Prepare To Succeed

I was not a Boy Scout.

I grew up in the Bronx in the 50s and 60s. The only Boy Scouts I knew were...to put it kindly...not cool. 

So, I was not steeped in the tradition of the Boy Scout motto.

I now know that "Be Prepared" is one of life's most important lessons. 

But, what does it mean?

We all know that the range of possible situations that we might want to be prepared for is huge. 

Got enough flashlights and batteries to get around during a power failure?

Yep.

Spare tire properly inflated?

Check.

Kids' college fund savings going along smoothly.

Er...I guess.

All set for that conversation with your boss on Thursday?

Huh?

This we know: some things are easy to prepare for. You stock up on stuff you know you'll need in an emergency and you're covered.

Other things are trickier.

Like important conversations.

Think about it. Over the next week you're going to have scores, maybe hundreds of conversations.

Most of them will be mundane; many, off the cuff; trivial.

But a some of them will be important. Some, very important. A couple, crucial.

What if we applied the Boy Scout motto to our conversations?

What if we were prepared for this week's important conversations?

That question is one that we use all the time in our consulting work with individual leaders and larger organizational units.

It's founded on a simple assumption: some of the people you'll speak with this week are important to you achieving personal and professional goals. 

Friends, family, co-workers, bosses.

Are you prepared to have conversations that will help you (and the others you'll be speaking with) achieve your goals?

Well, what exactly does it mean to "be prepared" for a conversation?

How do you do it?

What difference does it make?

Those are the questions I'll be taking up in a new blog series I'm calling, "Prepare To Succeed."

I hope you'll follow along and share your thoughts about the ideas.

To begin with, think about this: what are the most important conversations you know you're going to have this week? 

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