by Carleen MacKay :: Rob Kinslow
The on-going turmoil caused by disruptive workplace changes, reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, attributed to Chesty Puller, the most decorated Marine in history. The story goes like this. The 1st Marine Division was cut off behind enemy lines. Army HQ had written them off as being lost because they were surrounded by 22 enemy divisions. Chesty, the story goes, rallied his men. To his badly outnumbered troops, he said,
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right,
they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…
they can’t get away this time.”
The Marines won the battle.
They stood their ground because, after all, what else was there to do? I like this story because of how Chesty re-framed attitudes, when changing the situation was not an option.
Standing your ground works in war when surrounded by enemies out there, but standing your ground when the enemy is within – your fear of change – doesn’t help you re-frame and move on. That’s because fear generally creates analysis-paralysis. And, courage is necessary to move through fear. “When you can smile at fear, shift happens. That from which you normally would run, channeled through courage and hope, creates clear focus and enervates you towards where you are being drawn. Fear contains important intelligence about your potential.”
It is time to summon your courage and play the right game of work, at the right time in history—a time of both grave threats and great opportunities.
It will take all of us to win the battle for the future of work.
Changing your situation IS an option.
Agility is the new tactic of work.
Take a page from the new workplace playbook. Note how organizations engage or hire contributors. They use full-time staff, project teams, just-in-time teams, outsourced, or virtual assistants, off-shored solutions, and subject-matter experts when and as needed. The disruption is in full swing! Even Research & Development teams may be found anywhere and everywhere today. Why? Because R&D is not a leisurely activity of product or service development, anymore, but a race to the future with new products or greatly re-designed services.
Flash…
Talent strategy must be aligned with business strategy.
The “vendor” mentality is out. The “affiliated” relationship is in.
Everyone, who contributes to an organization, counts.
See the opportunity for you in any of these roles?
Once you embrace this smart workplace model, you will work when you learn how to position, market and sell your talent where your talent matches the organization’s highest needs.
We are your Workforce Wingmen, we’ll guide you to soft landings in these, and many other, new ways to work!
Wanna learn more? Look us up on LinkedIn: Carleen MacKay :: Rob Kinslow
Questions? Answers? More posts by the author.
If you like my posts—even if you don’t—why not contribute to helping spread the word?
Thanks in advance for caring and sharing this post on your social media sites