Think About Getting To, Rather than Having To!

One of the coaches I have at Strategic Coach is Lee Brawer.  Lee is a very philosophic guy and also a deep thinker.  I so appreciate the insight that he brings to business and to life as it has been a great stimulant to my own thinking about how to grow a company over the last several years.

A pillar of the OAA way is gratitude.  Lee has been instrumental in helping me think about what it means to be grateful “in” something and not just “for” something.  Recently, our Vice President of Corporate Communications LeAnn Sanderson was asked to speak about the reasons OAA has grown nearly 300 per cent in four years.  I asked her what she thought and she said “I think it’s our culture of gratitude and celebration”.   Of course she’s right.  Thank you Lee, we are grateful for your guidance in this!

Recently I was interview a candidate to head a new business we are developing and she said something incredibly profound to me.  This young lady had just spent a year battling cancer in a very real struggle for survival.  She said what she’s learned is to be grateful and to think about the things she “gets to” do instead of those that she “has to” do.   I was immediately alert and attentive because this is something I’ve heard Lee say a number of times.  The difference was the power of this candidate’s story that drove home the impact of the words.

All of us are incredibly blessed with opportunity.  Sometimes we just don’t see it.  Thinking about “getting to” instead of “having to” and even actually changing the way we talk about things to reflect this change of expression is incredibly powerful and leads to victory and success in so many ways.  It is certainly true in the life of our business, and the life of this young lady.  Try this little change of expression and see if it helps you see opportunity instead of problems!

I know you’re wondering how the interview went.  She starts Tuesday!