How to Stop Career-Killing Blunders
By leadership author and keynote speaker Ross Shafer
I’m frequently asked, “What is the one mistake I should avoid?” Believe it or not, there IS one mistake that can derail you and I’ll bet you’re doing it right. I’m Ross Shafer and I want to thank you for finding the Relevant Leaders Club where each week I post a new video to help you grow your career or your business. Today, I want to talk about the dumbest blunder that we all make. I’ve been guilty of this myself. In fact, I always kick myself when I realize I’m doing it again. Before I reveal the Dumbest Blunder we all make, I have to admit to you that this is not my idea. I learned it from Dave Hopla, the world’s greatest basketball shooter. Dave teaches athletes (from middle school to the NBA) how to shoot a basketball so that it goes in the hoop every time. Dave is such a world-class performer that he has sunk 1,127 free throws in a row. The boy has skills. But it’s Dave’s profound observation that inspires ME. Dave explains our dumbest blunder this way, “Maintaining your expertise is a daily challenge because once we have a certain amount of success, we have a tendency to eliminate the behaviors that made us successful.” Now that’s worth repeating, “once we have a certain amount of success, we have a tendency to eliminate the behaviors that made us successful.” Dave’s credo applies to how you approach your job.
When you get good at your job you start delegating to someone else, who isn’t as skilled as you, and then you wonder why performance slips. It applies to all the weight you lost; once you hit your goal weight you slacked off and the weight came back. It applies to getting the degree that you wanted but then you stop taking classes to learn new things and the world leaves you behind. It applies to romancing your mate while you were dating, but soon after you became a family the courtship evaporated and you wonder why you’re have relationship troubles?
So how do we stop repeating these blunders over and over? Dave Hopla has an answer for that, too. Dave never falls into this trap because he goes back to the fundamentals every day. He shoots 1,000 shots a day and never takes a day off because he honors his success and doesn’t want to risk losing it. Think about how Dave’s method applies to your life and your career. If your success is slipping, it’s probably because you’ve stopped doing the fundamentals. I’m not suggesting that you micro-manage every little thing. I know you have to delegate some duties or responsibilities. But I am saying, don’t sabotage your own career by letting your fundamentals get sloppy, whether you’re still doing them or you’ve assigned them to someone else.
If you liked what you heard here, please subscribe and leave a comment down below so the rest of our community can learn from your experience. We have other videos for you to watch and I’d encourage you to get our free e-book THE RELEVANT LEADERS GUIDE here.
Click the button below to watch the video.