What's your take on the canvas strategy by Ryan Holiday?
The idea is simple. Find canvases for other people to paint on.
Be an anteambulo. A roman term for the one who clears the path in front of their patron. Making way, communicating messages, eliminating distractions and waste and generally making the patron’s life easier.
If you clear the path for the people above you, you will eventually create a path for yourself.
The person who clears the path ultimately controls its direction, just as the canvas dictates the painting.
It's not about kissing ass and making your boss -look- good. It's about providing the support so that others can be good. It's about finding the direction someone already intends to head and help them focus on their strengths.
Bill Belichick, the now six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, made his way up the ranks of the NFL by loving and mastering the one part of the job that coaches disliked at the time: analyzing film.
He strove to become the best at precisely what others thought they were too good for and therefore didn't want to do. He was like a sponge, taking it all in, listening to everything.
His insights gave the other more senior coaches things they could give their players. It gave them an edge they would take credit for exploiting in the game.
He became a rising star without threatening or alienating anyone. He mastered the canvas strategy.
In the canvas strategy you are the least important person in the room - until you change that with results. Greatness comes from humble beginnings. It comes from grunt work.
You focus all your energy on finding, presenting, and facilitating opportunities that help other people inside the company succeed.
Imagine if for every person you met, you thought of some way to help them in a way that entirely benefited them and not you. What reputation and relationships would that help you develop?
You help yourself by helping others.
Be an anteambulo. A roman term for the one who clears the path in front of their patron. Making way, communicating messages, eliminating distractions and waste and generally making the patron’s life easier.
If you clear the path for the people above you, you will eventually create a path for yourself.
The person who clears the path ultimately controls its direction, just as the canvas dictates the painting.
It's not about kissing ass and making your boss -look- good. It's about providing the support so that others can be good. It's about finding the direction someone already intends to head and help them focus on their strengths.
Bill Belichick, the now six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, made his way up the ranks of the NFL by loving and mastering the one part of the job that coaches disliked at the time: analyzing film.
He strove to become the best at precisely what others thought they were too good for and therefore didn't want to do. He was like a sponge, taking it all in, listening to everything.
His insights gave the other more senior coaches things they could give their players. It gave them an edge they would take credit for exploiting in the game.
He became a rising star without threatening or alienating anyone. He mastered the canvas strategy.
In the canvas strategy you are the least important person in the room - until you change that with results. Greatness comes from humble beginnings. It comes from grunt work.
You focus all your energy on finding, presenting, and facilitating opportunities that help other people inside the company succeed.
Imagine if for every person you met, you thought of some way to help them in a way that entirely benefited them and not you. What reputation and relationships would that help you develop?
You help yourself by helping others.
You trade your short term gratification for a longer term payoff.
