You want to be known as an action-oriented individual - someone who has a personal brand for getting things done. So you better get on with it and do something, right? Not necessarily - never just simply act. I am an absolute zealot about taking action rather than pontificating about possibilities, about trying things rather than studying and analyzing potential alternatives, and about executing rather than planning.
But I don’t believe in taking any action without ensuring that it is the right thing for me personally and that it has the maximum likelihood of success. It must be planned action.
Unharnessed spontaneous action may make you feel good at the time, but it will not likely create the final outcome you want. So before you throw yourself at creating your “do it” brand and blindly act, practise these fundamentals that worked for me:
Build a formal context for your actions to avoid uncontrolled behaviour with no predictable outcome
You need a broader perspective to govern what you do.
Your context could be your career game plan - the specific goals you have with respect to the job opportunities you covet. If you were aspiring to have a higher job in marketing, for example, focus your actions on the things that have a profound marketing outcome for the organization.
Your personal set of values (teamwork, innovation or growth, for example) could also inform the actions you take and, of course, the priorities the organization has defined in its strategic game plan are also useful guideposts to follow.
Whatever you choose as your context, use it dutifully as the boundary for what you do versus what you don’t do.
Look for opportunities to go beyond and above what is expected, and deliver more value from your actions
“What more could I do from my actions?” should be your guideline.
Onlookers will be not only be impressed with your strong bias to act, they will also be surprised with the fact you added extras rather than simply meeting the minimum of what people expect.
The surprise factor is exceedingly important because people will remember what delights them and they will remember you.
Act with a twist
Leave your fingerprints and personality on your action and make it unmistakably yours.
Action without leaving your personal mark is a wasted chance to leave a lasting impression. If your actions mirror crowd behaviour, no one will recognize you as being special and no memory will be created.
A trick I use is asking myself the question “How can I do this differently?” as the focus for my efforts and also to remind people of my different approach along the way.
Pause, then act
Be disciplined about taking action. Before moving, take a deep breath to ensure your action is grounded with a personal sense of purpose so it will have the highest probability of making a positive impact.
Use the pause as a necessary element of the acting process. Be sure your action is consistent with your personal context. Once you commit to act it’s difficult to change your course.
So use the pause wisely.
Never ask yourself ‘How did someone else do it?’
Using an action template of another person robs you of the originality needed to be remarkable and stand out from everyone else around you.
Copying what others do reinforces that you are not unique, but rather a member of the crowd of commoners, so avoid the temptation to look at best practices as your guide.
Benchmarking others is the antithesis of being special so avoid it at all cost.
Learn and act on the run
Track the results of your action; learn from what you’ve done and be prepared to act again if things are not going the way you originally intended.
Here’s my learn-on-the-run process:
- Define the top three to five critical performance indicators to measure
- Track results
- Focus on performance that is underachieving
- Learn what caused the shortfall in results
- Develop an action plan to close the gap
- Tweak the plan and move forward
- Keep your feet moving!
Establishing your brand as someone who is driven to act and gets things done doesn’t happen through serendipity and knee-jerk responses. It happens through a well-thought-out plan and a strong sense of purpose.
This column is part of Globe Careers’ Leadership Lab series, where executives and experts share their views and advice about leadership and management. Follow us at @Globe_Careers. Find all Leadership Lab stories at tgam.ca/leadershiplab.
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