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Join as we uncover the unseen moments that shape leadership. Dive into candid, unfiltered stories from leaders as they share their pivotal, sometimes scary, embarrassing, and inspiring choices. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the decisions that shaped their paths, the lessons learned, and the actions they took. It’s not just about success; it’s about the raw, real, and relatable experiences that inspire YOU to recognize your pivotal moments, believe in possibilities, and take action. Join us for a blend of humor, honesty, and insight as we explore those “what would you do?” moments to lead through life’s turning points.
[00:00:00] Erin: What would you do? Imagine this, you've just moved to a new city. The job you were supposed to start fell through. It's your first day as a temp. You don't know a soul, and then you realize you don't have enough money to take the train home. You can't walk. You don't have a cell phone or a credit card. And there's no one you can call to pick you up. What do you do? This isn't a hypothetical. This happened to me
[00:00:29] Erin: in this episode. I'm sharing what I did, and more importantly, three powerful lessons you can use when you find yourself in a tough spot. Tune in to hear how I turned a moment of panic into a turning point and how you can apply these takeaways in your own life.
[00:00:45]
[00:00:46] Erin: I am Erin McCormick, and welcome to the Inspire Lounge, where leaders share their pivotal, sometimes scary, embarrassing, and real life lessons that inspire you to recognize your own pivotal moments, believe in possibilities, and take action in your life. Let's go.
[00:01:02] Erin: Today I wanna kick off with a story that actually sparked the idea for this podcast. I moved to Boston right out of college. I had an internship my senior year, and it was offered a job for when I graduated. I moved to Boston ready to get started. I. And the woman who hired me had left the company, so my job disappeared. So I moved to Boston without a job, without any money. I didn't even know that you needed first months last month and security deposit to move into an apartment.
[00:01:42] Erin: I only had enough for first month, and I scraped together the other money to move in and had it literally had no money. I called a temp agency to get started working, and they sent me to a law office where I was put in a back office, like a closet with no windows, typing numbers into leases. And I didn't even know these are typewriters.
[00:02:07] Erin: I didn't know there was a. Backspace a race key that could overwrite your, your number. So I was ripping through these leases and it, it was a mess and I thought, I went to college for this. So they did not invite me back on the second day, and instead they sent me to an computer software company, which was life changing.
[00:02:29] Erin: I showed up at the software company and I met a woman in the morning who showed me what I'd be doing and where I'd be sitting. I didn't speak with anyone the whole day. I went down to the cafeteria by myself, got some lunch, but I miscalculated. And now I realized I did not have enough money to take the subway home I had just moved to Boston. I didn't know how to walk home. I only knew my, my subway stop. I didn't know where I lived. This was before cell phones. I didn't know anyone. I didn't have any money. At, at a company. I don't know anybody. I don't know how I'm gonna get home. So what am I going to do?
[00:03:08] Erin: So I got up the courage. I, I went to the only person I had spoken to all day. The woman who showed me my desk in the morning, and I. Went up to her out of the blue and said, excuse me, would you like to buy some stamps? It's embarrassing just thinking about it. I had two stamps in my wallet I don't know how much they were worth 80 cents and.
[00:03:34] Erin: Asked her outta the blue if she would like to buy some stamps, and she sort of fumbled through her purse and, you know, gave me the 80 cents and I was on my way. I had enough money to take the train home and, borrow some money from my roommates for the next few days until payday.
[00:03:54] Erin: The woman I had who lent me the money or gave me the money for the stamps, she and I became friends and we laughed about this obviously later, and, and she said, I don't know why I didn't just give you a couple dollars. Right.
[00:04:06] Erin: So I share this story and again, that was, this was, this was one of the stories that sparked the idea for this podcast. It was originally gonna be called wanna buy some stamps. There's so many lessons to be learned from this example. We're gonna focus on three for this episode.
[00:04:24] Erin: The first lesson is we all have to start somewhere. Beginnings are tough. You don't know what you don't know, and you have to put yourself out there. Face those fears often it's easy just to give into those self-doubts, those voices in your head that's telling you why you can't do something. But the takeaway from this example is you just have to start. You have to get out there. Be willing to push yourself outta your comfort zone. There's a famous quote that says, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Start Today. You'll be that much further than if you started tomorrow.
[00:05:02] Erin: You may be starting with limited resources may not be glamorous. It may not be the ultimate job you want, but pick yourself up and start. Start somewhere. You may not have all the answers. You may look like an idiot, but it's about getting started. You may be starting at the very beginning when people are much further ahead than you. It's about taking that first small step. Whatever you have, wherever you are, start where you are. So lesson one, we all have to start somewhere.
[00:05:33] Erin: So your action step is. What's something that you've been putting off, whether it's a project at work or a goal that you've been thinking about, something that may seem too out of reach. Keep telling yourself, oh, I'll do that someday. I saw a sign that said, someday is not a day of the week. So the action step is. What tree can you plant today? What's a small step you could take? Start where you are, wherever you are today. That's where you're starting. Don't worry about how far you need to go start today.
[00:06:04] Erin: Take that first small step wherever you are, whatever knowledge you have as of today, this is where you're starting.
[00:06:10] Erin: Lesson number two is focus on what you have and leverage it. I had a teacher that said, focus on what's strong, not focus on what's wrong. So often you can focus on what you don't have. I don't have the money, I don't have the experience, I don't have the skills. I don't, I don't, I don't, we don't care about what you don't have. What do you have? Focus on what you do have and leverage it. For my example, okay, I don't have the money. I don't have a phone. I don't have any friends to call. What do you have? Well, it's about as, as little as you could get. I have a couple stamps I can use, right? Focus on what you have. What makes you strong, not what makes you wrong.
[00:06:54] Erin: When I was teaching entrepreneurship, we talked about two ways of thinking, causal and effectual. This was developed by a professor at the University of Virginia at the Darden Business School Professor Sarasvathy, who talked about these two types of thinking, causal and effectual.
[00:07:12] Erin: I. Causal is about making a plan. Financial models, this is what I would like to do, sort of that typical logical plan. Effectual is more about using what you have, what are your resources, what can you do with what you have. I like to think of it as the difference between going to the store and going to the fridge.
[00:07:34] Erin: So going to the store, you're saying, Hey, I'm going tonight. We're gonna have chicken parm for dinner. So I go to the store, I buy the chicken, I'm gonna buy the tomato sauce, the mozzarella. This is that causal that plan. I'm thinking about what I would like to do and working backwards, making that list going to the store.
[00:07:51] Erin: Effectual thinking is like going to the fridge. Guess what? Time got away from me. It's too late now. I can't go to the store. I open up the fridge and see what's inside. I have eggs and cheese and ham. We're having omelets for dinner. Effectual thinking is going to the fridge. Thinking is using your resources.
[00:08:10] Erin: What do you have now? What are the skills you have? You may not have these other components. It's not about what you don't have. It's what you do have. Where are you strong? What do you have? Taking inventory of your skills. Of your connections. Of your resources.
[00:08:27] Erin: Maybe you're on the front lines at your business. You're talking to the customers. That's something you have. You have that frontline knowledge of what your customers are telling you about the product. What is it that you have? What makes you strong?
[00:08:41] Erin: Albert Einstein failed French. You know, if he had focused on what he didn't have, he struggled with language. He was pretty good at math and physics. If his teachers had made him focus on French, we would've missed his amazing brain, right? If he focused on what he didn't have.
[00:08:59] Erin: JK Rowling was a single mom. She had no money. She was crazy, disorganized with papers scattered all over in boxes. She would bring her sleeping baby in the stroller, and she would work in cafes to save money on the heating costs. So if she said, oh, you know, she's, she wasn't an organized writer. She didn't have a publisher, she didn't have any money. She didn't have, she focused on all that. She didn't have. We would not have the Harry Potter series, right? And so it's that mindset of what is it that you have, what can you bring to the table, and what can you do with that.
[00:09:34] Erin: So your action step would be listing out your skills, your tools, your relationships. What can you do that you can use now in your arsenal to tackle a current challenge? How could you leverage them in perhaps new ways, things you hadn't thought of before? So the first is we all have to start somewhere. The second is focus on what you have and leverage it. Don't tell me what you don't have. Focus on what you do have.
[00:10:01] Erin: And then the third is take action. And that may involve asking for help. Once you've done all that you can with your current resources, take that next step for me. I said, oh, I don't have any money. What I do have is some stabs. Okay, now what am I gonna do? I have to take action. I have to ask for help. I have gone as far as I can using what I have. And it, this is, this could be the step that's, that's scary. Taking that action, taking that step, and especially asking for help.
[00:10:33] Erin: This is something as leaders, you may think that asking for help is a sign of weakness. I think asking for help is a sign of strength. You don't need to do everything. You need to know how to get things done. Who can you call? Who can help? What makes the most sense? Where's your time? The most valuable? We'll be talking in other episodes about.
[00:10:54] Erin: Delegating. How do we get better at delegating, especially for entrepreneurs or for startups or companies where leaders may think they have to do it all. No one can do it like they can do it, but is that the best use of their time? So understanding, asking for help can really be a strength.
[00:11:11] Erin: Another famous example is Steve Jobs. He never wrote a line of code for Apple. He was not an engineer. He knew he needed to go find w Steve Wozniak, who could, who could write the code jobs focused on the design, the user experience, understanding the market, inspiring the team to do great work. But he didn't write any code. He was not the, the genius engineer behind Apple.
[00:11:39] Erin: He knew where he needed help. So how do you go about asking for help without it seeming like it's a weakness or that. You'll be thought less of. So when you ask for help at work, make sure it's clear that you've already made progress or you've thought through the problem and you're asking for insight or guidance, not for someone to take over that you can't do it.
[00:12:01] Erin: Some tips about asking for help, one is be specific, for example. I've made progress on X, but I need your input on Y. Can you provide guidance to improve this? It shows your initiative and it makes it clear that you're not asking for them to do all the work for you. So be specific on what it is. And two is frame it as collaboration.
[00:12:25] Erin: I'd love to get your expert opinion on this to make sure we're heading in the right direction. What's your take on where we are? So getting this collaboration, people enjoy being recognized for their expertise and framing it as a collaboration feels like teamwork, not that you're depending on them to do your work.
[00:12:44] Erin: The third is seeking feedback, not just help. Hey, I've come up with a couple of options. Can I get your feedback on which is best? It shows that you've thought through the problem, you're seeking to improve it rather than just offloading the task. So there's some tips about asking for help. Be specific, frame it as collaboration and seek feedback to make it easier for you to ask for help.
[00:13:08] Erin: So, and a takeaway is, identify an area where you feel stuck, maybe, or you've hit a wall, you've come to as far as you can. Whether it's a personal project, it's something at work, kind of hit a brick wall. You've taken it as far as you can go. So your action step is reaching out to someone who has the knowledge or experience or resources to help you. It's about working up the courage, taking action, asking for help.
[00:13:34] Erin: So now what? We talked about three lessons. One, we all have to start somewhere. Two, focus on what you have and leverage that. And three, take action, which may mean asking for help. Each lesson we had action items you can start to take. What's one seed you can plant today? Courage doesn't mean you're not afraid. It means you take action despite the fear. Small steps start quieting that fear and those voices of self-doubt. So how do you start making that shift from scarcity to abundance? Quieting those self doubts and focusing on what you do have. Here's some things you can practice.
[00:14:19] Erin: Catch yourself. Notice when you're thinking, I don't have enough, or only if I had or I don't. That's your signal when that happens. Take a breath and ask, well, what do I have right now that can help me? And reframe your thoughts. Turn it around instead of, I don't have time. Try, I can work with the time I have. Or instead of, I don't know enough, say, I've got the skills to figure this out. So starting to shift that mindset, start catching yourself, pausing and, and reframing it.
[00:14:54] Erin: Some bonus tips to keep in mind, practice gratitude. What I've started doing is writing down three things in the morning that I'm grateful for. It's easy to forget all that we do have in our lives and focus on your progress. Celebrate even those smallest wins. You are moving forward. You can take the train home and remember, action doesn't have to be perfect. You just have to start. So start wanna keep the momentum going. Join the Inspire Lounge community@theinspirelounge.co, where we turn inspiration into action.
[00:16:08] Erin: You'll find actionable steps from every episode, interactive challenges, and connect with a supportive group of people all taking their next bold step just like you. So don't just listen, take action with us and be part of something bigger. Remember, action quiets fear. It's your move. What are you gonna do?
[00:16:29] Erin: Until next time, this is Aaron McCormick at the Inspire Lounge.