In her February 13 “It’s Race Day” video, Bobbie LaPorte shares a recent experience that illustrates how to close the gap between thinking and doing. In this case, Bobbie found herself stuck thinking about an early-stage company who wanted to build capacity in their leadership team but had a limited budget—and shifted her own mindset to find a workable solution that fit both their needs and their budget.
Transcript of: It’s Race Day – A Story of Closing the Gap Between Thinking and Doing
Hi everyone, Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly leadership tips for 2023 called “It’s Race Day,” where I help you close the gap between thinking and doing. There’s a time to train and a time to race.
It would be an understatement to say that things have changed a lot over the last three years: the way we work, manage family dynamics, shop, exercise, and access health care. While at the same time, many things remain the same: we want to support the people around us in achieving personal and professional success, take care of ourselves and our families, be happy, and feel secure.
And sometimes that means we default to what we’ve done in the past, to the structures, norms, and ways of thinking that keep us comfortable. And that can result in more thinking (and ruminating) and less doing.
I thought I would share something that happened to me recently that I hope will be instructive.
An early-stage company contacted me recently to do an executive offsite for their leadership team. They wanted to use a particular team assessment that I am certified to administer and to facilitate a half-day session with the team, linking their results to how they can achieve their 2023 goals and actively live their company values—the usual stuff..no problem.
Aha, but there was a problem. During this continuing economic pullback, everyone is being careful with their expenses, as they should be. This company’s budget for this offsite was very small. And based on their requirements, I really didn’t think I could help them.
I sort of put the project in the back of my mind and assumed it was a no-go. But for some reason, I kept thinking about the company, about the earnest way they were thinking about building capacity in the leadership team, and their desire to really role-model the values they have.
There had to be a way.
And then I started considering: why does this have to be done the “usual” way? Isn’t there some approach I can propose that will help them achieve their goals? What CAN I do to support them; what resources do I have to offer that can at least provide some of the elements they need?
I reached out to my contact and offered to administer the assessments at my cost, help them develop an agenda to reach their goals, and coach an internal facilitator to run the meeting. A little creativity, initiative, and letting go of my assumptions about the usual way to do things created a win-win for everyone.
Doing, not just thinking.
I hope your week is one of doing, of taking action. Remember: there is a time to train and a time to race. It’s Race Day.