Bursting The Glass Ceiling

I am wishing you, my dear reader, a happy and prosperous New Year!                                                    May you plan and take the best decisions for 2015.

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I can imagine that the word “glass ceiling” is one of the famous words in the past few years.  In politics and technology people speak about “the” break-through of…… , in self-development and soft skills  (are such skills really soft?)  we speak about “the individual” break-through and mention the glass ceiling above.

Now, while negotiations and patience are relevant for politics, a detailed research (with a coincidence?) is relevant for a break-through in technology.  But what causes a break-through for individuals or minority groups?  It´s the actions!  And such actions require a detailed plan, a fine strategy.  And strategies are built by several decision paths.  Activities therefore include decisiveness.

You may ask now: “but how can I burst my glass ceiling with decisions to get on the next level?”  There are two ways:  either someone comes from the outside to help you and lifts you up, or you start with yourself from the inside, which is often improving a skill and showing it.

Let me give you 3 examples:

1. Take Bill Hewlett and David Packard, the founders of Hewlett-Packard.  Both started one of the most innovative companies without knowing what they would eventually produce – but they knew one thing:  they wanted to work together and build a great company!  They decided for a stable partnership without a clear goal and got going without a plan.  Actually their potential glass ceiling of gaining international success seemed to be frozen for good with such a start.

2. Jim Curry, who won 4 Olympic Ice Skating Gold Medals, once was asked at what point he did know that he would be a Gold Medal winner?  His answer was:  “when I decided it would be OK to fall!”  The sportsman mentally minimized the danger and fear of the possible “worst case” in sports…. to become a winner by a simple decision!  How thick do you think is the mental glass ceiling to be a winner of a Gold Medal at the Olympics?

3. The young Arnold Schwarzenegger did it a bit differently in 1965:  after winning the regional championship in bodybuilding and being placed 3d. in the Mr. Austria Competition he signed up for “Junior Mr. Europe”; as it was put on his plan by himself back then.  But he wasn´t allowed to go and attend in Germany, blocked by a “teamleader” of the Military.  He didn´t care about the official “no” and simply decided himself to go to Stuttgart by train.  He won and enjoyed a big success!  After returning to the training camp he was punished and locked in a cell for 24 hrs.  When the word came out about his victory as Best Built Junior Athlete of Europe, he was freed and …. the rest is history.   How strong is a will or how deviant is a future vision to simply ignore a glass ceiling?

We take many decisions in life!

But just a few of them really turn the side of the coin we throw!  Mainly it´s the decisions about the assumed “impossible” which turn our fate for good.  Opposite, everything which seems and is possible doesn´t make a big difference in the long-run.

Today I write about decision making to mentally wake up people and to motivate them to reflect about their past decisions in life.  We seldom talk about it.  We do it or we don´t which both delivers consequences.  But many of us don´t “know” how much can be moved for themselves and for many others, when only one of us starts thinking and learning MORE about how we tick when we make decisions.

We have to make decisions once we leave the path of the normal, of the given process.  That means that the 1st. decision will ask for many more decision to follow.  A good thing is to not really think about what may come on the new, unclear path but keep focusing on the goal.

As long as you´re best prepared and quite sure that you can make it, just GO!

BE A DECISION MAKER.  BE OUTSTANDING.

rita jaskolla – Leadership Architect –