Author: Sterling Hawkins
Leaders Mistake Hard Work to company growth, success or anything else. It may even lead to something on the other side of the spectrum, burnout or possibly even the end of a company or a career. Let me ask you something. Do you think companies (or careers) on the decline are working hard, or not? […]
Leaders Mistake Hard Work to company growth, success or anything else. It may even lead to something on the other side of the spectrum, burnout or possibly even the end of a company or a career.
Let me ask you something. Do you think companies (or careers) on the decline are working hard, or not? I’d be willing to bet they’re working harder than ever. Some of the hardest, longest days I’ve ever spent were when I was just trying to get by. Hard work alone is a myth.
The surprising truth is that hard work alone leads to linear growth, at best. If we keep going through more or less the same motions (calling similar kinds of people, going to the same conferences, marketing in about the same way, through the same channels) we’re going to end up with about the same results. Makes sense, right?
Whether you work for a Fortune 500 company or you’re an entrepreneur, at some point we’ve all had the feeling of being stuck. And ironically no amount of hard work will get you unstuck. There’s no linear path to exponential change.
What’s required is technically easy in theory and very difficult in practice: hunting discomfort. Actually growing your “comfort zone” as individuals and inside of company culture. Here’s the difference between hard work and growth:
What side of this paradigm do you fall on? Is there a difference between where you think you are and where you think your company falls?
Join me in The #NoMatterWhat Community on Facebook as we discuss this idea further and unpack more differences between hard work and growth. You’ll be in good company with others that are committed to growth regardless of the circumstances.
Getting breakout, transformational growth isn’t just a function of hard work (although it may take hard work). It’s a function of pushing past limiting beliefs, paradigms and systems that no longer work, not just working those old systems harder. They may be what got you to this point, but they’re not what will take you to the next one.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
In April, 2020 I wrote an article describing four possible scenarios for how the The Coronavirus Scenarios could play out: “Much Ado About Nothing”, “The Camel’s Straw”, “Spain Again” and “Walking the Tightrope”. At the time the cumulative number of global cases was 2 400 000 and deaths 165 000. Seven months later, the figures are 60 000 000 and […]
You don’t have to be a genius to be a leader of genius! – my earliest challenges were to rebuild a broken Porsche brand and then to inspire the team at BMW GB to achieve a 500% improvement in profit while transforming the service levels of an industry. Since then, Kevin Gaskell has founded start-ups, […]
When the brand fits, Define: giraffe. A tall, graceful mammal, Giraffa camelopardalis, generally inhabiting the society events, radio airwaves and cycling races of southern Africa. Nudge, nudge, wink wink – YES! Today, you’ll find it at the core of my personal brand identity, following an apt giraffe nickname from journalist and designer Craig Jacobs back in […]
No doubting Lock-down has been a challenging time for almost all South Africans as We can travel again… Perhaps less so for government officials, seen attending funerals puffing cigarettes, and others who have been on full salary, but for most of us a very difficult time. The President’s announcement of easing restrictions to Level 2 from […]
Thinking of Self Care When Burned Out as i was Heading to Dallas from Kansas City recently, I heard the familiar tone of the voice over the intercom start up: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ve got a full flight to Dallas today…” Travel is BACK and flights are almost always full again, so I couldn’t be […]
Our internal reward system drives us to do what we like to do for Use purpose-driven routines. What we need to do to fulfill our chosen purpose is however not always what we like to do. That’s why it’s so important to plug our “purpose fulfilling activities” into routines; behaviors driven by habit, not by […]
“Technology is exponential but humans are not and can do great things, but it does not WANT to do great things – it does not want anything” says Apple’s CEO Tim Cook (a quote I have often used in my talks). Technology is a tool not a purpose – see my ‘carpenter and the hammer example’ (video). “Both […]
#NoMatterWhat is a system to get results regardless of outside circumstances. A set of 5 practices to create transformational growth for people, organizations and companies. The world is more uncertain and more unpredictable than ever. We have a pandemic, civil unrest, tech disruption, misinformation and still brutal competition and more customer, community and family demands […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
