Skip to main content

Generators vs. Drains

Lesson 7 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

Generators vs. Drains

Lesson 7 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

buy this class

$00

$00
Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2200+ more >

Lesson Info

7. Generators vs. Drains

Lesson Info

Generators vs. Drains

So, I want you to think about how do you show up in the world? How do you show up? What kind of energy do you bring into a room? What kind of vibe do you give off? So, years ago, one of my partners at Sterling, a brilliant man named Simon Williams, confessed to me that he thought there were only two kinds of people in the world. Generators and drains. (audience laughing) Generators and drains. So, think about what those types of people could be. Generators are people that come into a room, bring energy, enthusiasm, inspiration. They create spirit. They always see possibility. They always are curious. They wanna do more, they wanna do better. Then, on the other side, you have drains. And the drains are people that always complain, always find some fault with something. Always think that something's not good enough. Always have something that they wish could be a bit better. And what they often do is complain. All complaining really does, all it really does is soothe oneself. You're comp...

laining, you wanna get it out, and it infects others. People that complain a lot tend to be drains. They're the people that suck the energy out of a room. They're the people that are making things worse, as opposed to making things better. People only wanna hire people that they feel that they can work with and enjoy being with. Even if you have the most amazing work in the world, if you're somebody that gives off really bad vibes, you're not gonna get a job. You're not gonna get hired. People only wanna work with other people that they will like. People often hire for personality. Going back to operational excellence, you need to have this benefit that you are providing. But you also have to have an attitude that people are going to want to engage with. It's a spectrum, like everything else these days. It's a spectrum, the generator-drain spectrum. Where do you fall? (audience laughing) I think that you can have an overarching tendency. Do you have an overarching tendency to approach things with abundance or with scarcity? This is something that I learned from Glaser as well. You can approach the world in one of two ways. And I think it's very similar to the generator-drain analogy, where you can approach the world as a world of abundance, where there's opportunity for everyone. Or you can approach the world with scarcity, which is, this is the last thing that will ever happen to me. And I'm never getting another job and I'm never gonna find another person that loves me. And so, therefore I'm going to settle into a job that I hate and a relationship that I don't really like, just because I'm afraid of being a failure and alone. That's scarcity. Abundance is plenty for everybody, and I'm gonna keep working until I get what I really hope in my heart to be able to have. But I think a good gauge, a good, tangible, empirical gauge of whether you're a generator or a drain is how much do you complain? How much do you engage in the act of complaining?

Ratings and Reviews

Hilary Larson
 

I was not expecting to get so much out of this accelerated class! Debbie is a captivating speaker who manages to get her points across directly while maintaining a strong sense of relatability with her audience. I really look forward to taking what I have learned here with me as I move forward in my career as a visual artist. Highly recommended.

Michelle
 

This class is for a specific audience - young or new-to-the-field designers. It is NOT a branding class for the regular person. The class description is misleading. However, there are bits and tips that anyone can benefit from, but you have to sit through the entire presentation to get those bits and tips. I am not a designer. Because I had the all-access pass, I dipped in and out of different classes, speeding up and skipping as needed. I found enough value in this Fast Class: A Brand Called You to watch it, rather than the long one. I can see how this would benefit new designers as they job hunt.

Matías Obando Ruiz
 

Debbie the OG

Student Work

RELATED ARTICLES

RELATED ARTICLES