Are You the Prey, or the Hunter?
This article is all about reinventing yourself and changing your circumstances. It's obvious to me, that you have told yourself you want to reinvent yourself. I know that, because you searched for this article, or clicked a link to get here. Today, I want to talk about really reinventing yourself and changing your mentality. What I am talking about is shifting your thoughts from those of being the prey, to the thoughts of being the hunter.
Think about it, if you are prey, you can still reinvent yourself and change the circumstances and current reality for you and your family. You can take some courses and get some education. You can start exercising and eating better. You can read books about how to Reinvent Yourself at 50, or 30 or 60 or however old you are. But until you decide to become a hunter, you will always be prey.
What does it take to become a hunter? In my mind, the biggest thing is this, you can't be afraid to talk to people. By people, I mean both acquaintances, co-workers, and people you are comfortable with as well as talking to strangers and people, you have only met briefly.
Another big thing you have to set your mind to, is that it is OK, if someone tells you no! You have to have the idea that, when you get a no, you are 1 step, 1 phone call or 1 conversation closer to getting a yes. If someone tells you no, you have to pick yourself up and go on to the next thing.
The next biggest item it takes to change to a hunter mindset, is the ability and the willingness to take charge of a situation. If you find yourself in a group, at work or at a meeting of some sort, and it is clear that there is a task at hand. If everyone sits back waiting for the others to assign tasks and verify things get done, then nothing will get done. Usually what happens is that a Hunter has to come over and take charge. If you are in a competitive environment, like the workplace acting like prey, then you will get eaten by one of the hunters.
What does it take for you to switch your mindset, from being the hunted, to being the hunter? It only takes a decision on your part! All you have to do is to say, I will be the one that steps up and assigns the tasks and insures things are done. Making sure the job gets done, is all about setting expectations and accountability. If a list of tasks needs to get accomplished. Assign them to the ones best suited, to efficiently and effectively accomplish them. Set up a periodic meeting and announce the meeting in advance. During the meeting, make sure to hold the members of the group accountable, and you as the leader will monitor their progress, in a group setting.
* Remember, you can't be afraid to talk to people and it is OK to be told no. When told no, you are 1 no, closer to a yes.
* Be willing to take charge and step up. When you step up and take charge, make sure those in authority know you are in charge, and that the job will get done.
* Setting expectations - make sure all tasks that need to be accomplished are clearly identified and that everyone knows exactly what needs to be done, when the tasks need to be completed, and who is assigned responsibility for completing the task assigned.
* Delegating the work - In the expectation discussion above, I didn't say who is responsible for doing the work required to complete the task. Being responsible for a task simply means insuring it gets done. If you work smart, you will delegate and recruit others to do the work all the while insuring it gets done on time and completely.
* Accountability - set periodic meetings to monitor task progress and hold people accountable if they haven't done what was promised and what they committed themselves to complete previously. When expectations are clearly set, the next step is to make sure the tasks all get done, by holding those assigned the tasks, accountable.
* Follow Through - after the tasks are completed. Make sure those in authority are advised that the job is completed, and that you will be monitoring the project or task to insure the accomplishments your group worked so hard to complete are maintained. Make sure those in authority understand that you are ready for the next task.
Once the people in authority, know that you took a task, made a plan, worked the plan, and were able to accomplish the goal(s), you will be considered the next time a task needs to be accomplished. After you successfully complete several tasks, you will be seen as a valued member of the team and one that can be depended upon.
People Skills, like Team Building, Coordination, Leadership and Management, are all traits that managers look for in their team members when they need to promote individual contributors into leadership positions. A good manager is always looking for leaders with drive, ambition and people skills. You never see prey in positions of leadership anywhere, you only see Hunters. Since you have decided to reinvent yourself a bit, make sure you are a hunter and not the prey!