“Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda.”
Seth Godin
I am a huge fan of Seth Godin, as many of you know by how many times his message and books are discussed on my blog. He is not only super smart, but I love how simply he presents meaningful and important business concepts which apply both to small and big business. His post earlier this week really resonated with me, then while sitting with a dear friend at dinner the other night, she brought up the exact same post he wrote, which to me was a sign I needed to blog about it and share it.
Here is Seth’s post from January 28th in case you missed it.
Beyond showing up
“You’ve probably got that part nailed. Butt in seat, smile on your face. We often run into people who understand their job to be showing up on time to do the work that’s assigned.
We’ve moved way beyond that now. Showing up and taking notes isn’t your job. Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda. Your job is to escalate, reset expectations and make us delighted that you are part of the team.
Showing up is overrated. Necessary but not nearly sufficient.”
Wow. Awesome message, right? Now here is my take-away from his post, something for all of us to consider as team members and leaders.
Are You Just Showing Up?
As a team member, you have a responsibility to your leaders, teammates and customers to do more than just show up. If you have an idea, an aha or a breakthrough, it needs to be shared. If you have a way of making a service, product or system better, it needs to be shared. If you have a skill, a talent, or a way to make the customer experience better, it needs to be shared. Your job is to escalate, as Seth says.
Now, this is different than bitching and complaining. That is not the message here at all. This is about being an active participant in your world, and to help make it better.
Have You Created A Just Show Up Culture?
Now on the flip side, if you are a leader, manager or owner, have you created an environment where your team members can participate in the business and be part of delighting your customers or one that shoots down anyone who offers ideas, solutions and better or different ways of doing things? Be really honest with yourself on this one. You see, what happens when you stop listening as a leader, or brush off your teams ideas and suggestions time and time again, they naturally will become spectators, not participants. Wouldn’t you? Think about it.
What do you really want? Butts in seats that just show up ready to take notes or passionate participants wanting and needing to make a difference?
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