Notes: Listen/Subscribe to the Blue Collar Leadership Podcast here or search for it on your favorite podcast app. Watch our recent session at Yale University here.
There is Enough for Everyone
Helping others succeed ensures you will succeed.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” ~ Henry Ford
In a previous article, I mentioned there are “People who don’t want to share any knowledge because they are insecure and feel threatened by others knowing what they know.”
Insecure people have what’s called a scarcity mindset. They believe there is only so much of a given thing “out there,” and everything is limited. They think like this:
- If you get a raise, I won’t.
- If you get a promotion, I won’t.
- If you get credit for doing something, I won’t.
- If you get noticed, I won’t.
Scarcity minded people also tend to blame others when they don’t get what they want. They believe:
- I didn’t get a raise because someone else got a raise.
- I didn’t get promoted because someone else got promoted.
- I didn’t get credit because someone else got credit.
- I didn’t get noticed because someone else got noticed.
Scarcity minded people don’t look in the mirror. They look out the window.
Scarcity minded people don’t take responsibility. They don’t pause and respond based on values in alignment with natural laws and principles. They react based on feelings of insecurity. They are focused on me, not we.
Shifting from a Scarcity Mindset to an Abundance Mindset
Synergy allows us to move from scarcity to abundance. Synergy means the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Some in my training sessions struggle to understand the concept of synergy. Synergy simply means there is an unseen value when considering the relationship between two or more things, like all of the principles of influence (leadership) I speak and write about. Or, the parts of a car.
For example, imagine you have two garages with the exact same brand new car, but there’s a catch. One garage has a completely assembled car ready to drive. The other garage has a completely disassembled car, a pile of all the parts it takes to make the complete car but not a single part is connected to another.
- Which car is more valuable? The assembled car or the disassembled car?
- If the selling price is the same, which would you choose?
- How much more would you pay for the assembled car compared to the disassembled car? A little? Or, a lot?
Obviously, everyone would value the assembled car more. Why? Because there are thousands of valuable relationships, a synergy, between all of the connected parts allowing the car to function which creates a greater value and serves a higher purpose. The disassembled car has none of those relationships.
You could also remove some of the parts from the assembled car, and it may still function without much of an impact on the value. But, you could also remove some very critical parts. If only one of those parts were removed, the car wouldn’t function at all and would have a greatly reduced value.
That’s a simple example to help you see synergy in action. The same thing is at play with leadership (influence) principles. They all impact your influence to some degree. Some more than others.
Choosing scarcity would be like having a perfectly functioning car but trying to drive it around while keeping your foot pressed firmly on the brake the entire time. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense right? Neither does choosing scarcity in an abundant world.
Average people have a scarcity mindset. They’re not bad people because of it. But I can tell you this, they are not exceptional people because of it.
Choosing Abundance Over Scarcity
The good news is having a scarcity mindset is a choice. A choice to believe what insecure, average people believe and to do what they do because of it. If you can choose to have a scarcity mindset, you can also choose not to have a scarcity mindset. You could choose an abundance mindset instead.
Exceptional, secure people have an abundance mindset. They believe there is enough of everything for everyone. They think like this:
- If you can get a raise, I can get a raise too.
- If you can get a promotion, I can get a promotion too.
- If you can get credit, I can get credit too.
- If you can get noticed, I can get noticed too.
“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” ~ Wayne Dyer
When you choose abundance, you don’t hoard knowledge. You share it openly and freely. You want to help others get ahead because you know helping others helps you.
Assume you’re the boss and can promote one of two people. Everything is equal but one thing. One doesn’t share knowledge and doesn’t want to help others succeed. One shares knowledge freely and intentionally to help others succeed. Who do you promote? The one with an abundance mindset sharing knowledge. Look at it from a different angle. There has been a drop in customer orders. Unfortunately, you must let one of the two people go. Which one loses their job? Obviously, the knowledge hoarder with a scarcity mindset.
Interestingly, those hoarding knowledge because of scarcity believe knowing more and sharing less makes them more valuable and more secure. That’s because they’re insecure. Those with an abundance mindset are free to share their knowledge because they are secure and know their true value.
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goals; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
