Leverage

My Dad was a full-time pipe fitter and part-time everything else. He taught me many things about how to build and repair things. One of the things that my Father was particularly good at was carpentry. He could build almost anything with wood and I always loved to watch him use the circular saw because he was precise with it and even though it was violently loud, the smell of the fresh cut wood was wonderful. One of his favorite stories he used to tell me, ad nauseam, was about one of his fellow carpentry workers who while using a hammer would grasp the hammer in the middle of the handle. The foreman would constantly correct him by explaining that the best use of the tool was to grasp it at the bottom of the handle, thereby utilizing the leverage created and making the hammer much more effective. By using the hammer in this correct manner it would require far less effort to drive a nail into the wood and that would result in a more productive worker. The worker did not heed the advice so the foreman arrived early one day and cut the handle of the hammer in half, then handed it to the worker to use without the benefit of the leverage he should have taken advantage of.

Leverage can come in many forms: professional relationships, experience, knowledge, support, inquisitiveness, friends, research, failures and success to name a few. This valuable resource of leverage is readily available and yet we often do not take time to consider the numerous leverages that will help to serve our current and future needs.

Here are two examples of what using our leverage might look like:

One of the first leveraging questions we should ask when considering pursuing a new path is; "Who else is or has done this thing we are considering and what were the outcomes?" By simply leveraging our inquisitiveness and asking theses types of questions, we can better equip ourselves to make a calculated decision. When we do ask these leverage questions we may conclude from the answers, that this is the best course of action or it is not. We may come to the conclusion that the person we are asking did not do what was required, based on our current level of knowledge, in order to achieve the outcome we desire. Either way we have used our leverage to help us make a decision that we have a foundation to support.

We all have professional relationships that constitute a vast amount of collective knowledge. People really do what to help and the most effective method to engage others in your evaluation process is to simply ask. The leveraged conversation might start like this; "I have a great deal of respect for you and what you have accomplished and I need your help. May I ask your opinion of something that I am considering?"

Before you take the next step, consider leveraging your resources. Never take advantage but always leverage.