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?

Are you Committed or Do you need to be Committed?

It's funny – the most ordinary situations create new perspectives.  I was speaking to a gentleman coming up in his career during a holiday celebration and this individual was clearly frustrated with his job.  The mental exhaustion and the general malaise primed me to ask “are you committed or do you need to be committed”?  Commitment and willpower are two powerful elements that are often elusive if the emotional dynamic is not there.  There was still a general sense of confusion from this individual on “when should I get myself focused for the day ahead”?

The “time is now”, bringing energy and initiative to your roles* every day show commitment. Caring more about your role and behaviors will show in the results you produce. Showing commitment can demonstrate your leadership potential to key influencers and lead to career opportunities. 

(* all of us have different and multiple roles throughout our lives, father, spouse, professional, artist, athlete, etc. – this applies to every role)

 

The primary source and ongoing frustration of this individual – How can you keep yourself and others motivated when peers commitments wane?

 

The simple answer is that “do whatever you do, but professionals need to take personal responsibility for their own actions and results”. The market is in a state of constant disruption, placing additional demands on the business that spreads throughout the entire organization. Keeping yourself and your peers motivated can show your commitment to the overall challenges and increased demands of your business. It can be challenging keeping up high performance standards when your co-workers’ commitment to their jobs fades. 

Consider these two elements to bolster commitment:

1. Putting People and Customers First - Striving for customer satisfaction shows your commitment to your employer’s objectives. Even if your job doesn’t involve interacting with clients directly, your role is contributing to the objectives in keeping your organization’s client base satisfied and growing. Handling every task with the idea fresh in your mind that your work impacts client, performance and ultimately your potential may also boost your pride in your work and lead to improved job performance.
2. Self motivation - Encouraging yourself to develop new skills, improve operations and process or take new risks to advance the business can awaken new levels of commitment. You own your success.
3. Collaboration & Teamwork – The concepts of reliability and trust are a much deeper issue and are the essential underpinnings of any successful team. Making significant contributions to any group task shows commitment to your group, team and organization. Displaying confidence in your ideas, skills and solutions is a trait that many organizations value. Being reliable shows commitment to your team’s objectives and an understanding of the part you play in a bigger picture. Taking on any form of leadership roles and organizing team members to cooperate with each other, or collaborate with other groups, shows a commitment to big picture achievement.

 

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.

Don’t Overvalue Risk and Undervalue Opportunity

Don’t Overvalue Risk and Undervalue Opportunity.  The true reality – we’re obsessed with risk and overly careful with steps to control our outcomes.  Guess what we don’t always get it right, I know I don’t always get it right.  Nobody’s perfect and mistakes are an integral part of the learning process in doing just about anything worthwhile.  It’s more important that we learn how to grow from our missteps rather than trying pointlessly to avoid them. Mistakes will only continue to haunt us if we don’t make an effort to address them is a straight-forward and pragmatic way   

 

Own it - Everybody experiences setbacks in your personal and professional life.    Things can and often do go wrong due to circumstances that aren’t completely under your control.  That being said, deflecting blame isn’t a particularly effective way to grow as a person.  If you really want to bounce back stronger from a mistake, you need to employ a high sense of agency.  Avoid the easy way out and don’t let your circumstances define you.  Identify the variables that were under your control and make an effort to handle them better. 

 

Stop and Step Back - One of the worst things you can do is try to slip under the radar and fix the problem without anyone finding out.  A small problem can have a wider impact through side effects than you might think.  It is like a little white-lie, when you were a kid; you have seen these types of things mushroom quickly. Once a problem is out in the open, it’s much easier to deal with effectively.   Should, Would, Could are all variables – you must ask yourself what are those things I need to do to take massive action to apply learning from my setback.  Step back for each setback before you set back in your approaches – It sounds like a tongue twister, but take time to think about it.

 

Apologize to those Affected - Sometimes your mistakes can affect others much more adversely than they do you.  It’s important, under these circumstances, to make a real and lasting apology.  Most importantly, apologize for “making” the mistake and for any effects that it might have had on them.  Don’t play the victim and try to issue a statement that is protective of yourself or your position.    Think of your personal brand and your reputation in the context of the set back.

 

Don’t play the Victim - Again, we’re back to the idea that you need to adopt a sense of urgency.  When you think about the mistake, think about how you contributed to its creation and identify factors in your performance that you can do improve on for next time. 

 

You’re not the only one who can learn from your mistakes.  There’s potential for you to help many others who might find themselves in similar situations.  After all, one of the primary goals in dealing with setbacks or mistakes is ensuring that the same ones aren’t repeated unnecessarily.