The Vault: Thinking Outside the List
Now that I’ve been blogging for almost two years, I thought I’d start reading through my stuff and remind myself what I actually think! It’s amazing how great a process we go through: our philosphies, our discoveries, our frustrations, our themes. With that in mind, I thought it might be good to revisit some of my favorites once a week, the highlights of what I like to call “The Vault.” Enjoy.
Thinking Outside the List originally appeared on October 5, 2007:
Just being busy doesn’t make you productive.
Just being productive doesn’t make you effective.
Just being effective doesn’t make you successful.
Just being successful doesn’t make you a leader.
Too many people think erroneously somewhere in the midst of the misconceptions listed above. Success requires leadership, but it does not produce leadership. Leadership requires vision, persistence and influence, among other things.
As I ran around like crazy today, trying to wrap one thing up after another, I suddenly realized I was more interested in crossing things off my list than I was producing exceptional products and services. And I almost missed some bigs things because of it.
Crossing things off a list and never straying has never been a celebrated characteristic of a leader.
We all get in “get-it-done” mode. As a marketer, it is sometimes required. But there is no one that should care about producing the exceptional, the remarkable, the unbelievable more than you. And that takes leadership (vision, persistence and influence). Don’t skip that - the people you work with are counting on you to demand excellence, whether they act like it or not.
As a marketer, you must think outside the list.
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