Lesson From Wrestling
Several years ago I had a defining moment. I was a wrestler in high school and it was my senior year. Prior to the start of the wrestling season, I hurt my back working out. During the first few weeks of the season I was still on the mend, but I was fit/healthy enough to do a full workout. I still had a some back pain as a result of the injury, but it was more of a soreness than pain.
The pain led me to be more lazy and put forth less effort. I used the excuse of my back pain as the reason for my lack of effort. I know back pain can limit a person’s ability, but this was not the case for me. I had the ability to do more, but I was just not giving my full effort as I should.
Around that same time, I had an appointment with a doctor to get my back checked out. When I went to the doctor’s office to get my back checked, he said there were no major problems from the injury and I could return to complete physical activity. The doctor didn’t set any limitations on me because of my injury.
Once I had been cleared by the doctor, I had to make a decision. I could either give wrestling my full effort and be a different wrestler than I was in the past, or I could just work as hard as I had in the past and be a mediocre wrestler. Well, I chose to work hard and be different than I was in the past.
That was a major turning point in my life because I learned the importance of being my best self by constantly doing my very best. I decided I didn’t want to be mediocre anymore, so I was going to do everything I could to not be. So how does this apply to leadership?
Work Ethic and Complacency
As a leader, it is easy to get stuck in a routine and become complacent. If you are to be your best self, you must always look for opportunities to be better. You must always improve each day. How can you do this? I recommend reflecting on what you did each day right before you go to bed. As you reflect on how your day went and what you did, identify what you did well and what you would do differently. From there, determine how you will do things different tomorrow so you will be better.
It is very important to do your best, to be your best self, everyday because as the leader you set the example. If you set the example of constant reflection and ongoing drive to be your best self, it will rub off on your followers and they will begin to have the same desires.
What do you do to be your best self? How do you keep your drive going? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
To be my best self and improve my leadership skills, I am constantly looking for ways to improve how I interact with my employees, my Manager and others I encounter on a daily basis as well as how they perceive my actions. I am always looking for ways to improve my groups knowledge so they can peform better for the Division and company. I also always try to lead by example but have made a few mistakes along the way to learn from. I keep my drive going by trying to emulate the actions and processes of a couple of past mentors I had (Glenn Smith/Mike Gruenberg). They were great leaders and sometimes their methods were in place to help me grow as an employee as well as a person, even if it didn’t show at first. Sometimes I wouldn’t even know the direction they gave me was for my benefit until I looked back at the end of the process and would think “DUH, Now I get it!!” I try to remember everyday that I will make mistakes along the way but just try to do the best I can everyday. Thanks for the blogs and tips you provide here as they help as well.
Welcome Chris!
I really like the approach you take to leadership. You must always do the best you can, with a full understanding that you will never be perfect. You can only do your best. As you mentioned, with each mistake, you must do what you can to learn from your mistakes going forward.
If you do those two things, do your best and learn from your mistakes, you will always be on the path to becoming a better leader. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!