Today, I was in a conversation with some people about work assignments and performance goals. One of my coworkers was venting about some performance goals that were assigned to him. He said that he thought the goals were
“impossible” to achieve. Then my mind, for just a moment, went long ago to a
galaxy far, far away…
I have been remind of scenes from
the Star Wars films as I go through life. As a parent, husband, or even an employee,
there are life lessons in those movies that come from the most unexpected
places. I was reminded on an iconic scene in the Empire Strikes Back, on the
little, swampy planet of Dagobah.
I feel like the part of the movie
that I am referring to will be familiar to most people who read my blog. If the
Star Wars movies are something you have yet to experience, I think you will get
my point just the same.
Coming back to Earth, my coworker who thinks that the goals that have been put in front of him are impossible. So, he as already set himself up to fail in his mind. Instead of using his mind creatively to come up with ways of meeting this goal, he uses it to fill him mind with doubt. It is that doubt that will defeat him if he cannot see the need to overcome it.
Since I became a manager, I have been researching a lot about leadership and one subject that I have seen little to no useful information on is how to lead a procrastinator. That is because, there is no way to effectively make a procrastinator not procrastinate. Regardless of how this ends up, I have learned a lesson from this that will help me keep my own attitude in check.
