Two well-acknowledged predictors of your life's outcomes are:
1. How well you make decisions
2. How good you are at execution
There is a third critical predictor that does not get as much attention but has outsized influence.
How proactively and well do you drive crucial conversations.
These are conversations where you call out attention of someone responsible to something that is worrying everyone but no one wants to talk about it - the proverbial elephant in the room.
These are the conversations where you ask for your fair share (of work, money, recognition, etc.) when it does not come on its own.
These are the conversations where you shine mirror on someone's blind spots without making them feel diminished.
These are the conversations where you proactively set boundaries, clarify scope, and ask for feedback.
You get the drift.
Most of these are conversations with your stakeholders that determine the quality of your life - co-workers, friends, family, manager, etc.
Most of these are conversations that we usually avoid till it's too late or till we happily settle into a lower orbit of life.
Most of these are 1:1 conversations.
We all need to develop the muscles to proactively identify opportunities to have these conversations and practice the art in day-to-day low-stakes situations.
#work #opportunities #conversations #art