Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

Posts

The lazy genius

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There are definitely geniuses. Da Vinci comes to mind. Socrates. Einstein. Mother Theresa. Helen Keller. People whose very existence has such an impact on the world that they’re remembered for centuries.

There are also people who are famous, powerful, rich, or some combination thereof. These people are highly regarded for their impact. Some people may call them genius now, but time is still testing the merit of that descriptor in many cases.

In either case, we are really celebrating persistence.

What it takes to be a genius is showing up, putting in the work, and doing it again tomorrow. Focusing on incremental change. Getting back to it after a stumble. Refocusing on the most important thing after a distraction.

Most of us are geniuses (who’s to say you aren’t?) – we just might have a persistence problem.

Building trust

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It isn’t that your idea is bad. It isn’t that your personality is wrong. It’s not your clothes.

If people don’t know you, they don’t know where you’re coming from. They haven’t experienced working with you. They’re not familiar with your expertise and they don’t know why they need it.

So when you see an opportunity to make a connection, don’t squander it. Attention is rare and valuable and when you treat it as such, people respond positively. That doesn’t mean it’ll be an instant win. An instant win shouldn’t be your goal anyway.

Your goal should be making a small but meaningful connection. It may not seem like much, but it’s a first step on the path to building trust, and that path can lead to great things.

Tweak

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If you’re trying to be persuasive or helpful, if you need to sell something or influence someone, or if you need to get someone’s attention, you are probably hoping for a response.

Curiosity is a positive response. So is a statement. It could be an action like sharing, replying, or recommending. What it isn’t, is silence.

If you get only silence, the thing to do is to decide what to tweak. Deciding what to tweak can be hard because there is no formula for understanding the silence. For example, it might not be what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it (you can hone your message). Or, you may not be reaching the right people (you can hone your audience). It may also just be bad timing (in this case, consistency comes in handy). Most people won’t tell you “thanks, but no thanks.” If they do, that’s good feedback.

If you’re focused on getting others to take action be prepared to be patient and consistent. Be prepared for silence. Most of all, be prepared to make a tweak and try again.