Management lessons from America's Next Top Model

Sounds weird doesn't it? What do professional or management skills have to do with modelling and ANTM.

If you look really closely, you will find some valuable lessons under all that drama.


Passion
Motivation and drive are essential to achieve excellence. That kind of energy is almost tangible, but remember, if you claim to be driven toward your goal, you should be able to back it up with examples.

Commitment
Commit to it 100% and more. There should be no half-hearted attempts. Saying "I will try" is equal to setting up the possibility of failure and giving yourself permission to stop if the situation gets tough or makes you uncomfortable.

Self focus
Avoid distractions and drama that revolves around others. If you keep your vision clear, you are closer to your goal.

No excuses
Be accountable for your own behaviour. Blaming it on other people, environment or unfair treatment rarely wins you any points.

"When you choose the behaviour, you choose the consequences" . Dr. Phil McGraw

Respect
Respect for others and manage your time.

Be prepared
Study items yourself and then approach others for sounding off ideas and refinement of plans/thoughts. No one is interested or has the time to spoon-feed you.


Take action
While potential is a key factor, don't rely on it to get you out of tough predicaments. Learn to convert your potential to outcome. After all, actions do speak louder than words!


Do your research
Similar to 'being prepared' and 'passion'. You need to be aware of the industry, company, job, role, whatever it may be, to even get your foot in the door. Ever have an interview when your interviewer asks you "So what do you know about us?"

Reflections

I always pray that my path in life be shown to me. Why did I not realize that paths are made by walking?!

Children are the ultimate creatives

I've often thought about, and made this point to the class that I teach, that children are such amazing creatures. You can learn so much from them - their fearlessness, not afraid to take risks, ask questions, cry when they are upset.


Some time back, my (then) 3 year old niece came visiting. She walked into my room and noticed the Harry Potter book on my bed. Imagine my surprise when she asked me "Is that Harry Potter?"  A child who couldn't yet read the title; who made the connection from the artist's rendering on the cover to Daniel Radcliffe (whom she had watched on the movie version). How did she know or even guess?


My take-away 

• Sometimes we need to take fantastic leaps of faith to make things work.
• You don't have to know everything to have a good idea, take a chance, don't over-prepare.

Another time that sticks to my mind is when my niece and her sister wanted to ride on our reclining exercise bike. It was a fun adventure for them. The digital display had given up and it took me a while to realise that the batteries were dead. But where to find the battery compartment?


Once again, my niece to the rescue! The 3 year old calmly pointed out the compartment under the display, as if she had known forever what to do.


My take-away from this story

• We get so wrapped up in the complex, trying to show our intelligence and expertise that we become blind to the to the simple (and obvious) solutions.
• At times, it is a change in perspective that is needed, in my case literally a difference in height!

If you have a child story you'd like to share, I'd love to hear the 'a-ha' moments that came with it. Drop me a line or add a comment below.