What would the 'hotshot' do?
The hotshot rule, stealing your own job, and improving every relationship in your life...
Kat Cole.
Age 17: Hooters restaurant hostess
Age 20: Dropped out of college
Age 26: Hooters vice president of training and development (grew the company to $1
billion in revenue)
Age 32: Cinnabon President (grew the company to $1 billion in revenue)
Age 37: Focus Brands President
At age 44, Kat Cole is now the President and Chief Operating Officer at Athletic Greens.
How did she do it?
She’s disciplined.
She’s a proactive hustler.
She’s a values based leader.
She understands how to navigate relationships.
She understands the ins and outs of her businesses at every level.
She’s reflective.
This reflective piece has earned her dozens of articles and features highlighting a process she coined called the “hotshot rule.”
The “hotshot rule” works like this…
Pick a role, any role.
Director of strategic communication. Dad. Son. Husband. Advisor. Seminary teacher. Friend.
Ok, now imagine that a “hotshot” steps into that role tomorrow morning. You have absolutely no time for a transition. They just show up and take over.
What will they see? They have the benefit of a fresh perspective and will jump in on day one believing that the current state of things will be the worst it will ever be. For them this is the first day of massive transformation.
What is one thing this “hotshot” would immediately improve?
Kat then asks herself, “why can’t that be you?” This is the most important piece of the process. You have to become the “hotshot.”
Imagine how you would change if you did this annually for each of the most important roles you fill.
So, the question to ask is, “what would the ‘hotshot’ do?”
“Hotshot”
For this to work, it has to be a hotshot—someone bringing a hunger for improvement and boundless energy to enact immediate change. They’re going to see things really differently as they approach your role. This is especially true when we’ve been somewhere for a long time. The longer you have been somewhere, the more growth and change you have likely seen, which means we sometimes get caught in the trap of viewing things relatively. To us, there has been significant growth during our tenure. We look back at where we started and see years of progress. The ‘hotshot’ comes in and sees the “bottom.” In their mind, this (the pinnacle of years of work for you) is the worst it will ever be. They see endless opportunities for growth. And they’re hungry for growth.
Professional
When I first joined Singapore American School, my supervisor loved to joke with me when we were at events by pointing out different people who had also applied for the job I was in.
“Hey, she applied for your role…”
And then a few minutes later I’m chatting with that person knowing they wanted or still might want my job.
It was a gift because it was this tangible reminder that there is always someone out there who wants your job. Someone who believes they could come in and bring more. Someone who would see things differently.
And when I learned about the “hotshot rule” a few years into my time at SAS, it was the perfect tool to channel this belief into something productive. Instead of worrying about someone taking my job, I began to look for how I might steal my own job and do it better.
At one point, I became obsessed with analytics and understanding conversion because I hadn’t invested much time into that and yet it was directly tied to understanding the success of our advertising. Then, it was the pursuit of multimedia content production and utilizing content as a method for lead generation and community building. Now, it’s this obsession with understanding the human nature of being a leader. All of these were things that someone might have come in and said, “I can’t believe Kyle isn’t doing this already.”
Personal
If you thought you got value out of applying this to your professional life try doing this in your personal life.
Husband.
Dad.
Son.
Brother.
Friend.
I didn’t apply it at first to my personal roles but when I did, I realized this approach is way more valuable in my personal life than it is at work. These are the roles I value most. These roles impact the people closest to me.
Nothing will jolt you more than thinking about how someone might step into your role as a husband or father. I found this hard at first. It’s hard to think of some ‘hotshot’ taking on this role and observing all of my missed opportunities.
But the follow-up question Kat asks, “why can’t that be you” creates this powerful moment of clarity and catalyst for change.
How would your most important relationships be different if you asked this question?
Don’t just think about it—become the “hotshot.”