For someone just starting out in a leadership position, the job in front of you can seem daunting. Just when you figure out how to do one thing, you find out that you are doing something else incorrect that you didn’t know about. Then when you work on that thing, you let the thing you just learned slip and you have to go back and address that again. You might say to yourself that you do not know how anybody can keep up with all of the small details, let alone ever become good at it. The truth is that it takes time to master each skill and eventually, you will become good at that skill and not even think about it. It takes humility and determination, but it can be done.
I recently experienced a similar situation that reminded me of how absolutely impossible mastering a new skill can be, and that in reality, you never really become a master. You just become better and better as you apply yourself, and as you seek outside guidance and help.
I was invited by some high school friends to join their group that goes fly fishing for bonefish every year. Bonefish are saltwater fish that live in the flats outside of the Keys and the islands around the Bahamas. They are very hard to see and very fast. It really isn’t fishing, rather it is hunting. You sit on the bow of a boat as it is poled through a salt flat, or you wade through the flats. When you spot a bonefish you throw your fly in front of it and when it grabs your fly, you bring it in. Pretty simple, or so I thought.
First, you have to be able to see the fish. Bonefish are nearly invisible in the water that sharks cannot see them. From on top of the water they are masters of camouflage. Then when you see them, you have to cast your fly out to them. There could be high winds, long-distance casts, or a drifting boat. And I won’t even get into the finer points of making an effective cast. The reality is at the start, your line comes piling off your pole and falls well short of the fish, almost every time.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of when I started out in my first leadership job. I worried more about what everybody thought of my leadership actions than I did about concentrating on executing them so that they accomplished the desired results. Any beginner golfer who has ever teed off on the first tee in front of a crowd knows what I am talking about. You worry more about what will happen if you don’t do a good job, rather than focusing on actually doing the job well.
I finally realized that I was not going to be a great bone fisherman right off the start. I was going to have to get up in front of people … and mess up. However, I made myself open to instruction and critique. Then I took those instructions to heart and decided to incorporate them into my next cast … and I messed up again. Muscle memory is tough, and it is the same way in leading people. You will have the best of intentions of changing up the way you do things, but then when you get in the heat of the moment, you go back to what your muscles, or at least that big muscle in your head, remember how you did things in the past.
Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Whether it is the wind starting to blow as you start your cast, or someone barging in your office as you try to have that meaningful conversation with an associate, you will always have something that derails your plan. The trick is to carry through and get a little better every time. After a while, those insurmountable changes will be gradually overcome, and your new muscle memory will make you completely forget about having any difficulty with that task. You will then move on to mastering the next task, and the next task, until you look back and wonder why you thought any of those tasks were difficult. As you move to each level, if you seek out input along the way, you will become better and better. And eventually, you will find yourself succeeding, or in my case catching some fish. I just wish I could do something about that darn wind.
