There’s a challenge that happens for every employee who is looking to grow in their role and responsibility. You won’t notice it at first. It’s a slow shift. And you may not remember when it started, but when you’re in the midst of the shift towards results orientation, you’ll know it.
I use a lot of sports analogies because even non-players understand them if they’ve watched a game before.
Think about football. The quarterback goes into the huddle and names some plays. One of those applies to you as a wide receiver. Your job is to run out towards the edge of the field and catch the ball, if thrown to you.
So you run the route and no one throws you the ball. You can still say that you ran the route, right?
But that’s not what gets you paid.
What gets you paid is the amount of passes received and the number of touchdowns made.
See what happened there? It was a shift towards results orientation.
When you’re young, you love goals that you can achieve on your own and objectives that you have 100% control of. Those are the “I ran the route” objectives. They’re clean, clear, and attainable.
The number of touchdowns and receptions are not as clean or under our own control. First, the quarterback has to throw to us. If they don’t, we won’t have any luck. And you can’t control the defense. What if they stop you?
Being someone who can live under the stress and strain of a results orientation isn’t easy. Anyone can thwart you at anytime.
But those are the best people to hire. They’ll make things happen. Even if plan A doesn’t work. Because they know the goal is the results, not just the effort.