A wise friend recently posed the following question to me: “what lessons have you learned, that you wish you had known 15 years ago?”
What a great thought provoking question. And the answers are fairly straight forward, although not necessarily easy. The answers are actually more on-going reminders than a one time lesson.
So, if I had a DeLorean and could hit 88 miles an hour and go back in time to teach myself a thing or two:
1. Collaborate.
It sounds so easy. Collaborate. Or, as we all learned in kindergarten, “play well with others.” Selfishness isn’t a redeeming quality in our personal lives, so why would selfishness be a redeeming quality in the business world. Seek out opportunities to work with others in your industry, work with your neighbors and work with folks across industry lines. You’ll be better off for it, guaranteed.
The fact is that collaboration is hard. It requires work. But there is very little that will provide the return to yourself or your business than collaboration.
2. Lighten up, Francis.
In the classic movie “Stripes”, a character took himself a bit too serious leading to the classic quote: “The name’s Francis Soyer, but everybody calls me Psycho. Any of you guys call me Francis, and I’ll kill you.” To which Bill Murray’s character responded “Lighten up, Francis”.
It’s a perfect reminder that very few of us are saving the world and the workplace needs a bit of levity. Work hard and play hard, but remember to “lighten up, Francis”.
3. Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously.
This is a constant and is related to our friend Francis as referenced above. But it’s an important enough lesson that when traveling back in time to teach my younger, more innocent self a lesson or two, I’d certainly keep this on the list. I’d add to this lesson that it’s best to surround yourself, whenever possible, with those who do the same.
4. Avoid Debbie Downer
For those who don’t know, Debbie Downer is a classic Saturday Night Live character. This character lived to add bad news and negative feelings to a gathering, as a result, bringing down the mood of everyone around them. We all know the person in the workplace or our professional network who seemingly lives to interrupt the conversation to voice negative opinions and pronouncements.
Avoid this person like the plague as they’ll drag you down simply be being associated with them.
5. Cheer when your employees leave.
Wait a minute, we all know this is wrong. Employee turnover is an expense that no one budgets for. Recruiting & interviewing isn’t anyone’s favorite activity. Plus, the downtime while training a new person takes away from running your operation.
Not so fast. When employees leave, assuming they are moving on to a new opportunity and not due to conflict, means that you have an operation that others what to learn from with people that others want to associate with. It means that you’ve allowed your staff to grow and expand. Be proud of your employees for growing their career and expanding their horizons. By cheering for them when they move on, you help create advocates and ambassadors for your organization throughout the community. That’s good for business.
6. Network. Network. Network.
Networking is among the most important things you can do to grow your career and to expand your future opportunities. Business success depends in large part on not just “what you know”, but “who you know”. Many jobs are never, ever posted for public awareness – especially the types of jobs you want as your career advances.
Network with others, find a mentor, absorb all you can from those you respect – regardless of industry. There are a plethora of online opportunities to network (as an example, LinkedIn is a goldmine for business networking). But also make time to get involved in groups like your local Rotary, local chamber or local industry group. The personal and professional connections will present numerous opportunities down the road.
It’s not all about business. I’d probably also be sure to bring back a list of the winners of every major sporting event from the past 15 years and tell my younger self to take a few trips to Las Vegas to help bankroll my retirement.
We’ll continue this topic next week, because if my 37-year-old self could travel back in time to teach lessons on life and business to my 22-year-old self, six items just wouldn’t cut it.
Chris Romer is the president & CEO of the Vail Valley Partnership.