Don’t Be A 'Straight A' Adult

Let's Fix Leadership

This episode goes out to all my perfectionists out there (you know who you are). Everything you do needs to be A+++ work and nothing less, and you’re constantly stressed, burnt out, and overwhelmed because of it. Here’s a controversial thought that will surely scare that high-performing brain of yours: what if you turned in B work or even C work (gulp)? Not all your work has to be absolutely perfect and a passing grade is still a pass.

How do we distinguish between A, B, and C work? How do we overcome our need for perfectionism at work? In this episode, I talk about getting away from the idea that we always have to do A+ work, all the time. Three Things To Take Away From This Episode

The cost of perfectionism The life of a Straight A adult isn’t worth all the hype. You’re stressed, overwhelmed, your to-list never gets shorter and it’s taking a toll on other areas of your life. I know in school they taught us to be Straight A students, but no one says you have to be a Straight A adult.

Turn in C work (it will be okay)

If you aim for A+ work in every area of your job, you’re more likely to end up doing C work everywhere because no one can sustainably do all the things, all the time. If you give yourself the grace to turn in C work in some areas, something amazing happens - A+ work in the areas that matter becomes easy!

Don’t overstretch your resources The tasks and projects in our workplaces don’t hold the same weight, so that means we can rank them according to how much energy we can give them. For example, client work is A+ work and you and your team can decide that internal communications are B work.