Houston, we have a problem

At one point in my career I was part of an area of a company that had no vision other than to keep doing what we had been doing. Engagement was suffering. Growth was flat.  The pipeline was mostly empty. We were directionless and motivation was low. The strategies leadership had tried weren’t working. Layoffs had happened and we reasoned that more were coming. I was personally searching for some way out of this funk in spite of the circumstances. Maybe you have been in a similar situation.

The grass is always greener…

I consumed a lot of entrepreneurial and business books and was always excited by the stories of the business creators, interacting with boards of high-powered, well-known entrepreneurs and business movers and shakers. That environment mentally motivated me. At that time I didn’t work in an environment like that. Initially, when I thought about working in an environment like that it was intimidating because i knew my performance was not where it should and could be. So, that excitement I felt wore off quickly and faded into the same funk I was in. Again. I needed something to help me improve right where I was at that time.

It occurred to me one day that I didn’t have to actually work in a high flying silicon valley darling in order to increase my own performance and motivation. Many of the resources I was exposed to talked about taking action and visualizing where and what I wanted to be.

A key question

I asked myself “What if you did work at a company with an ‘A’ list board and executive team, what would you do differently?” That question changed my perspective about my own situation. I realized that if I imagined that I had a high-powered team of directors and executives I could work like I was working for them instead of working in the difficult environment I was in at the time. What if I was reporting to a personal board composed of business rock stars like  Marc Andreessen, or Seth Godin, or Pat Lencioni or Sally Hogshead or Steve Blank or Elon Musk or Cheryl Sandburg  or Warren Buffett or Richard Branson or Daymond John? Wouldn’t I step up the game in a big way if I was reporting to them? You bet I would and so would you.

Here is what I did

I actually opened up a Word document  (yeah I know, it was old school but thats what you did)  and started typing short imaginary bio’s of my pretend personal board of directors. They aren’t real people like I mentioned above, but they all had very impressive credentials. I even added the inevitable personality quirks that come with many high powered leaders.

Here is what changed

Then I asked myself, “What would I do differently every day if I reported to them?” “What if they were the ones grilling me about projects and strategy?” That forced me to change the way I approached my work. I realized that moping around about the bad environment only hurt me. Thinking about reporting to business rock starts helped me raise my game, improve my deliverables and motivate me in an environment where, at that time,  motivation was difficult. I thought through problems differently. I was more focused and thorough. It helped keep me from just ‘mailing it in’. Visualizing that I reported to the best motivated me to deliver my best in spite of the real circumstances I was in at the time.

No, this little exercise didn’t change anything about the environment I was in but it helped me to operate with a different attitude and a healthier perspective. And that is what makes the real difference. I proved to myself that you can change your attitude regardless of your circumstances.

Who is on your personal board?