Rockstars, Rebels and Rogues

The business environment is moving so quickly today it is often difficult to identify where focus and discipline need to be applied to achieve the organizations vision. Throughout my experience, in my career, speaking to mentors and gaining insight from gurus there are three types of professionals in any organization today – Rockstars, Rebels and Rogues. These archetypes are not necessarily new, but understand that two of the three have both positive and negative characteristics.
If you are not one of these archetypes then you are on the periphery and not realizing your full potential. Let’s start by looking at the apex archetype – Rockstars.

“You have to have a big vision and take very small steps to get there. You have to be humble as you execute but visionary and gigantic in terms of your aspiration. In the Internet industry, it's not about grand innovation, it's about a lot of little innovations: every day, every week, every month, making something a little bit better”.
- Jason Calacanis

Rock stars in music, business and in life are constantly evolving and challenging themselves to realize their full potential. They are the future leaders and visionaries that will help innovate the organization. Their focus is not just on themselves they are focused on developing others as well as themselves. Rockstars tap into experts across and outside their own sphere of influence, or organization, to help fuel new ideas and serve as sources of inspiration.


Their curiosity helps drive different perspectives and understanding of burgeoning technology and how that applies to trends impacting them personally and organizationally. They creative personal narratives of taking in new information and technology to drive personal goals and behaviors. Be and stay tech current or be passed by, no one has time to catch people up on what is driving technology – you have to fight to stay current.


We all know that early in our lives we learn how to be good at school – in the real world, we quickly learned that you have to over deliver on the assignment - You need to blow the freakin’ doors off expectations. It is about volunteering for things to stretch your comfort zone and imagination. Rockstars challenges themselves to perform at a higher level – it is not about the competition it is about them competing against themselves. They know what success is and they are constantly challenging convention.


In this type of environment, most employees don’t raise their hands to offer suggestions or new ideas “out of turn” because they fear they will be branded as troublemakers. Those brave enough to do so anyway are often burned in the process, become dispirited, and/or resort to bad rebel behavior.

Perspectives on Rockstars and Key Qualities
What is it that makes a Rockstar high achiever? Is it luck, looks, intelligence, talent, dedication or bone crushing hard work? All of these things figure into the equation – they all make a difference. But we all know intelligent, talented, hard-working people who do not consider themselves very successful or even happy. And we know people who are not exceptionally bright but seem happy and successful right?

You have the power to change your habits – to acquire new skills and fully use the skills you now have. You can improve your performance, your productivity, and feel the reward in what you accomplish. While some people gravitate to the monetary elements of success there is so much more out there - if the monetary aspect is your only focus then the feeling of accomplishment will slowly dissipate. If you want to maximize your talents and pure potential - get unreasonable with yourself and get out of the comfort zone. The only way to do this is through small steps in learning how to use your talents.

So there must be something else, some secret to success. Actually there are several secrets to achieving your peak performance – being a Rockstar.  The number one secret is attitude:

• Rockstars have indelible positive attitudes. I have always hired for attitude first, agility then aptitude. One of the most important steps you can take toward achieving your greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor your attitude and its impact on your work performance, relationships and everyone around you.
• Elevate their Personal Brand - Bringing their best self to the role every day.
• Willpower - succeed at just about anything they try – is largely determined by their own self-image.
• Mindset - Attitude is critical as it shapes the way you perceive the world and the way the world perceives you. Everyone has a choice each day they wake-up to be a motivator of yourself and others or fall into the victim pit where everything and everyone is against you. The mind plays a serious role in your attitude and outlook on life itself. Many of us have behavior patterns today that were programmed into our brains at a very tender age. The loudest and most influential voice you hear is your own inner voice, your self-critic. It can work for or against you, depending on the messages you allow. It can be optimistic or pessimistic. It can wear you down or cheer you on.

What’s your perspective?
What are other differentiators of high performers or Rockstars – let me know?

Release the Hounds

Why do people limit themselves through anxiety and fear? Too many people limit themselves through fear, through your opinions and actions.  Anxiety in contrast arises purely from our own thoughts, not external reality.  

 

Limitations are both physical and mental, mostly mental – your mindset governs your potential and unfortunately people often relegate themselves to negative thoughts.  These emotions are self-limiting your potential and our mind plays a significant role as negative thoughts keep us from doing what we really want. I am susceptible to negative thoughts, just as everyone is, they are hounds constantly hunting to expose your anxieties or weaknesses at the most inconvenient times.

 

Changing your perspectives and your mindset influences your attitude and outlook.  Self-limiting, negative behaviors to avoid in your pursuit of shaping your ethos are the following:

1. Stop Using Hope as a Strategy – There is no substitute for action, hope and wishful thinking cannot be mistaken for action.  Start to start, do something that drives outcomes by looking at the entire process to achieve the objective or goal. People need to detach from fantasies that may relieve them momentarily in a guise of action, but there is no basis for achieving the desired outcome set forth. I have written before that massive goals require massive action, I cannot take credit for that phrase, but it has resonated with many of the people I speak with.  It’s critical to take bold action toward your visions, in order to create success.  This can only be accomplished if you are grounded in reality – breaking down these large goals into digestible chunks.  Spend each morning to contemplate your short-term and long-term goals identify one action you can immediately take today to realize those goals.
2. No Free Rides – Seeking for easy answers and entitlements is a negative mindset high performing professionals avoid.  They know how to keep negativity out of their mindset, they figure out how to get the help they need without entitlements.  There is a reciprocity that exists in any relationship – these people do not expect something for nothing.  They have an objective approach to anything or anyone they come into contact with - they treat others impartially and fairly and know they expect the same.
3. Stop the Victim Mentality – People view the world in limitations and barriers versus an opportunistic outlook on life and new ways to solve problems.  This type of thinking is can be summarized simply that the world is not fair and why is this happening to me. Being a victim lends itself well to the concept that everyone that is happening to you is outside your control and everyone else’s fault. High performers look at the world with eyes wide open and understand the challenges associated with what is going on with their goals and objectives.  High performers fail fast and learn from the mistakes. Personal accountability comes into play where you must anticipate variables and be quick to address having a plan.

 

Release yourself from hell hounds of anxiety - While we can’t always control how we feel, we do have the power to choose how we think and act.

 

What are other sources that “limit personal potential”?

Everyone Wants to Rule the World

Everyone wants to rule their own world and have control. Everyone wants a happy ending, but guess what – life is not perfect.  The subtle art of influence is about kicking yourself into gear to inspire movement and motivation.  It cannot be about negative commentary to yourself, but about committing yourself to a broader plan of attack.  

Complaints and vetting are sometimes cathartic, but you need to move from “complaint to commitment”.  Commit to a plan and execute using other friends, advocates and stakeholders in the process. Sometimes we get so caught up in what everyone else is doing and telling us that we need to do that we stop listening to the signals that our bodies are sending us. If something feels wrong, it probably is.  

Sometimes the stress that we place on ourselves for results, in and of itself, enough to make us sick and unsuccessful in our endeavors. We get so obsessed with trying to ‘feel’ an effect from something that we can actually create that effect or symptom. I’m not joking. I’ve done it to myself and I see it over and over again in the misguided and futile attempts – this is small stuff and obsessing about it is sucking the life out of you. It’s NOT okay to spend your life caught up in the idea that life sucks because you are not making the right amount of money, have a specific title, weigh a certain amount or because you look a certain way. Until you start to truly value yourself – where you are and for who you are – you aren’t going to find happiness.

 

So the fine art of influence is about motivating yourself to live and be the best you that you can be – because that’s enough. What about working harder than anyone else? While it may not appear to many people that know me, my confidence is not based purely on my innate talents, it is based on fact that I try to work harder than anyone else.  A good friend and associate joked around with me that he would have to get up at 3:45AM to get a jump start on me – get ahead of my morning emails, rants, celebrations and personal expectations.  The reality is that is when everything kicks into gear for me.  Let me reiterate the concept “for me”.  This is about motivating yourself to suck the marrow out of life and living every day like it is your last or think of living one life in one day.  

 

It is true that that hard work doesn’t always equal success. Some people work very hard, but fail for a myriad of reasons. They tried and didn’t succeed.  The simple fact is that people tried...and there is a subtle difference in what I just referenced – “hard work doesn’t always guarantee success, but working harder than anyone else opens unique opportunities and insights if you are paying attention”.

Swan Dive into Commitment - 8 Simple Principles

The advantage of a small pond or big pond does not depend on size of the fish, but rather the tenacity and agility of the fish. Most of the time, I’d argue it is better to be a small fish in a big pond. There are a myriad of different reasons, but was reminded of this yesterday, when playing when competing against the best, you learn more, you get tougher and you are forced to keep improving and never rest on your laurels.

 

Always keep on exploring and testing your own personal boundaries. Consider whether there are any activities in life where if you chose a less crowded approach, where you up your game. The fish I was referencing before does not get tenacious by resting on its laurels.  Once you start doing that, game over, people are already surpassing you.

 

You want to mass so many advantages in your favor that, when time comes, when the opportunity presents itself, you can’t help but win. By incrementally improving various elements of yourself and your position, you can dramatically enhance your chances of success in whatever you’re trying to do.

Think about what you can start doing tomorrow to up your game.  What are you committed to do differently?

 

1. Commitment – How serious are you reaching this goal? Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done? A strong commitment is a powerful advantage.

2. Focus - Do you know exactly what you want or is it a more vague idea? Will you get distracted about other shiny objects? The clearer you are on exactly what you’re trying to achieve, the better.

3. Depth – How much do you know about this area of endeavor? A deep level of knowledge and experience is a huge advantage against common/foolish mistakes and ignorant plebes

4. Rationale – Are you fully aware of the situation that you’re operating in? The more you understand the landscape, the more effective you’ll be and the less likely you’ll be out maneuvered.

5. Team - Do you have the respect and trust of people who could help you get the job done? Start building relationships with key players before you need them.

6. Horizon Planning – Are you making your moves at the right time and with the right speed? Sometimes being patient is critical, while other times overwhelming velocity is the way to go.

7. Assets - Do you have the right tools & adequate funding to make this happen? The more you have on hand and the more you can obtain quickly/easily, the better.

8. Reset – What’s your backup plan if your approach fails? There is great advantage to being able to quickly & easily regroup and try again?

What are you going to do today?