The World is Run by Those Who Show Up

A couple of years ago I accepted an invitation to a fundraising luncheon for the Arizona Women’s Education & Employment (AWEE). Now, full disclosure, I hate going to these things. The food is generally lousy, parking is always a nightmare and all the clinking and polite chatter in the ballrooms hurts my head. But I am guilty of dragging my friends to these types of events with me in the past so I decided to go and show my support.

Towards the end of the luncheon, a woman was given an award for all of the positive changes she had made in our community that year. Normally acceptance speeches at these types of events are pretty bland and uninspiring, but this woman’s absolutely rocked! My main takeaway from her speech was this: The world is run by those who show up. And it’s so true!

Who gets to decide the direction of a project? Whoever shows up.

Who gets to decide which teammate is assigned certain tasks? Whoever shows up.

Who gets to decide when, where, how frequently, and what the scope of an assignment is? Whoever takes the lead, shows up and gets the ball rolling.

Who gets credit for pulling off impossible feats? Whoever shows up!

And who gets promoted when great things are accomplished? You got it, whoever shows up.

Now, that’s not to say you JUST have to be present. Showing up is more about doing the work, taking the time, and being there even when you might not want to. You have to do the work. But if you don’t show up, participate, give your perspective, pick the stuff you want to do, execute your deliverables, drive the project in the direction you think is best, then you won’t have the opportunity to make an impact.

So the next time you have the opportunity…

Show up. Take a chance. Make a difference.