemed to be a friendly chap. He originally hailed from Cincinnati (coughGraeter’scough) and came to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a jazz pianist.
As it turns out, I used to be a fairly decent pianist myself back in the day. I started playing piano when I was 5 years old and was classically trained for about 10 years. It was at that point that I realized I could better woo the women with more popular ditties. So I started rocking out.
I haven’t played the piano in decades. I miss it. I’ve had a hankering to get back into it. I told this to Michael-the-jazzy-Uber-driver.
I also told him that I want to take lessons to get my playing back up to speed.
“That’s amazing,” he said to me. “Most people wouldn’t have the humility to take lessons again. There are no shortcuts in life, but taking lessons will get you there faster.”
And that’s the point where I suddenly had complete clarity about everything I do.
Plus, it’s important to remember that everything I do, I do it for you.
Get To Your Goals Faster
Imagine you’re out on a run.
I know, you don’t like running, but do me a favor and pretend you do, or else we won’t ever get to my main point here.
Anyway, you’re out on a run. Your goal is to run 5 miles.
There are no shortcuts to your goal. They don’t exist. The distance from where you are to where you want to be can’t be changed.
Whatever backroads you take, you still have to run 5 miles to reach your goal.
Every morning for months on end, you put in the work. You slogged through your ever-increasing mileage. Some days were good, some were bad. Maybe you got injured once or twice. That set you back and extended the time it took you to reach your goal.
Finally, after all that time and effort and injury, you ran five miles.
Yay you.
You averaged 11 minutes per mile and achieved your goal in 55 minutes.
But imagine if you could train for less time and do the run in 7 minutes per mile instead. And imagine if you could get there without getting injured.
You still achieve the same goal, but you accomplish it a lot faster and in better shape. How much happier would you be with yourself?
That’s exactly what I do with leaders - and oftentimes their teams as well.
I’m not a shortcut for people reaching their career goals - they still have to put in the work. But I get them there a heckuva lot faster and a heckuva lot stronger than they ever thought they could.
There Is No Shortcut
Michael-the-Uber-driver was right: there are no shortcuts in life.
My life surely didn’t have any shortcuts. I spent decades as an entrepreneur and an executive leader. I’d create a company, build it, sell it to a large public conglomerate, then work on the leadership team there.
Rinse. Repeat.
I’ve led every type of department at every size organization, from start-up to enterprise. In the process, I’ve made all the mistakes one growing leader can make.
Because of those mistakes - and with a little push from the power of Imposter Syndrome - I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t when it comes to leadership.
I’d love to go back in time and apply the things I know now to the person I was back then, but there simply isn’t enough time machine technology available for me to do that.
Instead, I choose to help other leaders be better than they thought they could ever be. I do this at companies like L’Oreal, USA Today, Porsche and Nestle.
I also choose to help you.
Whoever you are and whatever your circumstance.
I’m not a shortcut. There is no shortcut. We already established that.
You can’t simply skip the work that needs to be done. No coach can do that. If they claim they can, they’re lying. Or they’re ignorant. Or they’re both.
What I can do, however, is speed up your journey to help you avoid years of wasted time spent making all the same mistakes I already made.
I won’t turn you into a great leader. I will take the great leader that’s already inside of you, and expose it faster than you can do on your own.
Your career will grow faster.
Just like my client who was a deer in the headlights when she was pegged to take over a turnaround $50m company as her first CEO role. Not only did my guidance help her turn it around, but she grew the business by 35% in just one year. Six months later, they promoted her to run a $150m business.
Living Inside The Pickle Jar
This isn’t about me, though. It’s about you.
Specifically, it’s about your belief that there are shortcuts to success. (There aren’t).
It’s also about your belief that you don’t have the power to change your growth trajectory. (You do).
What are your career goals?
What have you done this week to get closer to achieving them?
Do you even know?
You’ve got a blind spot, and unfortunately the blind spot isn’t revealed when you look at yourself in the mirror. The image you see in the mirror is often what you want to see, not what you should see.
When you live your life inside the pickle jar, you can’t read the label on the outside. You need somebody else to read those labels.
What are the patterns in your behaviors that you don’t realize?
How can you be better at navigating tough conversations?
How can you make more effective decisions?
How can you hold people accountable?
Nobody can run the miles for you, but you need somebody to tell you whether or not you’re running down a dead-end street.
Give me an hour and I will transform your life.
I will alter the way you see yourself, your job, and your goals.
That’s what I do. And if my clients are any indication, I’m pretty darn good at it.
The Hour You Need To Transform Your Life
I have decided to take a turn in my career. Or maybe it’s not a turn as much as it is just building a bigger boat.
I still coach new leaders at Fortune 500 companies.
That’s going extremely well.
I still transform leadership teams at high-growth companies in the $10m-$100m revenue range.
That’s going extremely well, too.
But I want to help more people in more areas. I want to help you.
And that’s why I started The Best Leadership Community. It’s amazing.
It’s a unique opportunity to get the same guidance that senior leaders get at a fraction of the cost.
Free coaching sessions
Free leadership roundtables
Free expert webinars
Free Slack community
Free office hours to address your most immediate needs.
Free personalized insights you won’t get anywhere else.
There are no shortcuts to personal growth, but you can absolutely jump into the fast lane.
That’s what I am doing with this.
Help me help you.
Join The Best Leadership Community now and fast-track your way to your goals.
I’m offering 30% off, but it expires on Sunday, June 8.
So sign up now.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to join - the question is whether you can afford NOT to.
LFG.
BTW, you can also expense it. Contact me to learn more!
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There is no shortcut, Grasshopper. Wax on, wax off. Carry on.