I saw an old video from Veritasium pop up on YouTube: Is success Luck or Hard Work? Given we had just reflected on the past year this seemed like an interesting rabbit hole to go down.
It talks about egocentric bias and it is worth a watch. Grab a cuppa and settle in for the 12 minute video and I encourage you to watch it with three questions in mind:
1. How does this relate to the way I lead myself?
2. How does this relate to the way I lead my team?
3. How does this relate to the way I work with my other management and leadership peers?
I can think of an old boss of mine who would benefit from understanding this paradox and when taking the credit for the work done maybe acknowledge the luck he had with having a great team.
I like the lesson of perspective: I’ll remember my contribution far more clearly and vividly than your contribution. Not intentionally, of course. But as a leader whose contributions could you be taking more notice so as to recognise and acknowledge?
Maybe today is a good day to not just acknowledge your hard work and perseverance that got you where you are today but also those factors that were beyond your control, the luck.
I’d love to know what you think about this in the context of how you lead…
