Parnell: Think Like a Rookie

As a leader, you’re one of one. There is no one else in the world with your exact set of experiences, convictions, gifts, scars, or hopes. Your perspective makes you influential. Your influence gives you the ability to create change. And anyone who is a change agent is a leader.

So, where’s the correlation between being a leader and thinking like a rookie? I’d like to set the tone of this column by encouraging you to open your mind to all possibilities where a different perspective might become a better perspective. And when we start viewing things differently, we inevitably start doing things differently.

So, ask yourself: What mindset do I hold when I hear the phrase “think like a rookie”? What does that phrase mean to you?

Our mind can be set in place without us realizing it. Hence the term, “mindset.” But our thoughts dictate our feelings, our feelings dictate our actions, and our actions dictate our results. If we want different results, we must begin by examining and often resetting our thoughts. Because one of the greatest mistakes any of us can make is assuming all of our thoughts are true.

A Long Way to Grow

That brings us to the question: Why should we adopt a “think like a rookie” mindset?
Because no matter how far we’ve come, we always have a long way to go and a long way to grow.

Rookies excel at imagining possibilities without limitations. Their minds are open, flexible, and willing. Consider children and their seemingly limitless imagination. If I could describe children in one word, it would be resilient. Watch a baby learning how to walk. They fall again and again and again. And they don’t sit in discouragement. They don’t analyze the failure, spiral into insecurity, or compare themselves to other babies. They simply get up and try again. Babies don’t understand the concept of limitations.

Imagine if they behaved like adults. They would fall once or twice, sigh, and say, “You know what? Crawling wasn’t terrible. It is good enough.”

Are we going through life trying to be good enough? Or great? The way we think determines the direction we grow.

The Rule of Five

Below are five practical steps to help us all “think like a rookie” as we continue our leadership journey.

1. Expect failures. Very few people start something and master it overnight. Failure is not an identity. It’s a moment. When we fail, that doesn’t make us a failure. When we lose, it doesn’t make us a loser. These actions don’t become our identities.
   
   Believe in success, but expect setbacks because things will not always go your way. You will make mistakes. You will fall short. You will get it wrong. That is not a sign that you are unqualified. It is evidence that you are growing.
   
   If we’re not failing, we’re not learning. If we’re not learning, we’re not growing. And if we’re going to grow through anything, we must be willing to go through anything. Progress, not perfection, is the goal. Perfection is unattainable and reserved for God alone. Practice makes progress, and progress compounds.
   
   Michael Jordan once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Statistically, the greatest basketball player of all time missed more shots than he made. His career field goal percentage is 49.7 percent.
   Ty Cobb, who holds the highest batting average in baseball history at .366, still failed nearly twice as often as he succeeded. Failure is not the opposite of success. It’s the ingredient that makes success possible.
   
   
2. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s okay to be content, but not comfortable. Growth and comfort cannot coexist. If we’re going to “think like a rookie,” we must be willing to live outside our comfort zone.
   
   This means sharpening our axe: our skills, our awareness, our relationships, our habits. Discomfort is the classroom where leaders are formed, and failure is life’s tuition for success.
   
   
3. Commit to being a lifelong learner. Rookies naturally approach the world with curiosity. They know they don’t know everything, and that humility is their superpower.
   
   Every person we meet carries a unique perspective no one else on earth has. That means every person has the power to influence, and anyone with the power to influence is someone we can learn from.
   
   Being a lifelong learner requires humility, coachability, and a willingness to examine our blind spots. It means receiving coaching as feedback—not as criticism, condemnation, or judgment. It means staying curious, not critical.
   
   
4. Hire a coach. Every great performer has someone who guides their growth. Athletes have coaches. Doctors have doctors. Pastors have pastors. Coaches, including myself, have coaches.
   
   Even Michael Jordan needed Phil Jackson. Derek Jeter needed Joe Torre. Tom Brady needed … actually, disregard that last one. Tom Brady was all Tom Brady needed.
   But you get the idea. Coaches help us see what we can’t. They accelerate growth, sharpen discipline, and call us to a higher standard than we would hold for ourselves. A rookie mindset recognizes that having guidance is not a sign of weakness. It’s a strategy for greatness.
   
   
5. Put in the work. Do not settle. Do not coast. Do not compare your day one to someone else’s day 1,000. Comparison is the thief of joy and the enemy of progress. The only person you should compare yourself to is who you were yesterday to who you want to become tomorrow.
   
   Consistent effort beats sporadic intensity. According to the “Rule of 100,” if you spend 100 hours per year, which is just 18 minutes a day, on any discipline, you will become better than 95 percent of the world at that skill.
   
   Journalist Jacob Riis illustrated this truth beautifully: “When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock … At the hundred and first blow, it splits in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

Call To Action

To “think like a rookie,” commit to embracing just one of the five principles above. Then add another, and another: 

A rookie is resilient, hungry, teachable, curious, and unafraid of the journey. If you lead with that spirit—no matter your level of experience—you’ll continue becoming the kind of leader others are inspired to follow.

Second call to action: reach out if you “think” that Michael Jordan isn’t the GOAT. I love a healthy debate!

Keep leading well!