The One Percent Rule

One of my closest friends recently reminded me of an idea I used to perpetuate with the youngsters I used to teach. He’s really struggling with recovering from knee-replacement surgery. He’s overwhelmed with pain even weeks after the surgery. I try to encourage him, but my words are not as powerful as the pain. His reminder is simple: one percent at a time. Although I have no idea what he’s going through, he keeps telling me that a one percent daily improvement is better than none. I’m sure we’ll talk more about that next time I see him. I’ll remind him and, I hope, encourage him, to consider that he’s at least one percent better today than yesterday.

I led a Professional Military Education academy years ago for middle tier supervisors. Every first day of class, I was reminded of MY first day of attending that institution, years prior, of course. My classmates and I were immediately overwhelmed when we entered the class room that first day to find a stack of books about two feet high that we’d have to read within 24 hours, or so we thought. Man, we were immediately overwhelmed!

The stress created by being overwhelmed is, most often, self-induced. Yeah, it seems that the world around us does that to us. Nope. We do it to us! We decide that we have to do it all right now. Now, granted, there are plenty of things we should do right now, but are they the right ones, and, more importantly, do they all have to be done, RIGHT NOW?! Probably not. Can you DO IT all right now. Absolutely NOT! Can you do it one percent at a time? Yes, you can!

What my friend and I agree upon is that we can practice the answer to the old question of, “How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time. As leaders of any group of persons, you can practice the One Percent Rule and show, not just tell, your followers how things can get done without being overwhelmed. If you’re overwhelmed, chance are, they are, too. That’s one area in which they’ll always follow you. Now, the process requires you to be purposeful, make a plan, follow it, and measure your progress.

The key, of course, is to do the most important things first. That’s being purposeful. Consider why you should do it first. What effect will it have on you and your followers? How will you do it? Here’s a very powerful tip: WRITE IT DOWN! Okay, get the app! If you don’t have it captured on some sort of device, you won’t remember it and you’ll go astray. Pretty soon you’ll be overwhelmed again because you think you have to do it all right now. If that happens, you may actually have to do it all right now. That’s where you started and it wasn’t working. It’s so easy to get distracted. You have to do what you set out to do. You may have to deviated slightly, but set the course you decided upon. Stick with it. Especially when distractions arise. As you implement your plan, ask yourself how you’re doing. Pat yourself on the back when you succeed. If you didn’t accomplish your goal, figure out why, then start the process all over again.

As I said before, being overwhelmed and the stress that comes with it is self-induced. Aldous Huxley said, “We shall know the truth and it shall make us mad.” You can get mad, or you can get better. Being consistently overwhelmed will create bad consequences. But you can avoid it. Now you know how. And as I also said, your followers will do the same. I hope that you’re not intending to overwhelm your followers. There’s no value in that. Show them how to apply the One Percent Rule. You’ll be glad you did.

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

¡HEIRPOWER!

bob vásquez!

Familiarity Can Breed Disrespect

 

One of the most important virtues we can express and practice is respect. I don’t have to tell you that we, as a culture, have a problem with that. We’re more likely to DISrespect someone than respect them.  In trying to be relatable, we, because we’re humans and because we haven’t been taught the importance of boundaries, often, go too far.

I remember when my girls and I moved to California in 1991. We’d lived in the South, where EVERYONE showed respect in more ways than they did in California, for all of their respective lives. Nothing against Californios, per se, they were just brought up differently. 

The first week we were there, my daughters, who were ten and six at the time, asked if they could go walk around the neighborhood to find any kids their ages to befriend. I gave them permission to do so.

An hour later they returned all excited because they had met Jim and Natalie next door! “Oh, good, Girls! I’m glad you’ve found some friends you can play with,” I commended them. “They’re too old to play with, Dad, but they’re very nice people,” was Tesa’s reply. “Too old? What do you mean?” “They’re adults, Dad.” “ADULTS? Jim and Natalie are ADULTS?” “Yes, Dad.” “So why are you calling them by their first names, if they’re adults? You know better than that. You should call them Mr Jim and Miss Natalie. That’s what we’ve taught you.” “Oh, it’s okay, Dad. We told them that, but they told us to call them Jim and Natalie, because we’re friends and neighbors.” I, immediately, walked next door, knocked on Mr Jim and Miss Natalie’s door. They WERE, in fact, very nice people. We, soon, grew to enjoy their company and friendship. I startled them a bit, though, when I told them that my girls would address them as MR Jim and MISS Natalie from now on. I explained to them that it was a form of respect to do so. They argued a little until they saw my Chief face, at which time they backed off. They always snickered when the girls addressed them, but not in a mean way. They were so cute! My girls, that is.

In my book, HEIRPOWER! Eight Basic Habits of Exceptionally Powerful Lieutenants!, I commend new leaders to not drink with the boys. In other words, make sure to keep the leader/follower relationship respectful. When I have discussions with young leaders, they always question my advice on that topic. Again, in an attempt to be relatable, people can easily, and DO, take it to the extreme and become disrespectful. If there’s a chain of command, practice the discipline of maintaining the relationship so that it doesn’t break down. The bottom line is that WE ARE NOT BUDS! We may be teammates and colleagues, even feel like family, but we are not buds! 

I would NEVER even THINK of calling the person whom I’ve respected MOST in my life, my Dad, by his first name. NEVER! It would be disrespectful. (And he would probably have beat the crap out of me.) Nor would I do that to any other of my family members who are older. 

Familiarity CAN breed disrespect. Maybe not intentionally, but if we want to be leaders, we have to be intentional about what we do and the language that we use. Our followers and peers are watching and, maybe even, learning.

We CAN be respectful and friendly. I’ve been doing that all my life. It’s possible. If this old guy can do it, YOU can do it! It just takes a little discipline.

Until next time, Be GREAT! You ARE!

¡HEIRPOWER!

bob vásquez!