Principal's Principles
It has long been my goal to be a principal in my life, or in my own words, to have sufficient command over how I spend my time.
Is that the key to everyone's happiness? Probably not. But it's essential to mine. Living without agency is among my greatest personal anxieties.
Principal: a chief or head, or "first in importance". In my own words - have command over how I spend my time, both in short timelines (today) and long ones (years, decades)
Principle: a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning
Living with agency does not mean living without structure. In fact, it means almost the opposite; structure enables progress. So I am constantly making plans, measuring myself against them, trying to learn, and reflecting learnings in new plans.
I base those plans off of a living list of principles. Listed below. I call that list my Principal's Principles.
Almost all of them I learned from other people. You know who you are.
I don't know if anyone will care about this, but a good friend suggested I share. If you have principles that I should consider adding, please share with me!
Principal's Principles
Givers get lucky more often
Don’t say no to things that haven’t been offered to you
Truly unique opportunities come to the truly unique
Being different gets you further than being the best (or smartest)
How do you know where the line is if you don’t go over it sometimes?
Comfort is where careers (and lives) go to die
The fewer words you use, the more people will listen to you
Listening done well can be more convincing than speaking
No one has ever regretted getting off of their couch and working out
It’s more expensive to be cheap than generous. People hate cheap people.
Ooze humility
Keep it real. If you wait for the right words or the right moment, you’ll never find either in time.
Giving someone else transparency about your own weaknesses builds trust. Trust is very helpful.
Incentive alignment outperforms operational excellence over the long term
Budget
Care about values not about things
Find ways to laugh at or be fascinated by anything
Believe that people have good intentions until they give you a reason not to
Believe in ideas long enough to let them mature. Big ideas are hard to get right the first time.
Give credit where credit is due
Don’t accept LinkedIn invitations from people you don’t know
Real grudges are bad. Made up grudges are powerful.
Don’t pass your bad shit on to other people, especially talent
When chasing a giant goal: focus on inputs, not outputs. When chasing a narrow goal: flip it.
It's respectful to be on time. It's even more respectful to be on time and prepared.
Segment Leader & Director of Product Management, Medical Education & Practice at Wolters Kluwer Health
4moI enjoyed reading your list! #21 - can go both ways ;)
C-Suite Executive Assistant | Executive Services, Communication
5moLove this! #8 is so important, I also try to listen without the intent to respond. It's freeing. My list includes two additional principles: 1. Advocate for yourself at all times. 2. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and keep asking until you get an answer.
Staffing & Deployment Transformation | Product Owner & Optimization Lead
5mo#6!!
Beautiful
SVP at Metropolis
5moSomeone just read Brad Stulberg’s Master of Change! Good to see you put this out into the world. As you should…Love this!!!