In a team meeting recently, I thanked everyone for their “hard thinking, heart thinking and heavy lifting.” The phrase came to me because it reflected the various efforts we put into our work together. In my opinion, they are the three components of success in any endeavor – personal or professional.
First you have to do the hard thinking – determining what you really want to accomplish. Think about how it’s going to move you closer to your end goal. And how are you going to get the work done?
Secondly (and this an important step that many businesses and leaders skip over) comes the soul searching – the “heart thinking” that asks if this idea is in the best interest of your efforts. How will this initiative impact the people around you? How will it reflect on your organization (and you as a leader)?
Lastly, there’s the heavy lifting – actually putting in the work to see the hard thinking and heart thinking come to fruition – accomplishing your goal – having the positive impact you want. And it’s heavy lifting because doing the smart and appropriate thing isn’t always easy. Put another way, are you doing
The Right Thing, The Right Way, for The Right Reason?
That’s a mantra that MBM lives by – and we always make sure our efforts meet all three criteria. Or else we don’t do it.