<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/e6bc873d-56ce-4ce4-b0ff-c1435e69d1be/memo_1f4dd.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/e6bc873d-56ce-4ce4-b0ff-c1435e69d1be/memo_1f4dd.png" width="40px" /> Words & Definitions: Match the words with their correct definitions. Then, read the article and check your answers.
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a) to push or move something somewhere, often with a lot of force
b) to try very hard to do something or to make something happen
c) to get or obtain something
d) to not have or not have enough of something that is needed or wanted
e) to cause the start of something
Organizations today are in constant flux. Industries are consolidating, new business models are emerging, new technologies are being developed, and consumer behaviors are evolving. For executives, the ever-increasing pace of change can be especially demanding. It forces them to understand and quickly respond to big shifts in the way companies operate and how work must get done.
<aside> <img src="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/36e20419-b17b-4d6e-9bbf-ed1f4671f993/light-bulb_1f4a1.png" alt="https://prod-files-secure.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/67518e45-4db4-49a2-b993-50b1c1778e30/36e20419-b17b-4d6e-9bbf-ed1f4671f993/light-bulb_1f4a1.png" width="40px" /> “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”
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I’m talking about resisting the bias against doing new things, scanning the horizon for growth opportunities, and pushing yourself to acquire radically different capabilities—while still performing your job. That requires a willingness to experiment and become a novice again and again: an extremely discomforting notion for most of us. Over decades of coaching and consulting to thousands of executives in a variety of industries, however, my colleagues and I have come across people who succeed at this kind of learning. We’ve identified four attributes they have in spades: aspiration, self- awareness, curiosity, and vulnerability.
flux= поток
to acquire= приобретать, получать
aspiration= стремление
vulnerability= уязвимость
to lack= испытывать недостаток
to reap the rewards= пожинать плоды (пользоваться результатами чего-то сделанного)
to reap the consequences/ to reap what you sow- пожинать плоды (в негативном ключе)
to propel= подталкивать, подводить
It’s easy to see aspiration as either there or not: You want to learn a new skill or you don’t; you have ambition and motivation or you lack them. But great learners can raise their aspiration level—and that’s key, because everyone is guilty of sometimes resisting development that is critical to success. When we do want to learn something, we focus on the positive—what we’ll gain from learning it—and envision a happy future in which we’re reaping those rewards. That propels us into action. Researchers have found that shifting your focus from challenges to benefits is a good way to increase your aspiration to do initially unappealing things.
A few years ago I coached a CMO who was ****hesitant to learn about big data. Even though most of his peers were becoming converts, he’d convinced himself that he didn’t have the time to get into it and that it wouldn’t be that important to his industry. I finally realized that this was an aspiration problem and encouraged him to think of ways that getting up to speed on data-driven marketing could help him personally. I then invited him to imagine the situation he’d be in a year later if he was getting that data. I could almost feel his aspiration rising. Within a few months he’d hired ****a data analytics expert, made a point of learning from her on a daily basis, and begun to rethink key campaigns in light of his new perspective and skills.
Over the past decade or so, most leaders have grown familiar with the concept of self-awareness. They understand that they need to solicit feedback and recognize how others see them. But when it comes to the need for learning, our assessments of ourselves— what we know and don’t know, skills we have and don’t have—can still be woefully inaccurate**.**
to solicit= просить, требовать
to strive for= стремиться к
relentless= безжалостный
to spark curiosity= пробудить любопытство
Focusing on benefits, not challenges, is a good way to increase your aspiration.
In my work I’ve found that the people who evaluate themselves most accurately start the process inside their own heads: They accept that their perspective is often biased or flawed and then strive for greater objectivity, which leaves them much more open to hearing and acting on others’ opinions. The trick is to pay attention to how you talk to yourself about yourself and then question the validity of that “self-talk”.
Let’s say your boss has told you that your team isn’t strong enough and that you need to get better at assessing and developing talent. Your ****initial ****reaction might be something like What? She’s wrong. My team is strong. Most of us respond ****defensively to that sort of criticism. But as soon as you recognize what you’re thinking, ask yourself, Is that accurate? What facts do I have to support it? In the process of reflection you may discover that you’re wrong and your boss is right, or that the truth lies somewhere in between.
Kids are relentless in their urge to learn and master. Curiosity is what makes us try something until we can do it, or think about something until we understand it. Great learners retain this childhood drive, or regain it through another application of self-talk. Instead of focusing on and reinforcing initial disinterest in a new subject, they learn to ask themselves “curious questions” about it and follow those questions up with actions. Then take just one step to answer a question you’ve asked yourself:
♡Read an article, query an expert, find a teacher, join a group—whatever feels easiest.
The next time you’re asked to learn something at the office, or sense that you should because colleagues are doing so, ****encourage ****yourself to ask and answer a few curious questions about it—Why are others so excited about this? How might this make my job easier?—and then seek out the answers. You’ll need to find just one thing about a “boring” topic that sparks your curiosity.