Wild courage by Jenny Wood
“We don’t start contributing once we become leaders. We become leaders because of how we contribute.”
3 Main Messages:
The most basic question is usually the most brilliant
Regret is much heavier than failure
Everything we dream of is on the other side of fear
One of my favourite times of the week is Monday morning, when I head down to the beach near my home and listen to the latest episode of The Learning Leader podcast. I absolutely love it. The host - Ryan Hawk - listens attentively, asks great questions, prepares thoroughly and is consistent and reliable. I unfailingly return from these walks motivated and inspired to “start the week of RIGHT!”
One of the interviews, with Jenny Wood, was so good that I came straight home and ordered her book on the spot. Wood talked about how everything we want is on the other side of fear. This in itself is nothing new. Margie Warrell, for example, is among many who have been writing about this for a long time.
Wood also spoke about how we need to be worrying less about what other people think. She says that we spend too much time and effort conforming and not enough time and effort conquering. Again, nothing new as this is the basis for Mel Robbins’ book Let Them.
What made this interview (and the book) stand out for me, was Wood’s reframe of nine character traits which are generally considered to be negative. She believes that these traits are “powerful principles for success” and this both shocked and intrigued me. How on earth could being weird, selfish, shameless, obsessed, nosy, manipulative, brutal, reckless and bossy possibly be positive!?
Wood, however, comes across as a warm, thoughtful, self-aware, empathetic and enigmatic leader. She has also had an incredibly successful career so far as a former Google executive and Harvard Business Press Writer. I was intrigued and needed to read more.
Starting with being weird, Wood gives examples of when people’s personalities have stood out, making them unique and memorable. Nike, for example, were happy to pay the NBA fine when Michael Jordan wore his red and black Air Jordans which violated the NBA code - it created enough publicity to make them legendary. She gives other, more personal examples of when people allowed their character and quirks to shine through and how this made them stand out. She advises us to do the same.
Similarly, Wood suggests that we exhibit selfish traits. By this she means that we should be our own cheerleaders, ask for what we want and need and learn how to say no to small things in order to be able to say yes to bigger things. She touches on the concept of NAPs (Not Actually Promotable tasks) which are the subject of The No Club, and she gives a roadmap for how to classify and navigate the work which serves and excites us.
In being obsessed, Wood writes about the importance of “professional persistence” and of being firm but cheerful, calm but committed. The staff who stand out are those who go the extra mile and who care to do the job properly. They are also the people who look after themselves so that they are able to maintain high standards over a long period of time. She gives suggestions for how to set your own bar and stick to it. As she writes: “if you expect world-class performance from yourself, treat yourself like a star athlete.”
In this style, Wood takes each of these nine seemingly unappealing personality traits and redefines them into positive action in the workplace. This makes them memorable, light and easily actionable. Each chapter concludes with a summary of actions to implement, all done with a sense of lighthearted determination.
Wood doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she takes her work incredibly seriously. Ultimately she is encouraging us to push ourselves more, to embrace our uniqueness and to put in a little more thought and effort in the right places, which will lead to a lot more visibility and success. As she writes “A bit much leads to much more.” It turns out that this is exactly the inspiration I needed to embrace and celebrate my inner wonderful weird self. What, I wonder, is yours?
