Early in my career I worked at a non-profit who’s mission was to help families in business together work more cohesively.
I loved my manager at that job. The best way I could describe her is “Girl Boss Barbie”. She was beautiful with long silky blond hair and a friendly smile. She wasn’t just a pretty face though – she was smart, a natural leader, loved a challenge and exuded confidence and competence in everything she did.
I admired her, and I liked her. She was only a year older than me, but I knew I could learn a lot from her. At the time, I was much more of a people pleaser. I knew that as Marketing Coordinator, I was bottom of the food chain. I was eager to work my way up, so I was quick to say yes and help out whoever needed it.
My manager saw that I had taken on odd jobs from different people in the company and wanted it to stop. She declared that from then on she would be my “Sh*t Shield”. If someone wanted to put something on my plate, it would have to go through her first.
As you might imagine, my role became more focused and I was able to have a greater impact.
I only stayed in that company for one year, but the idea of a Sh*t Shield is one that has stuck with me in every role since then.
As an employee, there’s a delicate balance of when to say yes and no.
As a manager, there’s a delicate balance of protecting your team’s interests and the company’s interests.
As a leader, your Sh*t Shield is best used to protect your business and your time.
When your Sh*t Shields are fine-tuned:
- You know which projects are in the 80/20, and you’re unapologetic about focusing on those.
- You know where you have the best return-on-your-time, and you stick to those areas.
- You have support around you to take on the necessary business tasks that are not in your zone of genius, and you know how to leverage them efficiently and effectively.
When you don’t have a Sh*t Shield:
- You’re overwhelmed working on a million things at once.
- You take on too much hoping that the sum will be greater than it’s parts.
- It takes all your focus to get through your task list every day.
It takes time to build these shields, and get good at using them.
But when you do it consistently, you feel the difference in your day-to-day and your business can grow quicker.
If you’d like some help building your shields, I’m here to help.
Joey