Give a Damn!

Do yourself and everyone around you a favor: Give a damn! Whatever you choose to do today, tomorrow, over the weekend, and next week, care enough to give it your all. Not 10 or 20 or 50, or even 70 percent; give it 100 percent. Or save yourself and others the aggravation to have to follow up with you on their follow-up.

Not even the teenagers looking for a little extra spending money actually enjoy babysitting. Much less leaders who are asked to lead key initiatives, drive revenue growth, real innovation, or lasting change. Don’t commit, much less overcommit, to everyone you meet.

Get selfish and start saying NO more often. No, because you don’t have the bandwidth. No, because you don’t have the necessary resources. No, because you don’t have the intellectual horsepower, the relationships, or a strategic understanding of the desired outcomes. No, because you’re not in a position to succeed!

If you say no to 999 flowers, that’s when you’ll have the capacity, energy, and focus to grow, nurture, and sustain one oak tree! I’d rather you focus on doing fewer things exceptionally well than taking on 4,832 commitments and doing all of them half-ass at best! When you do the former, you consistently delight your relationships. When you do the latter, you consistently disappoint yourself and everyone around you.

When you focus on fewer, more strategic priorities with greater material impact on value creation – for yourself, your team, and your organization – you take greater pride in its progress and ultimate success. When you say YES, others should feel a sense of calm because they know you’ve got it covered. You’ll likely handle the ups and downs with every initiative, effort, campaign, and journey.

Starting today, commit to the discipline of your passions, resolve, focus, commitment, and boundaries to exceed expectations – of yourself and others around you. Consistent performance, execution, and results start with you and others around you giving a damn!