Practicing the Better

Practicing the Better

A while back the company I work for, Bandwidth , asked me to participate in a leadership series called Lessons From Leaders . I needed to record a video no longer than 2 minutes that was shared something meaningful to me.

I don’t love recording videos. I guess most people don’t. We don’t love how we look or sound and we can immediately find a thousand things we did wrong in the recording. But sometimes leaders need to suck it up and do hard things that make them uncomfortable.

Here is the video

If you’d prefer to read the transcript I have included it below.

One of the things that had shaped me as a leader was a simple principle from the Center of Action and Contemplation , founded by Richard Rohr in 1987.

“The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.”

Let me say it again

“The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.”

As courageous leaders we are often challenged to move beyond what is to what should be. At those times it is easier to do nothing but criticize and complain. But criticism actually gives energy and attention and audience to the bad, often strengthening it. And nothing positive changes.

There is bad all around us. It is so prevalent it may even feel futile to think we can do anything. But futility only exists when we do nothing.

When we practice the better, we expose the bad without giving it an audience or attention. All the energy and attention is on the better. And now there is measurable, positive change.

Ok, a couple of really important things to remember

First, it is a practice. It is not a one time thing. It requires discipline and consistency. It is not a “try” like “I’ll try to do the better. Nope. Yoda said it best. Do it do not. There is no try. Practicing the better. It’s okay to get it wrong. Learn from your practicing.

Second, you’re practicing the better. Not the best. Trying to get to the best is paralyzing. But you’re also not practicing the worse. Make sure you are moving the needle in a positive direction. Let others know what you’re doing. Ask people to challenge it. Is it really better? As my good friend Gonzo says “don’t just polish a turd” and think it’s something better

We all need to do better

Let’s practice changing ourselves, our teams, our company, even the world for the better

It is amazing how few words, when spoken, become 2 minutes (well, 2 minutes, 7 seconds I think).

In real life, practicing the better is hard.

And it takes risk.

Lately I’ve been thinking about an area where I can practice the better.

More on that in another post. And in the meantime I will start practicing.