Like minded individuals who want to thrive, not just survive, in our careers.
Everybody understands there are times we all need a coach or a mentor to get us through tough times, the unknown, as well as failures, and into our successes.
Other times we just need some guidance on something we’ve never encountered before. Fully facing the reality, if we aren’t falling down now and then, or running into dead ends, we aren’t stretching ourselves enough.
Are we all coaches and mentors, the answer would be yes and no.
Part of being “street wise” and applying our “street-smarts” is understanding we are not experts in everything. We all have certain skills and capabilities, yet we are not afraid to seek out help when we are facing the unknown.
Tongue and cheek, you may hear these words starting in a new job: “Around here, don’t worry about breaking a few bones, just don’t break your neck.” Our objective is to help you heal the bones when they break and avoid the big drops, which can and do kill your careers.
Most of the best stories begin with a failure, we call them opportunities.
Over our careers, we’ve learned to celebrate successes, as well as failures. Sharing stories far and wide around all of the things which work, as well as those which are bound to get you in trouble. Constantly learning what works better and what to avoid.
The community is made up of individuals who like to share ideas, yet we will all role up our sleeves to help.
The vast majority of the community can be called on to help. Believing in the saying, pay it forward. Being a coach or a mentor when we can help, because the time will come, we all need one ourselves.
There are those who primarily deal as coaches and mentors. Yet there are many members, who act as coaches and mentors, when the time is right for them.
It is our integrity which allows the community to grow based on the trust we place in others.
Safety and sharing are core to our beliefs, whether here in the community or on the job. This means the idea of keeping something confidential or within a small group based on the need to know can and does occur. We all understand it occurs in our daily personal lives, why not on the job.
An observation, western society meets a person and begins to trust, learning to distrust over time when appropriate. In many Asian societies, the norm is to distrust, until the individual has earned your trust.
Our community wants to earn your trust.
We acknowledge our weaknesses in various skills and capabilities and use our strengths to overcome them. Fully understanding weaknesses do not go away. They are part of what makes us human and are here to stay. Knowing what they are is part of our strength.
An important aspect of the community. We all realize when the time is right, seek out help when facing new unknowns, especially if one of our weaknesses is required to succeed. Asking for help is not a weakness, it is a common strength we all share.
Last but definitely not the least, book smarts vs. street-smarts.
We all firmly believe to survive and thrive requires the use of both. Book smarts provides us a foundation of knowledge which is critical to even begin to communicate with others in the same market, industry, or similar positions.
Knowing how to apply book smarts with street-smarts in challenging situations is a key to long term success.
Until somebody applies knowledge and succeeds, none of us really know “how” to do something in a new or difficult business situation. It is one thing to read something, it is another to hear a story of how somebody “walked through the unknown and thrived”.
These are many of the beliefs and life lessons we remember the most and pass on as street-smarts via life lessons to be used by others in their careers.