PURPOSEFUL HUSTLE BLOG

A commonly told story about the 1969 moon landing mission involves former president John F. Kennedy and a custodian who worked at the NASA space center. While visiting NASA, Kennedy supposedly approached a custodian and asked about the man’s work. The man said, “Well, Mr. President, I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” Regardless of the validity of this story, it conveys a strong message. When an organization is governed by a strong, guiding vision, people become invested. They become part of the mission, no matter their role.

In the workplace, how often do you say things are fine when they’re really not? How often do you go along with an idea or initiative, even though you disagree with a few parts of the plan? How often do you keep quiet about a co-worker’s annoying or unproductive behavior? If you’ve ever faced repercussions for speaking up, chances are, you’ll think twice before doing so again. And that’s a shame! Innovations and improvements are often born through dissention. When the workplace settles for “business as usual,” it tends to stagnate. Worse, if the majority continues to make most decisions and set the tone/culture of the workplace, voices are silenced and entire groups of people begin to feel as if they don’t matter. That’s where feedback comes into play.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a leader, a solopreneur, or a volunteer organizer, trust is foundational to success. Businesses are built on trust. Initiatives are started through trust. Trust is an absolute necessity for making progress—for reaching higher and going farther. Part of the reason trust is so integral to success is because we can’t do everything on our own. As a purposeful hustler, you’re ambitious and probably inclined to take on too much work on your own. But the fact is, you can’t grow a business or start a volunteer initiative if you’re the only one behind the wheel. You can’t expand your influence if you only trust yourself to do the heavy lifting. As the saying goes, “It takes a village.”

Modern leadership books seem to be obsessed with authenticity. We’re told to be vulnerable, practice transparent communicate, become more self-aware, and bring our genuine selves to the workplace. All these steps can stretch our comfort zones, and we may begin to wonder if the effort is worth it. Do people really respond to authentic leadership? Does the workplace actually experience benefits from leaders being transparent and candid? In truth, authentic leadership is more than a trend or a buzzword. It is a highly effective approach to leading a team. When you make a concerted effort to be candid, transparent, and a bit vulnerable, you open the door for your team members to do the same. A leader’s actions have the power to influence workplace culture and empower both individuals and teams. Let’s talk about 5 positive side effects that result from authentic leadership.

How many opportunities for connections are we passing up each day? Big Mama turned this concept on its head with one visit to Washington, DC. Find out what she did below.

This week's Failsume mistake of Being Too Cheap is associated with the song "Bag Lady" by Erykah Badu, which encourages women to value ourselves higher than anything else. How are you valuing yourself in your Purposeful Hustle? (A Failsume is a list of all my failures and mistakes throughout my career. The purpose of sharing this information is for you to learn what to avoid when faced with the same situations.)

This month I am talking about transitions. A lot of people have been reaching out to me to discuss the idea of transitioning into a new career. With people having some time to reflect, they are contemplating going into a totally new line of work and they are realizing they want to do things differently. They’re in this place where they’re starting to wonder what it looks like to transition into new work. I thought it would be a great idea to share some ideas for transitioning into new work in a way that is purposeful. And THAT is why so many people are calling me: they know they don’t want to do just anything and nobody should be doing just anything. You want to be doing things that are going to feed your soul, the things that are really going to feed who you are as an individual and leave a positive impact in the world.

This week's Failsume mistake of The 4 Things that Suck Time is associated with The Gap Band's "Early in the Morning." I used to be up until "early in the morning" doing work for others. How are you valuing your time in your Purposeful Hustle? Are these things sucking time away from your purpose? A Failsume is a list of all my failures and mistakes throughout my career. The purpose of sharing this information is for you to learn what to avoid when faced with the same situations.

This week's Failsume mistake is called "Are you a Hard worker or a smart one?" and it's associated with Sade's "Smooth Operator." The smooth operators have streamlined their operation to maximize productivity. A Failsume is a list of all my failures and mistakes throughout my career. The purpose of sharing this information is for you to learn what to avoid when faced with the same situations.

One of the questions that I get asked all of the time is, how do I get comfortable in my own skin? You seem to know what you want to do Deanna, how does that happen?