Take the Target Off Your Back

Recently, I had a conversation with a few teammates in my Business Counseling role about our annual metrics for our local center. We had outperformed almost every category the previous year and were starting our process to measure the impact this round.

It was mentioned that, because we had been the leaders across the 75+ member organization in many categories, “we had targets on our back.”

Like crabs in a barrel, we would be clawed down and not be allowed to reach the top.

The problem is: this thinking doesn’t align with my values.

So I professed: “I don’t see it that way.”

My thought is, if anything, we’ve inspired our colleagues to reach higher. That, if we were able to exceed expectations, so could they.

And guess what? Many of them already have.

While we have small teams in each region, we’re part of a greater whole. Building each other up and uniting around our mission is how organizations thrive.

It would be easy to say, “Oh, well now I’m a target,” or “People are going to be watching what I do more closely.”

And maybe they will.

But if you’re doing your best, meeting (or exceeding) expectations set, doing things ethically, and building others up in the process, maybe it’s actually a spotlight 🔦, not a target 🎯.

The point here is: I implore you to challenge your thinking when it comes to comparing yourself to others, and how they compare themselves to you.

Think about what values and motivations drive your day-to-day decisions, behaviors and attitudes.

Don’t take someone else’s word for what’s happening. You can have your own perception – and therefore, your own reality – of what your experiencing, and it’s likely going to serve you better than someone else’s view.

A Small Favor

As we’ve been testing out some new advanced features in our newsletter software, we had a glitch in last week’s poll, and the answers didn’t get recorded 😢 

🥯 Bagel 🥯