I recently enjoyed a fabulous chat with leaders at Russell Reynolds, on their Redefiners podcast. Love the podcast name – it just says it all! Read on to discover why you should redefine yourself constantly.
Are you a redefiner? Here’s their definition: “Call them changemakers. Call them rule breakers. We call them Redefiners. And in this provocative podcast, we explore how daring leaders from across industries and around the globe are redefining their organizations—and themselves—to create extraordinary impact in today’s rapidly changing world.”
Of all the questions Clark and Nanaz asked me, here are four I’d like to share.
What’s one key difference between East and West?
- The way we define failure: There’s a fine line between failure and learning. In the West, we set clear milestones to ensure a high likelihood of success. In the East, we prioritize speed to market, getting something launched quickly so we can learn and iterate.
- How we embrace the “and”: In the West, we often think in terms of “either/or”. Even the construct of AB testing assumes an either/or approach. However, in the East, a company may concurrently launch two products and monitor purchase intent. Neither product has been made, and consumers may be temporarily disappointed. But the company learns quickly and immediately produces the more desired product, launching with a high degree of certainty in purchase in tent.
See, there’s huge learning and growth opportunity when you redefine failure and success.
What keeps you going in the difficult moments?
There may not be one answer on what keeps us going. But here are three things it’s NOT. If what motivates you is:
- Someone’s gratitude, you may never even get started, or end up feeling bitter and under appreciated!
- Recognition and accolades, because these are short-lived.
- A sense of happiness in what you’re doing, as you’ll find yourself fluctuating with the ups and downs.
Because when you’re in the state of giving, you don’t stop when you become uncomfortable, frustrated, or angry. You stop when that need is met. You see, when you redefine your goal as “meeting someone’s need”, joy and abundance flow into your life when you achieve that mission!
How do you build capacity?
The short answer: Operational Discipline.
- Think about your flex capacity. How do you run at a rate where you can flex up as needed? What is that rate for you? And how much can you flex up, and for how long, before you burn out? The more you understand your limits… think of yourself as a machine… the better you’ll manage and maximize your capacity.
- Start with micro-moments and expand from there. A) Daily – cut all 60-minute meetings to 50 minutes. B) Weekly – choose one night to be your late night and load up your after-work events. You’re going to miss your kids’ bedtime anyway, so make the most of it! Then on the other evenings, return home at a reasonable hour and enjoy that quality time. C) Monthly – choose at least one day to go offline. You may still be working, e.g. cleaning out your emails. Or perhaps you completely disconnect. Whatever feels productive and rejuvenating to you, invest that one day a month.
All those micro-moments add up and you realize you can have a big job and you can pour into your family. When you redefine your capacity, you open yourself up to pursue your passions and live in full energy and joy!
What’s the most significant leadership lesson you’ve learned in the last few years?
It’s ok, and you should expect to be wrong. We can be so focused on creating a veneer of looking right, knowledgeable, or trustworthy. But who’s right all the time?
In fact, sometimes when you make a mistake and you acknowledge it, you can earn deeper trust. Because people understand you’re real. Yet, as an Asian-American woman raised by immigrant parents, I don’t remember anyone ever telling me it was all right to be wrong! But you should be wrong sometimes – if not, you may not be stretching yourself enough or admitting you missed it.
For more of my podcasts, go to my podcast page.
For related articles,
- More on micro-choices: https://social-legacy.com/make-good-micro-choices-emily-chang-blog-leadership-impact-jane-goodall/
- On capacity and energy management: https://social-legacy.com/where-do-you-get-all-that-energy-emily-chang-blog-leadership-self-leadership-energy-management-calendar-management-micro-to-macro/
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To listen to the full podcast, check out the below ⬇️