1. 1-Sentence-Summary:
1.1. Big Potential will show you that the real secret to success and thriving in all aspects of life is developing strong connections with others and treating them in a way that lifts them up.
2. Favorite quote from the author:
2.1. "By denying the light of praise, we extinguish it. By bending the light toward others, we magnify it." - Shawn Achor
3. 3 lessons:
3.1. Surround yourself with positive influencers to begin growing the SEEDS of big potential.
3.1.1. UConn women’s head basketball coach Geno Auriemma knows the importance of surrounding yourself with positive influencers.
3.1.1.1. Evaluation of his players focuses on how well they contribute to the team, instead of their individual accomplishments.
3.1.1.2. That makes his team a winning one.
3.1.2. One study from BYU, discovered that in basketball, assists in are the highest determiner of the team’s chances of winning.
3.1.2.1. An assist is when a player passes the ball to another player that scores.
3.1.2.2. In other words, rather than being a ball hog, considering success and the goal of winning as a team effort is more productive than attempting to be a superstar.
3.1.3. It’s not just having a team-centered mindset that helps, however. Who you have on your team is just as important.
3.1.3.1. Surround yourself with people who build you up.
3.1.3.2. Remove those people from your life which tear you down.
3.1.3.3. When you’re surrounded by people who are committed to yours and the groups success, your potential increases.
3.2. Help your team grow by Expanding their opportunities to lead and Enhancing by focusing on the system as the source of success.
3.2.1. The “I Saved a Life” program at Kaiser Permanente has saved almost 500 lives by empowering receptionists and other staff to be part of the lifesaving process.
3.2.1.1. The leaders of the organization expanded their power by allowing people other than “medical providers” to participate in the health care process.
3.2.1.2. If someone called to schedule an appointment, for example, employees could see if they were overdue for any preventative screenings.
3.2.1.3. Representatives asked if patients wanted to schedule appointments for these procedures.
3.2.1.4. In one case, 40% of those diagnosed with cancer had scheduled the screening appointment through one of these calls!
3.2.2. You don’t need to be a leader to make a difference.
3.2.2.1. But if you are one, delegating responsibilities to others will not only help you, but the entire organization.
3.2.2.2. When you reach goals, the next step is to Enhance your assets by praising in the right way.
3.2.2.3. Most often, we deflect praise away from ourselves.
3.2.2.3.1. But when we instead reflect compliments toward the team, we grow our potential.
3.2.2.4. An example:
3.3. The last steps to harness big potential are to Defend your system and Sustain it through the “Virtuous Cycle.”
3.3.1. When developing big potential, it would be naive to neglect negative influences.
3.3.2. One powerful way to do this is by mental Aikido, or redirecting attacks back at your enemy rather than just defending against them.
3.3.2.1. One way to do this when you grow stressed is to ask yourself why you care.
3.3.2.2. The feeling of stress tells you that you do care, and can be transformed into motivation by examining that aspect of it.
3.3.3. The last step to develop Big Potential is to sustain growth.
3.3.3.1. After a motivational day of training at a conference or other event, we feel excited to start fresh.
3.3.3.2. But when we get back to our work, the energy from the event begins to wane.
3.3.3.3. If we were to, say, share what we learned at the conference with a coworker who gets on board with our new vision, the forward-moving potential continues.