I was humbled recently at work. I don't wanna admit I was at fault- after all, I don't feel that way. So I won't, but the experience itself gave my lens yet another focus. For this, I'm grateful.
The Ways of the Carhartt Leader
I wrote up a habit contract based on the business' values, with some implementation intentions and habit stacking to shape myself into a potential assistant store leader.
If I'm going to work, why not try to get better to make the time pass faster?
It starts with you,
Lead Self: To do so, lead with honesty and integrity. I gave each adjective an intiative to focus my efforts.
- Be dependable: Confirm the completion of each task with an associate.
- Be resilient: Ask others how they handle difficulty.
- Be inclusive:
Pay one new associate a compliment per shift. Rather than offer empty words, I wanna to 'tag in' an associate for help with a task.
Ideally, by taking the onus upon myself to improve, I could exhibit the ability to lead others, the second pillar of the business' values.
then moves onto others,
Lead Others: A good leader is a good follower. How could anyone answer the call of one who wouldn't answer others? Act like a founder. "Own the business."
- Empower others: Observing an associate's strength, acknowledge their contribution following the completion of a task. (Be dependable.)
- Grow together: Inquire about an associate's percieved weakness, or even their least favorite task. Offering my strengths, (be resilient) ask other associates how they would handle an issue. (Be dependable.)
and ends with business.
Lead Business: Leave your legacy. As an artist and a human, this might be one goal we all share, though we all define it differently.
- Create value: Explain the store's rewards program to anyone wearing branded gear from businesses. (Be dependable) by sharing with an associate afterwards.
- Giving out the pamphlets, I don't want to focus on a number a day. I rather explore creative ways to explain it- ways to invite the individual to request more information.
- Champion change: Brainstorm solutions using mistakes as opportunities.
- The writing of this habit contract based on the store values makes one example of crusading for improvement. The pillar of leading business and the two points beneath make great parallels to my own personal business attempt: a media company, one day.
Breaking News:
The BostonDAO announced their Ethereum conference for this April. They opened the floor for people to volunteer, sponsor and speak. I could not pass up the potential opportunity to share my story, the story of the common creator to a larger audience. I have more than enough ideas- but as with every initiative, I would need small changes to affect bigger change.
My paragraph pitch for the speaker slot went like this:
Blockchain disrupts many industries: banking, gaming and real estate. The one left, almost spoiled rotten, is the gig economy, namely arts. If you share your work, you understand. Invitations to work for free, trouble exchanging with interested individuals, or platforms and poor payment schemes. Intermediaries still control the faucet by which creators must drink. Protocols have the technology, distribution model and opportunity to reward contributors, like never before.
As a follow up to my habit contract, I think I had one of the most productive shifts to date. I processed 3 or 4 boxes of shipment and met every task with an open, industrious spirit. If I had to critique, I wasn't dependable in so much as I didn't report the completion of every task. I also continued to recommend customers join our loyalty programs with fresh takes, so as to avoid repetition, and as a result, insincerity.
Post Summary
- The two most common cues are time and location. I would act, once I clock-in at work.
- Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location.
- The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].