As we enter a new year, I’m feeling called to do so many things in new ways. I really feel that the best way to level up in our lives – personally and professional speaking – is to allow ourselves to examine our usual methods of going about our day to day lives so that we can enhance, change, or even entirely transform them. Have you ever brushed your teeth with your non-dominant hand? I promise you that your whole day will be different!
What I’m talking about is disruption. Taking radical new approaches and innovating our “same old same old” so that we can come into this new year with energy and big ideas. It’s being brave enough to do something different. It’s being open to making big waves that have the power to change the world. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Oprah Winfrey are all disruptors of industry.
My friend Lisa Buyer, CEO & Founder of The Buyer Group, is also the founder of Female Disruptors, a magazine, movement, and media company that spotlights female disruptors in their respective industries. As she says, “You don’t need to be a best-selling book to be a female disruptor, you need passion, vision, focus, compassion, determination and a burning desire to share this with the world.” And this applies to men too!
So how do you become a disruptor in your industry?
- As Lisa says, lead with your passion and authenticity. Another way to think about this is to take inventory of your feelings. What makes you angry?
- Listen. Take some time to actively listen to the noise around you from your clients and your colleagues. For example, actively listening to your customers may allow you to pinpoint the recurring problems that just have not yet been solved in your field.
- Ask questions. This is another great place to begin. Ask yourself questions that are both big and small of yourself, your firm, and your industry. Start with the why and get to the how: Why do we do x thing in y way, and how can we make it better?
- Start having conversations. Talk to your coworkers, your spouse, your clients, your friends, and family about the ruminations you’ve been having. Bounce ideas off your team members and partners to generate more disruptive thoughts. This is a great way to translate your initial passion into action.
- Give yourself 3 different levels of goals to reflect different scales of success. What is the most ideal solution possible for your problem? What is the first step of success? And what is the middle ground? Having your small, medium, and large performance indicators will help orient you in the task at hand.
- Time block. Set aside some time each day devoted to getting your ideas going. It’s easy to lose track of a creative nugget before it becomes something sizeable if you don’t schedule dedicated time for it!
- Stay flexible. The nature of being a disruptor means you will have to make many pivots. Keeping an agile mentality will allow you to make an impact faster.
- Don’t worry. Being a disruptor can be scary! You are questioning everything, and that alone might make some people uncomfortable.
Good luck as you disrupt! I can’t wait to see what you achieve.
