The Pyramid of Success: Day 1 - Industriousness and Values

It's been a crazy week; rain has been creating a bit of office cabin fever. Two layoffs of two great friends in two days. Needless to say, I am going to miss the both of them a lot. They added so much to my personal team. And yet...it all moves. Forward. There's no use in just sitting around or ruminating on the past. There is only a thrust forward, to keep going.

I recently described my job to Heck as: being nosy, gossipy and scatterbrained.

No really, being an office manager doesn't mean being focused on one task, it's about being hyper aware of all the little things going on in your peripheral environment. As Suezq used to way, "Penny has big ears." which meant that even though I was working on something, I could always pick up on the conversations going on around me. This was a pretty useful trait to pick up when I was a kid. It meant that I could read in relative solitude, until called upon to do something else like answer a math problem. Gossip and asking investigative questioning leads to the real reasons behind something or can help you pick up on larger social cues.

I'm not encouraging gossip; in fact I'm not a huge fan. But sometimes, a rumor can actually lead someone to be curious enough to find out the truth.

So naturally, when I'm crossing the suite to get the answer to a question or for a meeting, I'll often run across things that peak my interest. For the last month or so, my co-worker QoA has had this diagram up on his screen as his wallpaper:
Finally got around to asking him about it today. And it turns out it's this: the Pyramid of Success by legendary UCLA basketball coach (he coached Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), John Wooden.

"The Pyramid contains fifteen habits that Mr. Wooden's players developed through daily basketball practice. The foundation is "industriousness," then "friendship, loyalty, cooperation, and enthusiasm;" in short, the foundation of the Pyramid is the knowledge that life, like basketball, is a team game. "The main ingredient in stardom," Mr. Wooden told his players, "is the rest of the team."

The pyramid of success that Wooden created, became not only a mantra and base on which to build great teams, it also became the basis for Wooden's secondary role as lifecoach to the many athletes that came within his radius. And I started to think, just like any great sports team, a great company should play by the same rules. And any great relationship that you want to have and grow into something that goes out there and does something fantastic. But what do each of the blocks of the pyramid mean and additionally, each of the 12 lessons of leadership?

So more as of an exercise for myself, I've decided for the next 15 days to look at each of Wooden's principles and try to lay them out as lessons for work, family and everyday life (who knows if I'll be successful, it's just an experiement)

Today's Building Block of the Pyramid of Sucess (yes, I really did say that): Industriousness

Initially I was thrown by this one. I mean, when I think industriousness, I think just work. Continuous, non stop work. Being the ant and putting away little grains of rice day after day instead of playing like the grasshopper. But what industriousness also relates to, I believe, is a consistency of habit.

Q: What is industriousness?
A: in·dus·tri·ous (n-dstr-s)

adj.

1. Assiduous in work or study; diligent. See Synonyms at busy.

2. Obsolete Skillful; clever.

also:

industriousness - persevering determination to perform a task; "his diligence won him quick promotions"; "frugality and industry are still regarded as virtues" diligence, industry determination, purpose - the quality of being determined to do or achieve something; firmness of purpose; "his determination showed in his every movement"; "he is a man of purpose" assiduity, assiduousness, concentration - great and constant diligence and attention sedulity, sedulousness - the quality of being constantly diligent and attentive studiousness - diligent study

Too often during my day, I'll catch myself creating diversions that impede my industriousness: logging into blogs, shopping sites, Facebook and email. The beautiful thing about my current position is that I've nurtured my role into something that is almost completly independent. I am rarely waiting on anyone else to fulfill the tasks that I need to do, which means - gratefully - I get to pursue them at my own pace. Now, there are definitely a lot of them, but I've gotten to the point where I've been able to prioritize as long as I don't succumb to distrations.

One of the best, elementary habits I've found to fostering my industriousness is just keeping a list. Sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed, I'll lock myself into a conference room for 20 minutes or so, not look at email or anything else, and just LIST out the tasks I have to or want to accomplish that day.

Another key to industriousness, constantly reminding oneself that there are other things to be done. Taking breaks is fantastic in theory, but in order for those breaks to be well earned, actual work has to be done as well.

Don't be afraid to turn on the busy sign on your work IM or ignore emails/texts for an hour or so. Something that in theory is "high importance" rarely has to be responded to immediately. People are often enough away from their desks to have items that are delivered

At the end of the day, don't be afraid to somehow count up all your accomplishments for the day as well. Taking stock of what you've done is just as important as tallying up all the things to be done. And will let you end the day on a high note.

Leadership Lesson: Good values attract good people.

When I joined my current company, my friend and supervisor told me, "You know, even though I think it's cheesy, I live by this mantra. I am constantly striving for excellence."

Even though I wasn't sure, at the time, I could relate - the fact that Knapster could be so open and candid about how she views her life and role really stuck with me. She's been a great model to follow at work; thoughtful, organized, detailed, doesn't take things personally and gratefully, direct. Even though I feel I have my own take on how I handle office management (which has a tendency to be more sassy/snappy/snarky), it's a constant reminder of an ideal to hold myself up to. And her good influence has rubbed off on me.

In life, one should hope to meet the people that make them want to be a better person. I remember when I met the one person in my life that I could not lie to or be jealous when other people wanted his attention. It sort of changed my thinking and my choices ever since.

In life, there's an idiom says that, "like attracts like." This doesn't mean that blondes are attracted to other blondes, more often it means that common interests and values will create relationships around them. So it's in your best interest to cultivate interests, morals and choices that you want to have in the people around you. Honest, forthright and noble people rarely attract the people who are crafty or sneaky. Be the person you want to attract. Eventually your life will become surrounded with the people who are most like you.