Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter. Every two weeks I share what impactful leadership looks like to show your own power. I also share the most insightful lessons and stories I encountered in the last two weeks. You can also read this issue online.
Hey,
Make decisions thinking 20 years into the future
We normally make decisions with an “If [this] then [that]” mindset. We look at what will happen immediately after making the decision. If we like that, we make the decision. Otherwise not. It is simple and easy.
This is also called first-order thinking. It is like saying, “I will do this if it will lead to what I want tomorrow”. For example – If I switch jobs then I will make more money and buy a bigger house. Almost everybody makes decisions this way.
The problem with the above is that we do not consider what might happen much later in the future depending on our decision. A powerful question to ask ourselves is – What can happen in 5,10, or 20 years if I make this decision? What can happen if I do not?
This is called second-order thinking. It is when you think much ahead into the future, and look at the various possibilities much further ahead. For example – If I quit my job and start my company now, then I might be able to create employment and make a big difference in the world later down the line (even if the immediate future seems stormy).
Extraordinary results come from seeing things that other people can’t see. And one way to do that is by looking at the impact of your decisions on not just tomorrow but also months and decades into the future. This will allow you to make powerful decisions that others can’t. Because you will be able to see what others don’t.
You can start using second-order thinking by asking yourself :
- If I make this decision, what could happen as a result in a few weeks, months, and years?
- If I do not make this decision, what might be the likely future in a few weeks, months, and years?
- Could it be that the immediate result of this decision is negative, but the future results can be massively positive?
Like the above, my coaching conversations are often not comfortable but they can be magical and transformative. If you want to make a massive impact with your leadership, I have only a few 1-on-1 coaching spots available for 2021.
My challenge to you is to 10x whatever goals you are considering. Now, does that scare you? If yes, that is a good place for us to talk. Write to me. I read and respond to every reply.
Articles and Stories Which Have Fascinated Me
One
“I want to be like Dale Carnegie for people with communication disorders!” – Katie Schwartz
I interviewed Katie Schwartz who deployed herself and founded the Corporate Speech Pathology Network after she was fired from her job. In her own words, “My path towards leadership started with having a radical idea and thinking “Why can’t I do this?” The rest of my education in leadership came from the School of Hard Knocks, with a major in Trial and Error.”
On managing pressure, she says “I take time for myself, my family and friends, and enjoy hobbies. I also prioritize tasks and limit my work hours, which can be a challenge when working from home. There is life beyond the computer screen!”
When I asked her who has had the most influence on her leadership, she said – “My mother has had the most influence on my leadership. As the co-leader of our large family, she made sure that each of us felt as if we mattered. She taught through example and through direct coaching, basic cooking skills, for example, and was quick to praise us when we learned a new skill. Too many leaders do not take the time to recognize each employee for what he or she is doing right for the organization.”
Read the full interview on DeployYourself.com. To give you more value, I will be interviewing more leaders and sharing lessons from their leadership journeys in a separate email in the gap week between each newsletter.
Two
Leadership and Trust
I publish new transformational articles from time to time. I thought I’d share with you three of my most popular articles on trust. Even if you’ve seen them before, you’ll find something new each time you read them:
- Want to improve performance? Before giving feedback, give people these four things
- 8 things leaders can do to create high trust, high engagement, and high-performance team
- 7 empathetic questions to ask at work to understand and support your colleagues
Three
Stanford researchers identify four causes for ‘Zoom fatigue’ and their simple fixes
Popular video chat platforms have design flaws that exhaust the human mind and body. But there are easy ways to mitigate their effects. Four reasons why
1) Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact is highly intense.
Solution: Take Zoom out of the full-screen option and reduce the size of the Zoom window relative to the monitor to minimize face size, and use an external keyboard to allow an increase in the personal space bubble between oneself and the grid.
2) Seeing yourself during video chats constantly in real-time is fatiguing.
Solution: Use the “hide self-view” button, which one can access by right-clicking their own photo, once they see their face is framed properly in the video.
3) Video chats dramatically reduce our usual mobility.
Solution: An external camera farther away from the screen will allow you to pace and doodle in virtual meetings just like we do in real ones. And of course, turning one’s video off periodically during meetings is a good ground rule to set for groups, just to give oneself a brief nonverbal rest.
4) The cognitive load is much higher in video chats.
Solution: During long stretches of meetings, give yourself an “audio-only” break. “This is not simply you turning off your camera to take a break from having to be nonverbally active, but also turning your body away from the screen.”
From an article on Stanford News on Zoom Fatigue
That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or just want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,
Sumit
(Twitter) @SumitGupta
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