Make Like
a Pencil and Get the Lead Out
A young boy asked his
mother what he should do to be a success when he grew up. The mother thought
for a moment, and then told her son to bring her a pencil. Puzzled, the boy
found a pencil and gave it to her.
“If
you want to do good,” she said. “you have to be just like this pencil.”
“What
does that mean?” her son asked.
“First,”
she said, “you’ll be able to do a lot of things, but not on your own. You have
to allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.
“Second,
you’ll have to go through a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll
need it to become a better pencil.
“Third,
you’ll be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
“Fourth,
no matter what you look like on the outside, the most important part will
always be what’s inside.
“And
fifth,” the mother finished, “you have to press hard in order to make a mark.”
Great
advice. His mother touched on five important topics – teamwork, being able to
accept criticism, correcting mistakes, self-confidence and working hard. Let’s
take them one at a time.
Teamwork.
As I like to say, even the Lone
Ranger had Tonto. You can’t do it all alone. My definition of teamwork is a
collection of diverse individuals who respect each other and are committed to
one another’s successes. Teamwork sometimes requires people to play roles that
aren’t as glamorous as they’d like
Criticism.
Giving and taking criticism is no
easy task, but it is necessary if you want to become better. If you ignore the
problem and hope it goes away, you are not going to improve. Every office I’ve
ever worked in or done business with has been made better because of
suggestions or criticisms of the people who spend their working hours there. No
one ever choked to death swallowing his or her own pride.
Mistakes.
Everyone makes mistakes. What’s
important is that you learn from them. President Ronald Reagan said: “What
should happen when you make a mistake is this: You take your knocks, you learn
your lessons, and then you move on.” The greatest mistake a person can make is
to be afraid to make one. In fact, you often need to increase your failures to
become more successful. Mistakes don’t make you a failure. How you respond to a
mistake determines just how smart you really are.
Self-Confidence.
When I’m interviewing potential
employees, one of the traits that I look for is confidence. Confidence doesn’t
come naturally to most people. Even the most successful people have struggled
with it in their careers. My advice: Track your success, practice being
assertive, accept that failure is not the end of the world, step out of your
comfort zone, set goals, keep improving your skills and above all else, don’t
compare yourself to others.
Work Hard. Success comes
before work only in the dictionary. Many people look for a magic formula to
turn things around, but there is not magic formula. Sure, natural talent can
make a big difference. But show me a natural .300 hitter in the major leagues,
and I’ll show you someone who bangs the ball until their hands bleed trying to
keep that hitting stroke honed.
Mackay’s Moral: If you want
to make your mark, sharpen your skills.
