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Welcome to the no Bullshit Leadership Podcast. In a world where knowledge has become a commodity, this podcast is designed to give you something more access to the experience of a successful CEO who has already walked the path. So join your host, Martin Moore, who will unlock and bring to life your own leadership experiences and accelerate your journey to leadership excellence.
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Welcome to Moments with Marty, your short, sharp shot of leadership insight to help you to stay on track between our weekly episodes of the no Bullshit Leadership Podcast. Over the course of my corporate career, I came to realise that there are some people who simply love to be in the thick of things. They give everything they have to lead their team to exceptional performance and they're comfortable knowing that this comes with some personal risk. But the much larger majority are more comfortable watching from the sidelines at a safe distance. If you're trying to find the recipe for success, getting in the arena is a non negotiable ingredient. It's a prerequisite for having a satisfying career. Whether you're a first time manager or you're already running a global multinational. The world is full of armchair quarterbacks. They sit around criticizing everyone else, waxing lyrical about how they would have done things differently. And then there's the person who actually gets in and has a go. None of this is captured more perfectly than the speech given in Paris by Theodore Roosevelt. I'm going to quote the relevant excerpt verbatim. It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strongman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. If it weren't for the antiquated language, you'd think these comments were aimed squarely at today's problems. But I suspect that even when Roosevelt said These words in 1910, the man in the arena was a rare species in corporate life. Getting in the arena can be difficult because of the company hierarchy. It's so easy to sit back and just do as you're told to try to do what your boss tells you and not make any waves. But if you want to distinguish yourself as a leader who's strong, capable and results oriented, you can't just stand back and watch. You've got to have a crack. Here are two things that you can do this week to get in the arena. The first is commit to speaking out when you don't agree with something. Yes, it puts you in the spotlight and yes, it potentially creates conflict. But this is the fastest, easiest and lowest risk way to step into the arena. And for every single one of you, there will be a moment in the coming week where you'll make the choice to either speak up or to be silent. The second way is to take accountability for something that needs to be done. Something that wouldn't normally be considered part of your day job but you know it's important. It needs doing and everyone else is afraid to own it. This is really going to set you apart as a fearless leader, a doer, not a critic. Success starts by putting yourself out there. You can't ultimately be successful if you spend your whole career going with the flow. You'll just find yourself watching from the audience like everyone else. But if you make the choice to get in the arena, you'd be surprised how quickly you build confidence, and you'd be really surprised how willing people are to get behind you and follow you. Good people are drawn to strength of character, and all it takes is one decision in one moment to come off the bench and get into the game. If you want to take a deeper dive into how to position yourself for success, have a listen to episode 110 of the no Bullshit Leadership podcast, Getting in the Arena. We'll leave a link in the show. Notes I really hope you enjoyed this moment and that it gives you that extra little spark to be a no Bullshit.