It was December 23, 1783 in Annapolis, Maryland where General Washington surrendered his military commission to Congress. He declared,
“Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action—and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.”
He knew his time was up. He had no more to give.
In today’s developed world, we are bombarded with countless examples of people wanting and taking more.
It is true. People are the best competitive advantage within any organization.
Being useful means you are contributing to the team’s success.
Being useful means you are taking actions each and everyday to get better.
Being useful means that you are always learning and teaching.
You do not need a lot to be useful.
You need the right mindset.
“I am here to learn.”
“I am here to do my duty.”
“I am here to make the team better.”
“I am here to help our group get better results.”
What being useful is NOT:
The next new technology or app.
The next new trend.
The next new tool, tactic or even process…
Being useful starts with your attitude, your focus, your mind.
In today’s real estate and construction industry, we struggle to improve.
Billions of dollars are wasted in re-work.
We have more tools and knowledge than ever before, yet we still struggle to deliver projects free of defects, free of finger pointing, free of issues that could have been avoided.
So ask yourself, “how can I be useful?”
If you lead a team of individuals or other companies, ask them “what can I do to help you be even more useful?”
The Real Con is that you need to be in some position of authority to have an impact.
Or maybe you believe that you need to be a key decision maker to bring real value to the project, program, or team.
The simple answer is you just need to have the right mindset.
You need to believe “I am here to be useful no matter my role.”
The Real Con 002