Do Magical Work
We are responsible for our actions, for what we do, for our work, and others are responsible for their response to it. (That’s why they call it responsibility.) Though we know we can’t control others, we still snare ourselves in worry trap: What will they think? Will they like it? What will they say?
Worse than the worry trap, however, is when we actually change our work based on what others will think. A big no-no. We’re asked to do the work because we’re talented, we’re uniquely qualified, we’re the experts. Why do we let opinions of others wield so much power? Who cares what they say. We will let our work speak for itself.
There’s not much in life we have control over, but work is one of them. We control most everything about it: the what and how, the caliber, the tenor. We choose to do marginal work, average work, great work, or magical work. It’s our choice. We choose. When we chose to do magical work, its voice powerful enough to drown out the less capable, the politically motivated, and the CEO.
So go do magical work. Do work so good you don’t remember how you did it, so good you don’t think you could do it again, so good it scares you. But be ready – magical work, by definition, is misunderstood.
What will they say about your magic? It doesn’t matter, magic’s voice will drown them out.
Great post, Mike. So many of us hold ourselves back. As Nelson Mandela said, “We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented or fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?…It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”
Accountability is truly one aspect of work that helps keep people in line, but most significantly helps people and business excel. Without it we might all just be mediocre.