Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen Paperback by David Novak Read Free Book Online
Authors: David Novak
yourself, then what?
To help take my self-awareness to the next level and help me focus on where I wanted to go next, Jack taught me a very simple exercise called the three-by-five exercise. He asked me to write down on a three-by-five-inch index card short answers to two very simple questions:
What am I today?
How can I be even better tomorrow?
I still do this every year on New Year’s Day. What better time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be next year? For example, this past New Year’s I answered the questions this way:
To give you a better idea of how this can work, I’ll explain a couple parts of this example. For one thing, I’m naturally a very passionate person, which is a useful trait for a leader, good for keeping people motivated and rallying their spirits. But that, combined with my positional power and the fact that I have strong convictions, can sometimes intimidate others, especially team members who don’t know me very well. So I need to do everything I can to make sure I encourage other points of view by asking people who are not forthcoming to speak their minds.
I’m also a creative thinker who loves nothing more than coming up with new ideas. That may sound like a good thing, but it can be particularly dangerous when I find myself with a day when I don’t have a lot to do. On days like that, some people would take the opportunity to relax. But not me. Left to my own devices, I start dreaming up more stuff the organization can do before we’ve finished the things we’re currently working on. And that’s not good. It means creating activity instead of action. But because I know that about myself, I can work on it. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing this year.
3 × 5 EXERCISE: GROW YOURSELF
This simple exercise uses a 3 × 5 card to answer two questions: the first one about where you are in your career or personal development today, and the second about where you want to be in the future.
I encourage you to do this exercise now in the space provided and also to make a point of doing it regularly for the rest of your career. All you need is a 3 × 5 card and a little time to reflect.
What Am I Today?
Write down 4 or 5 descriptors that best capture how you are perceived by others today. Be honest with yourself. Think about feedback you have received from others or insights you have previously discovered about yourself.
Perceived Today More Effective
How Can I Be Even More Effective Tomorrow?
Now write down how you can be better: How can you leverage your strengths even more? Or how can you adjust or compensate for those less-than-powerful areas? Once you’ve completed this exercise, refer to your card often to build your intentionality toward making it happen. I had my own 3 × 5 card laminated and taped to my office desk where I can see it every day.
BE YOUR OWN MASTERPIECE: BE YOUR BEST SELF
The best leaders understand that this is a lifelong process, that even if you make it to the top, you can never stop working on yourself. You have to continue getting to know who you are as a leader and how you can grow and improve.
Warren Buffett is one of the realest deals I know. I love learning from him. In fact, I have a ritual with the world’s most famous investor: Every year I have the privilege of taking him to lunch at a KFC in Omaha, Nebraska, where his company, Berkshire Hathaway, is headquartered, and we talk about whatever is on our minds.
At one of these lunches, while he was devouring our Original Recipe chicken, to which he likes to add a ton of extra salt, I asked him what he looks for when he acquires a company.
We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.
— MAX DE PREE, AUTHOR AND FORMER CEO OF HERMAN MILLER
“I’m looking to buy companies that are run by painters who are working on a painting that isn’t finished yet. They know what the painting can be and they are passionate about making it as great as it can
To help take my self-awareness to the next level and help me focus on where I wanted to go next, Jack taught me a very simple exercise called the three-by-five exercise. He asked me to write down on a three-by-five-inch index card short answers to two very simple questions:
What am I today?
How can I be even better tomorrow?
I still do this every year on New Year’s Day. What better time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be next year? For example, this past New Year’s I answered the questions this way:
To give you a better idea of how this can work, I’ll explain a couple parts of this example. For one thing, I’m naturally a very passionate person, which is a useful trait for a leader, good for keeping people motivated and rallying their spirits. But that, combined with my positional power and the fact that I have strong convictions, can sometimes intimidate others, especially team members who don’t know me very well. So I need to do everything I can to make sure I encourage other points of view by asking people who are not forthcoming to speak their minds.
I’m also a creative thinker who loves nothing more than coming up with new ideas. That may sound like a good thing, but it can be particularly dangerous when I find myself with a day when I don’t have a lot to do. On days like that, some people would take the opportunity to relax. But not me. Left to my own devices, I start dreaming up more stuff the organization can do before we’ve finished the things we’re currently working on. And that’s not good. It means creating activity instead of action. But because I know that about myself, I can work on it. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing this year.
3 × 5 EXERCISE: GROW YOURSELF
This simple exercise uses a 3 × 5 card to answer two questions: the first one about where you are in your career or personal development today, and the second about where you want to be in the future.
I encourage you to do this exercise now in the space provided and also to make a point of doing it regularly for the rest of your career. All you need is a 3 × 5 card and a little time to reflect.
What Am I Today?
Write down 4 or 5 descriptors that best capture how you are perceived by others today. Be honest with yourself. Think about feedback you have received from others or insights you have previously discovered about yourself.
Perceived Today More Effective
How Can I Be Even More Effective Tomorrow?
Now write down how you can be better: How can you leverage your strengths even more? Or how can you adjust or compensate for those less-than-powerful areas? Once you’ve completed this exercise, refer to your card often to build your intentionality toward making it happen. I had my own 3 × 5 card laminated and taped to my office desk where I can see it every day.
BE YOUR OWN MASTERPIECE: BE YOUR BEST SELF
The best leaders understand that this is a lifelong process, that even if you make it to the top, you can never stop working on yourself. You have to continue getting to know who you are as a leader and how you can grow and improve.
Warren Buffett is one of the realest deals I know. I love learning from him. In fact, I have a ritual with the world’s most famous investor: Every year I have the privilege of taking him to lunch at a KFC in Omaha, Nebraska, where his company, Berkshire Hathaway, is headquartered, and we talk about whatever is on our minds.
At one of these lunches, while he was devouring our Original Recipe chicken, to which he likes to add a ton of extra salt, I asked him what he looks for when he acquires a company.
We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.
— MAX DE PREE, AUTHOR AND FORMER CEO OF HERMAN MILLER
“I’m looking to buy companies that are run by painters who are working on a painting that isn’t finished yet. They know what the painting can be and they are passionate about making it as great as it can
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