We're all Contributors

This means that we all help others some way. It can be at work. Or at home. Or anywhere we’re helping deliver an outcome.

We’re Contributors when we create board-level strategies.

We’re Contributors when we lead a team of design engineers.

And we’re Contributors when we clean up the break room. 

It’s the same at home. We’re Contributors when we prepare a meal for our family or mow the lawn.

Every level. Every context. When we’re helping deliver an outcome, we’re a Contributor. 

So that’s where we start. We create a process-focused baseline for adding consistent value as a Contributor. It's a process that will never desert you. And you never outgrow it. 

In a work setting, it’s common to hear that those who get ahead are the ones who play the game. Advice about how to be more visible, connected, or political is sometimes the proposed solution.

Maybe that matters within some organizations. But for every 1 person who gets a promotion because they know how to work the political system, 99 others are getting opportunities because they’re delivering value. When we see the one visible political promotion, it’s easy to shake our heads and say that it’s all about ‘who you know’. And use this as evidence that we need to play the game to get ahead. But that’s very tenuous. Guess wrong one time and you’re out. 

The safer play is far more straightforward. And it's something you can learn to control with absolute certainty.

Focus on delivering meaningful results. Consistently.  

Strong performers create a performance system around them where they can deliver transparent and indisputable strategic value. That's what we'll focus on with TRM.