What got you here won't get you there – Ditch the winning formula

Many people I talk to are aspiring to something much bigger for their careers and lives. It could be a promotion, change of direction, or expanding responsibilities. They see someone they admire and think, “I’d love that person’s role.”

But the big question is: how do we get there? It is a mystery, a black box. Our current competence won't help us be the person we want to become. We must learn to think, act, and be in new ways to kind of be that higher-level leader.

But how do we acquire these more sophisticated ways of thinking, new mindsets, and ways of being?

I ask my clients to imagine themselves back at the age of 25. Did they know then how to do what they can do today, like lead teams, cause results, and solve problems? No!

Over the same period, they also learned how to be in a relationship, be a parent, fix a tap, and care for a sick loved one. Over the years, they've had to learn skills and ways of being to thrive in the roles they have today, and they do so unconsciously. It's useful for us to see how far we've come.

Looking ahead, however, we cannot rely on what got us here. Fortunately, we know how to learn because we’ve been doing it for decades.

First is to identify and dial down our winning formula, the way of being and doing we've always used to succeed in life, usually starting from an early age. For example, my winning formula is to be responsible for everything (or at least try). People naturally turn to me when things are chaotic and not going well because I can keep my head. I had to be that way as a young teenager, and it’s served me well ever since.

Why would I let go of something that's always produced results for me? My winning formula got me a long way, but when I had the opportunity to lead an organization, it started getting in the way. Trying to be responsible for everything was a disaster.

For example, two colleagues took me aside and said, "Miles, stop trying to do it all yourself. Tell us the plan." But it was all I knew how to do. Dialling down the winning formula was difficult but necessary to create space for me to learn a new mindset and ways of thinking appropriate to running the business.

One of my clients has a winning formula of being the busiest guy on the pitch. He works harder than anyone else.

But to get to that senior role, he can't be that busy guy anymore, so he’s learning to dial down the winning formula to create space to learn what it means to be strategic, composed, and a coach rather than a player.

Our winning formulas are hardwired into us. But we can dial them down to learn something new.

Stay tuned for Part II!

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