"No one remembers Wally Pipp"
I received this message this week. If you don't know who Wally Pipp is, don't worry, neither did I. I had to look it up. Go ahead, Google it real quick.
The gist of it. We had a huge change at our company early this week. We're a small company, and this change will have a big effect on us immediately. With this change also comes a change in role for me. My job just morphed and at the same time got 10x more important. I've spoken before in this newsletter about tackling the unknown and not knowing what you are doing. Now I'm tackling that even more so, with additional pressure, autonomy, and stakes. It's been an overwhelming week, but I've been surprisingly calm.
In the past when new and overwhelming situations have arisen I'll have a solid freak out, then I'll either cool down over a few hours or get some sleep and come back much calmer to logically assess the situation. I can tell I'm getting better at shortening and weakening the freak out phase. This is good. But there are definitely still nerves and uncertainty going through my head.
My changed role presents a huge opportunity for me. I will have the chance to learn and grow insanely quickly. This is both exciting and absolutely nerve-wracking. There are two sides to the coin. On one side opportunity, on the other complete unknown. The work will become that much more difficult.
- More room for growth = More difficult
- More important = More difficult
- More difficult = Improvement
- ...If you actually tackle it
This is the mental space I've arrived in at this point. I know the work is going to be increasingly more stressful and difficult. But I also know if I fully commit myself to it and attack it without reservation I absolutely have the chance to grow faster than I could've even imagined.
Now it is up to me to execute.
A word that has popped up in my head more as I've began my career. Execution. Possibly the most vital skill in business. You can have the best ideas, you can pore over books and constantly learn new things, but if you can't execute then what have you accomplished?
This is the challenge I'm giving myself as I transition to this new chapter. If there is a single word I focus on, it will be execute.
---
We've been at this for a couple months now. I would really appreciate feedback on how you've enjoyed the newsletter so far. What topics or parts of it have you gotten the most out of? What can I do better? I'd like to hear about it and to connect more with you all, after all I write this for you. Thank you to those of you who have reached out!
If you know someone who would connect with the topics we discuss here, please consider sharing this with them. You can use the share buttons below to do so easily.
I appreciate you taking the time to join me on this journey. We'll chat again next week!
-Al
P.S. Sorry about the late timing. I wrote most of this weeks post on Thursday because I was out of town all weekend, but I forgot to schedule it to be sent out. Regular 5pm(EST) sending resumes next week.
|
