Leaning into Personal Qualities to enhance +Influence
Steven came into Life2 cynical. Having a career in Human Resources and specifically in Talent Management. He found that most programs are the same and the stages they bring people are roughly the same. “There isn’t much that can be taught that I wouldn’t know”, he laughs with me over Zoom. “Roughly all of these programs follow a similar philosophy and framework,” he lists other programs he’s attended and rough insights he’s gained. But, despite feeling like he knew almost everything regarding these personal development programs, Steven joined Life2 wanting a different perspective. He was focused on being a participant and changed his perspective on pursuing his goals moving forward.
“Did you have a breakthrough?” I asked.
“Oh yes, I did.” He replied.
Sprinting versus Pacing
Steven describes his career journey as one where he sprinted everywhere in life at 100 miles an hour and he was building his credibility through the sheer intensity of his work and by outpacing his peers. He likens this competitive “career-sprinting” to his competitive nature in other Time-Boxed and high intensity sports like Tennis. “I like winning,” he declares to me without arrogance, “I like being that guy who is the best at sports like hockey and tennis, I like giving everything my all.” From the screen I see a fire in his eyes that I see in athletes and runners who push themselves to excel and win. “But Bang shared with me the idea of a marathon and about pacing myself.”
“Did he challenge you to slow down?” I clarify, thinking of stereotypical advice that would be given to someone who is ambitious is often to get them to slow down and smell the roses.
“Not to slow down, but to change my focus.” Steven replies, “I’m going from one role or project to the next sprinting during each one. But with Bang’s idea of running a marathon means and pacing myself means that I would be pursuing my goals with a long term view in mind.”
Like Steven, his Life2 Advisor, Bang Trinh also enjoys winning, in his career and also the Iron Man marathons he trains for. Bang challenged Steven to consider finding a long term goal and to switch to pacing himself through the miles of his coming career.
“For marathons you still have to run at pace, you can’t slow down per say,” Steven clarifies,” You have to go quick enough that you achieve your timings but still conserve energy to make it through the whole marathon. It got me thinking about how you can go about your career at a quick enough pace and while also delivering on one’s life ambitions and goals.” Steven found that spending his energy on sprinting during his role didn’t give him the vantage point to consider his life as a whole and set any long term goals for himself, much less achieve them.
Elaine: “Did you feel like you needed to sprint constantly in life?”
“Yes, I hate the idea of passivity and conceding and slowing down. I feel like I’m like part of the furniture,” Steven jokes. “I felt like if I was conceding in life, I’m stagnant and if you’re stagnant you would disappear.”
Steven shares with me that his parents were refugees from Vietnam making a new life in Australia. He found himself battling Asian and Western philosophies at home and inside himself. Steven pursued the best schools, the top performing results in everything he set his mind to and was pushing himself to succeed in everything he touched. “I have to be the better man of the general man,” Steven relates this ambitious personality to a fear of irrelevance and also a lack of self-confidence. His ambitious and high-achieving nature meant he was in quite a senior role at a relatively young age, feeling like he would be irrelevant, if he slowed down. He was constantly pursuing excellence in these short sprints.
But Bang’s challenge to him, as well as sessions of coaching made Steven ask himself: “What does it mean to be driven and what am I driving myself for?”
Steven’s reflection on the reason for his tendency to sprint, returns to what he cares about: people. “I realize that what I build will not last forever, the next change will come and things evolve, and my products will be irrelevant. But selfishly, I’m hoping that the people I interact with will remember me 5 years from now and they will give me a call and tell me that I triggered their change of career path for the better,” Steven’s eyes are determined and sincere. “Now I’m thinking about how to quicken this push for others and allow others to have leadership and career transformation. I also need to find a way so I can do it en-mass.”
“So no, I’m not slowing down,” Steven finalizes, “I’m finding a long term vision for myself.”
Steven found that his openness of mind and the challenge issued by his advisor Bang Trinh, allowed him to have a career breakthrough. “Although the content and these philosophies aren’t new, the difference is how the Life2 Programme allowed me to delve deep into my life experiences. LinHart did well in this regard: what I learnt at Life2 goes deeper than the stereotypical surface level management programs out there, by building the focus on the interior self and also giving me space to delve into the imprints of my past, I was able to get in touch with and stay true to my core values and guiding principles.”
