The Tension Between Intentions and Results
June 2, 2021
By Matt Miner, MBA, CFP®
Anyone who’s been married a while knows about the tension between intentions and results! Also, what’s the point of owning a website and producing a podcast if you can’t post a picture with your wife on your 20th anniversary? Thanks, Charity, for your loyalty even when the gap between my intentions and results is at its widest.
This show wraps up the failure series as I discuss my fourth failure maxim: Results matter. Intentions and obstacles don’t.
You’re Paid for Results
The fourth failure I enumerated in episode 13 was failing to deliver the business results my employer needed, and it was this failure that motivated me to tell this story. I said, “There were successes along the way or I never would have remained on the payroll almost five years, but I want to set the record straight in my own mind: There were many reasons this particular job didn’t work out. But the critical failure in the business’s eyes was not delivering the results they hired me for.”
What I meant by this is if someone hires you to do a job, you’ve got to do that job! Obstacles and problems really don’t matter to the person who needs the work completed, even though they are very real to you.
In Marriage and Work, Walk the Line
In life, money, and work, we walk a line between delivering measurable results and getting results the right way. The person paying you – whether an employer, customer, or client may be - and hopefully is - a very decent person. They may be very concerned for your health, safety, and mental well-being. If this is true, your position is an enviable one. But even if it’s not, they hired you to do a job and you said Yes.
Delivering results lets your employer, customer, or client continue to pay you. That’s very important! Success enables the person paying you to continue to be concerned for your health, safety, and mental well-being. If you can’t carry the mail, they’ll be forced to find someone who can. I value pleasant people with good interpersonal skills, but In late July I prefer the most irascible AC technician in the Southeast if he’ll show up and turn on the cool air rather than the nicest guy in the world who’s also incompetent or can’t run a schedule.
If delivering results lets your employer or client keep you on the payroll, then never compromising who you are let’s you continue to sleep at night and smile at the guy or girl in the mirror when you shave or apply your makeup. If you have to choose, upholding your values is more important than delivering measurable results. Just don’t be surprised if it costs you your job or your revenue.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Matt: Work Pants Finance listeners, this is episode number 25. Thank you so much for joining me today. Also, it's Charity and I's 20th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Charity, for being my best friend and for being stubborn enough to stick with me for two decades. Marrying you was the most successful day of my life. In this show, I wrap up my Famous Failures series as I discuss my fourth failure maximum, Results Matter, Intentions and Obstacles Don't.
Hey, and welcome to the Work Pants Finance podcast. I'm Matt Miner, your money guide, and Work Pants Finance is the show for MBAs, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who want their financial plan to work as hard as they do.
Today's show is called The Tension Between Intentions and Results, and it's brought to you by the first-ever Work Pants Finance meetup scheduled Thursday, July 1st at 4:00 PM at House of Hops on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. Thank you to all who have RSVPed already. I'm excited to meet you in a few weeks. If you are in Raleigh, Durham, Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Apex, Cary, Holly Springs, heck, even Lewisburg, Henderson, Sanford, Pittsboro, Carrboro, Garner, Clayton, or Haw River, Alamance, Orange, Durham, Wake, Franklin, Johnston, Chatham or Lee County, come on out, send me a note at workpantsfinance.com/contact if you can join or hit me on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook if that works better for you. The first round's on me, and stick around to the end of this brief episode for your invitation to be part of the inaugural Work Pants Finance podcast call-in show. I'll record that show Friday, June 4th, and release the episode sometime in June. A couple of people are signed up for that already too. Read more and get signed up yourself at workpantsfinance.com/25.
The fourth failure I enumerated in episode 13 was failing to deliver the business results my employer needed, and it was this failure that motivated me to tell the story. I said there were successes along the way, or I never would have remained on the payroll almost five years. But I want to set the record straight in my own mind. There were many reasons this particular job didn't work out, but the critical failure in the business's eyes was not delivering the results they hired me for.
What I meant by this is if someone hires you to do a job, you've got to do that job. Obstacles and problems really don't matter to the person who needs the work completed, even though they may be very real to you. In life, money, and work, we walk a line between delivering measurable results and getting results the right way. The person paying you, whether an employer, customer, or client maybe and hopefully is a very decent person, they may be very concerned for your health, safety, and mental well-being.
If this is true, your position is an enviable one, and even if it's not true, they hired you to do a job and you said yes. Delivering results lets your employer, customer, or client continue to pay you. That's very important. Success enables the person paying you to continue to be concerned for your health, safety, and mental well-being. If you can't carry the mail, they'll be forced to find someone who can. I value pleasant people with good interpersonal skills, but in late July, I prefer the most irascible AC technician in the southeast if he'll show up and turn on the cool air rather than the nicest guy in the world who's also incompetent or can't run a schedule.
If delivering results is what lets your employer or client keep you on the payroll, never compromising who you are lets you continue to sleep at night and smile at the guy or girl in the mirror when you shave or apply your makeup. If you have to choose, upholding your values is more important than delivering measurable results. Just don't be surprised if it costs you your job or your revenue.
It's a short show. Out of respect for you, I'll skip the recap. To participate in the call-in show, go to workpantsfinance.com/resources and sign up there. I will send information about the call-in show and meet up to my email list. I'll be back next Wednesday with a never-before-released interview with Philip PT Taylor, founder of FinCon, about what it takes to serve an industry by launching a conference. Until then, this is Matt Miner, encouraging you to make a financial plan that works as hard as you do.
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[00:04:21] Announcer: Matt Miner is a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor and founder and CEO of Miner Wealth Management, a North Carolina registered investment advisor, where Matt provides personalized unconflicted advice to clients for a fee. He's also my dad, so please be nice when you talk to him.
Matt is a certified financial planner professional and holds a Series 65 securities license. He earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Arizona State University and his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Work Pants Finance is Matt's financial media business, where he talks about work, entrepreneurship, kids, and money, taxes, investing, and other personal finance topics.
Workpantsfinance.com exists to share wisdom and provide general financial information. It does not financial tax or legal advice. If you are an individual and probably need personal advice for your specific situation, you should consider building relationships with helpful, caring, and competent professionals who understand your unique contacts and can provide advice that is tailored to your needs.
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