I think sometimes we, as agency owners and leaders, act as though every decision we make puts us in front of a lion or a hippopotamus. The reality is that, for most decisions we make every day, that is not true.
We elevate the risk of decisions, I think, disproportionately to the truth of the matter. And I think we get frozen in time, particularly if things are not going well, if new business is slow, if you’re having problems with an employee, if the you know all the things that are happening around us right now with the economy and the political environment and all of that, it’s easy to feel like we’re at risk and to feel paralyzed.
So we act as though every time we turn around the corner, we will bump into a lion or a hippo. And the truth is, it’s much riskier for us to stand still. We should keep moving, moving past the perceived risk, because for us, the risk isn’t as real and the real risk for us is getting stuck and getting further and further behind in our decision making, in our progress, in our innovation, in our adoption of AI, whatever it may be, whatever, wherever you’re stuck because it feels like a really weighty decision.
For us, most of the risks are relatively small, and we just build them up in our heads, which paralyzes us. So my message to you for this week is whatever you’re trying to decide right now, pick a lane, pick a direction, and start moving towards that decision, even if it’s in tiny little steps. Forward is important.
We have to keep moving forward. The risks and threats to us are not that great in most cases. The biggest threat of all is getting stuck, so don’t let that happen to yourself.
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Hey, everybody. Drew McLellan here from Agency Management Institute this week coming to you from South Africa. So Danyel and I are out here on safari, and one of the things been really fascinating is watching the incredible thoughtfulness of the rangers, the people who are in charge of the vehicles that we're on as they put contingency plans in place based on all of the unknowns. Based on the fact that, for example, if there's a herd of elephants crossing in front of you and you want to get closer to them, you have to be really mindful that there aren't elephants behind you as well – are going to come out behind you, because the last thing in the world you want to do is sort of be in the middle of the elephant sandwich, where they're all nervous and you're the what's making them nervous and they're surrounding you. So everything we do out in the bush is very calculated, understanding the depth of the risk. So what the lion's going to do, what the cheetahs are going to do, what the hippopotamus is going to do. And out there all of those things can kill us. So the risk is great.
I think sometimes we as agency owners and leaders act as though we're out in the bush, and every decision we make is a decision that puts us in front of a lion or a hippopotamus. And the reality is, for most decisions we make every day, that is not true. We elevate the risk of decisions, I think disproportionately to the truth of the matter. And I think we get frozen in time, particularly if things are not going well, if new business is slow, if you're having problems with an employee, if all the things that are happening around us right now with the economy and the political environment and all of that, it's easy to feel like we're at risk and to feel paralyzed. So we act as though every time we turn around the corner, we're going to bump into a lion or a hippo. And the truth of the matter is, it's much riskier for us to stand still. It is better for us to keep moving, moving past the perceived risk, because for us, the risk isn't as real and the real risk for us is getting stuck and getting further and further behind in our decision making, in our progress, in our innovation, in our adoption of AI, whatever it may be, whatever, wherever you're stuck because it feels like a really weighty decision.
I want you to ask yourself, what's the worst thing that could happen if I'm wrong about this decision? What's the worst thing that can happen? And can I veer to the left? Can I veer to the right? Can I put myself in reverse? What's the cost of making the decision versus the cost of not making the decision? Because for us, I think the greatest cost is not making the decision, not putting ourselves at risk, not taking the chance. Unlike out here, where you have to be super careful because the wrong risk can actually cost you your life. For us, most of the risks are relatively small and we have we just build them up in our own head, which paralyzes us. So my message to you for this week is whatever you're trying to decide right now, pick a lane, pick a direction and start moving towards that decision, even if it's in tiny little steps, forward is important. We have to keep moving forward. And the risks and the threats to us – not that great in most cases. The biggest threat of all is getting stuck. So don't let that happen to yourself. All right?
