“I’m taking purposeful action but not seeing results. Am I on the right track? Am I making any difference at all?”
A potential coaching client recently shared this concern with me, instantly reminding me of a similar conversation with one of my first coaches. I was doing the work, taking the actions, being consistent, and…crickets. I wasn’t sure anyone was even paying attention.
But that’s the thing about leadership: whether as a business owner, parent, teacher, writer, or other role, someone is always paying attention. You just might not hear about it.
Early in my business, this was difficult for me to believe. Now that I’ve been around a while, however, I’ve seen enough proof of the Ripple Effect in action to keep me in action.
For example, late last year I posted on Facebook about a book I had read and loved. The post received only a handful of “likes” and comments.
A month or so later, I was in a meeting with 50 people and over half of them said they had read the book – or were about to – based on my Facebook recommendation. As a literacy advocate, this thrills me! Several mentioned that they enrolled for my upcoming event as a result. But if I used “likes” as my success measure, I would have had to check this off as a failure, right?
Another example: Six or seven years ago, I spoke at a convention in St. Louis about making strong decisions, and shared Suzy Welch’s 10-10-10 method. Like with writing or social media posting, I gave it my best, put it out there, and trusted that it would reach who it needed to reach.
About two years later, a lovely woman wrote to tell me what an impact my message had – through the course of the Ripple Effect. A baby was involved and my eyes teared up as I read the story that I never in a million years could have predicted.
And I’ve learned that for every one person you actually hear from, there are likely dozens, hundreds, even thousands of others impacted by what you’ve done – they just haven’t circled back to let you know.
Yes, get coaching or consulting to help you measure results and effectively leverage your time and strengths. But the heart of this lesson? Keep putting your good work out there, giving your best and trusting in the positive difference you are making. The Ripple Effect will take over and work its magic. You’ll hear about it more and more as time goes by – but even when you don’t, you’ll know with every fiber of your being that when you share from your purpose in service of the greater good, you are changing lives – and the world – for the better.
As I celebrate 14 years in business this month, I’m sharing 14 lessons – one per post – that I’ve learned (many the hard way) over the years. I hope they help you work with meaning and live with purpose!