Ben Brooks

What I find hard about feedback is not taking it personally. Often I find myself listening to feedback and getting stuck feeling crummy about myself or my work. Finally I wised up and realized what a gift feedback actually is and how to deal with it, even though its still a bitch!

If you are looking to change an area of your life rather than obsess about the outcome you want, simply start keeping score. When you measure it, you focus on it, and typically take action to get the result you want. What game are you playing and what will it take to win?

One of the most important pieces of advice I often give people who ask me is quite simple - Just Do It. Too often people swirl in their ideas, dreams, thoughts and plans but never really stand up and say "I'm going ot make this @#%! happen!"

I’ve seen a number of people exit corporations to launch startups. One of the many challenges formerly corporate employee, now startup founders face is reframing expectations for success. It is extremely difficult to know if what you are doing is adequate because in startups there is often no “bar” for performance. So know that not knowing how well you are doing is a common experience.

A few years ago at my firm, we were doing culture workshops with teams around the world. There was a discussion about the idea of the proverbial grass being “greener” at competitors.  Colleagues shared, “at Aon they do this or at Willis they do that” and that maybe everyone should go work elsewhere. At the back of the room, some very wise woman piped up and said, “If the grass is brown, water your own damn grass!” Amen - I couldn’t have said it better!

What I find hard about feedback is not taking it personally. Often I find myself listening to feedback and getting stuck feeling crummy about myself or my work. Finally I wised up and realized what a gift feedback actually is and how to deal with it, even though its still a bitch!

If you are looking to change an area of your life rather than obsess about the outcome you want, simply start keeping score. When you measure it, you focus on it, and typically take action to get the result you want. What game are you playing and what will it take to win?

One of the most important pieces of advice I often give people who ask me is quite simple - Just Do It. Too often people swirl in their ideas, dreams, thoughts and plans but never really stand up and say "I'm going ot make this @#%! happen!"

I’ve seen a number of people exit corporations to launch startups. One of the many challenges formerly corporate employee, now startup founders face is reframing expectations for success. It is extremely difficult to know if what you are doing is adequate because in startups there is often no “bar” for performance. So know that not knowing how well you are doing is a common experience.

A few years ago at my firm, we were doing culture workshops with teams around the world. There was a discussion about the idea of the proverbial grass being “greener” at competitors.  Colleagues shared, “at Aon they do this or at Willis they do that” and that maybe everyone should go work elsewhere. At the back of the room, some very wise woman piped up and said, “If the grass is brown, water your own damn grass!” Amen - I couldn’t have said it better!