Getting Things Done
There is nothing worse than being involved in either personal or professional planning meetings and really think you have come up with some great ideas that really need to be done only to realize later nothing lasting changed.
The critical missing link between the planning and development process to actual execution is taking the time and energy to discipline yourself to set realistic but attainable goals. This process does take time but quite frankly if something is not important enough to invest in developing specific action steps that will help you accomplish your goals then it probably was not worth thinking about in the first place.
When I evaluate personally and professionally where the breakdown occurs it usually centers around these principles involved in effective goal setting.
These are the five critical things I have learned over the years:
1. Write It Down—if it is not important enough to write down in your personal planner, computer task manager or enter into your cell phone to do list then it will almost always never get done.
2. Check Your Resources—do you realistically have the time, energy, knowledge, skills and commitment to make this happen? It may be the right thing to do but this is the wrong time to do it.
3. Make It Clear—you must be very specific about what you want to accomplish and how you are going to do it. It cannot be I just want to lose weight; it needs to be twenty pounds over next six months by exercising an hour day five days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
4. Develop Your Plan—strategy is the realistic intersection of resources and commitment. There is a big difference in walking one hour five days a week and training for a marathon. The strategy must fit the goal so you will not come up short or burn out on the other extreme.
5. Evaluate Your Progress—this is where the rubber hits the road and you must start by building in short term wins to maintain momentum. When you fail or make some mistake know that it is a necessary cost to pay to reach anything in life that is worthwhile.
When we get to the end of our lives it really will not matter how many things we talked about doing but how many things we actually did.
When To Light The Fuse For Change
Filed under: Leadership Callling, Leading Change, Personal Development, Servant Leader
Most leaders understand there are powerful forces in place to maintain the status quo both on a personal level and with an organizational culture as well. Therefore choosing the timing of when to start a change process that you want to be successful is critical.
If you don’t have any of the following priorities in place then do not light the fuse because it will blow up in your face:
1. Problem to be solved—at the very basic level of motivation for any change is the reality that something is clearly wrong and you know it needs to be fixed. I am overweight and if I do not start an exercise program and change my diet I am going to be in serious trouble.
2. Opportunity to be taken—sometimes doors seem to open that we were not expecting and the benefits gained far outweigh the risks involved. A good friend offers to pay my membership in the health club for a year if I will commit to go.
3. Crisis to be avoided—in this situation you recognize the perfect storm is brewing and if you don’t act immediately the consequences of my inaction could be catastrophic. I have now had a heart attack and my doctor says without major change I will have another one and it will probably be fatal.
4. Need to be met—this moves the motivation point high up on the scale because there are hurting people involved and the change process will directly benefit them. If I am not willing to act based on what I need surely because of the people I love the most I will do whatever is necessary to be there for them.
5. Calling to be followed—as a Christian I am called to represent Christ to the world in all that I do with my life. If I do not take care of the body He has given me to be used in His service then I can lose my testimony and damage my effectiveness in helping other people.
These priorities also apply in our professional lives as we seek to lead the change process in the context of a company culture that tends to react after it is too late rather than respond to what should be obvious. Leaders must be willing to cast a clear vision that the benefits of leaving the current reality behind far outweigh any pain involved in moving to a new and better place for all involved.
Hiring Right People
I just finished writing a recommendation for someone on Linkedin that reminded me of what is absolutely critical when considering someone for your team. When I hire someone I am always looking for three major things that are very important to me. If anyone of these is missing then I know no matter how qualified they may be in the other two areas it is still a no deal for me:
1. Character—According to all the research Jim Collins has done this qualification has moved to the top of the list. When someone has the right kind of character you will not have to worry about having to over manage them they are self motivated and will only settle for excellence in everything they do. Talk is cheap in this area and I want someone who has demonstrated over time they have the foundation that can withstand the problems that will surely come in the future.
2. Competency—There is no doubt that everyone you add to your team needs to be qualified to fill the positions you have available. The more technical and specialized the skill set the more demanding you must be in this area. However, in Collin’s research and my own personal experience, if I find the right person I will hire them first and figure out what they are going to do later.
3. Chemistry—The clear issue here is how well this person will fit into the team dynamic that is already in place. I always in the interview process find a way to get a person into a casual environment so I can observe them and see who they really are unscripted. I want people with a heavy dose of personal humility and equal amount of personal determination that do not care who gets the credit but will make sure it all gets done.
The people who are going to do great things in this new global environment are going to be the ones with the best people on their team. There is no greater responsibility for the leader than making sure you get the right people on the bus and the wrong ones off as quickly as possible.
Adding Too Much Value
Every day we have conversations with people who are trying to tell us something we already know. Most of the time we interrupt them in mid sentence and complete their thought so we can move on to something else that we think is more important.
There are sometimes when this is very appropriate especially where timing is extremely important and we must make decisions quickly. However the vast majority of times our stopping them is totally inappropriate for a variety of reasons.
First of all we really do not know for sure all that they were going to say and many times they do know something we need to hear but we are too impatient to wait and listen. We have this need to impress people with our knowledge and experience to the point we come across as rude and insensitive.
In a business environment we feel justified in cutting to the bottom line for productivity sake but we fail as leaders to see the value in allowing other people to participate in the process. If you only see your team as a means to your predetermined end then in reality they are only attending this meeting for their information and not for their involvement.
The willingness to listen to someone regardless of the value of the information communicated is an investment in them as a person. The agenda is no longer what can they do for me but how can I help them.
There is a time to add value and genuinely help someone by what you know but only after they have had their opportunity to shape the conversation first. Nobody likes someone who always thinks they know it all. Let’s be sure we are not that someone.
Teamwork Chemistry
I have probably learned more from Pat MacMillan on this subject than from any other writer. His book The Performance Factor is still a must read if you want to fully understand all the dynamics involved in leading a successful team.
When selecting team members you must have the right combination of competency and character. You really need people who are experts in their area of responsibility that can bring great factual accurate information into the discussion. However, the ultimate success of the team in my opinion will be even more driven by how people interact with each other showing mutual respect and humility.
I want everyone engaged and passionate about their contribution to the discussion but I do not want anyone attacking another person rather than debating their ideas. I have found the following list to be helpful for setting the right tone:
1. Treat each other with dignity and respect
2. Listen for understanding
3. Don’t take things personally; don’t mean things personally
4. Ask, but do not assume motives
5. Avoid degrading language; do not attack each other credibility
6. Everyone has input, regardless of position
7. We will not take ourselves too seriously
There is a big difference in being professional vs. being negatively personal toward another person. We must separate their ideas and comments from who they are and even though we may disagree we always value the individual.
Follow Up Or Fail
Filed under: Leadership Callling, Personal Development, Time Management
I cannot tell you how many people I have worked with over the years that are great at getting something started but totally ineffective in finishing the task with excellence. They get very excited in the creative planning stages of something but when it gets down to execution they lose interest and allow performance to deteriorate.
Keith Ferrazzi in his great book Never Eat Alone says that good follow up alone elevates you above 95% of your peers in every area of your life. In his opinion it is the absolute key to success in any field.
In the area of networking he makes sure that he makes contact with any new person he meets within twelve to twenty-four hours after they have initially met. He says why go to all the trouble of meeting new people if you’re not going to work on making them a part of your life?
This same discipline applies to phone conversations and meetings where commitments have been make for some future action. It is extremely important to get all assignments down in writing and distribution made for all involved giving what is expected, who is responsible and when the project should be completed.
Many times great decisions have been made only to see the idea or project fail not because of poor initial planning but simply not paying attention to all the details involved in implementation. Creativity alone can produce a lot of excitement but follow up alone is what produces sustainable excellence.
Priority Of Personal Development
Filed under: Core Values, Leadership Callling, Personal Development, Servant Leader
I was attending a conference many years ago and heard for the first time this life changing quote, “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” I made a commitment on that day to apply this principle in my life.
The people you meet part of this development applies to all of life. There is great wisdom in finding people who know more than you do about your area of expertise or interest and asking them for a meeting so that you can learn all that you can from someone who has already been where you want to go. Every year you should have a list of at least ten new individuals that are successful and willing to invest in your life.
Please do not limit this to your professional life because you can find people everywhere who are great spouses or parents or involved in church and community work. Some of the greatest connections I have ever made were in the normal flow of life because I was always looking for someone who could teach me something.
In the area of reading I have found that for every ten books that I read on a particular subject I will find at least one that will permanently change my life for good. These become the books that you read at least once a year just to remind yourself of all the truths that you need to make sure you are applying in your life.
One of the disciplines I have developed over the years is that I will write the power statements or great quotes on the inside flyleaf of every good book so that I can always go back for a quick review. If you will set a goal of at least one new book a month to start you will be amazed by how much your life will change because as you read your capacity to understand and develop new skills will be exponentially multiplied.
I am sure if this quote were made today it would include some reference to the incredible amount of information on the web. Today you can read blogs and watch videos by some of the greatest communicators on life’s most challenging subjects whenever you want and usually without any cost but your time.
All learning that enhances personal development is an investment in your future that will give you an incredible return on your investment.
First and Lasting Impressions
Filed under: Customer Service, Leadership Callling, Personnel Development
I have had two very bad experiences with customer service this week. Not only was I the recipient of this bad “service” I also saw several other people having the exact same horrible experience.
In both situations the people assigned to dealing with the problem made promises they did not keep. For example setting pickup times and assuring you that if they did not call it would be ready, status updates that did not happen and the approach let’s just try this and I am sure it will work when they really did not have a clue about what to do.
Here is the interesting part at least for my situation. With both companies only because of my pushing I was eventually given to a supervisor to help me resolve hour’s worth of wasted time and finally fix the problems.
When I communicated with these new people they had a much better attitude and brought product knowledge that the front line people did not know. They did simple things like returning my calls on time and then committed to do whatever it took to resolve my issues.
Here is my question? Why not set the bar for all of the front line people in your organization at the same level where the supervisors were operating either in technical training, people skills or the authority to make it happen.
You will never convince me that it is cost effective for any company to pay less than qualified people to take hours of their time and your customers offending people that will probably never come back unless they get the slim chance to talk with their boss.
The front lines of your organization where interaction takes place with the people who are experiencing what you have to offer will always be the place where you want to make the best impression. If you’re weakest and newest team members are given these roles thinking they will grow into the job eventually the problem will solve itself because you will not have any more customers to deal with.
How The Mighty Fall
Jim Collins follows up his all time best selling leadership book Good to Great with this incredible new work on why some of these once great companies now have fallen as well. He writes, “Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you.”
Based on his thorough teams research there are five major stages that lead to failure:
1. Hubris Born of Success: This stage kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place.
2. Undisciplined Pursuit of More: Companies in this stage stray from the disciplined creativity that led them to greatness in the first place, making undisciplined leaps into areas where they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with excellence, or both.
3. Denial of Risk and Peril: At this stage leaders discount negative data, amplify positive data and start to blame external factors for setbacks rather than accept responsibility.
4. Grasping for Salvation: The sharp decline now becomes visible to all and the common saviors include a charismatic visionary leader, a bold but untested strategy, a radical transformation, a dramatic cultural revolution, a hoped-for blockbuster product or maybe game changing acquisition.
5. Capitulation to Irrelevance or Death: At this stage accumulated setbacks and expensive false starts erode financial strength and individual spirit to such an extent that leaders abandon all hope of building a great future.
All companies go through ups and downs but if you are willing to admit your mistakes and make the necessary changes early then this death spiral cannot only be overcome it can be avoided entirely.
Role Of Short Term Wins
Filed under: Leadership Callling, Leading Change, Vision Casting
One of the major mistakes we make in major change initiatives is that we oversell the long term goal at the expense of dealing with the short term realities. People do want to know where they are going but they want to know even more what does all this mean for me right now?
Once the new change plan has been implemented it is critical for everyone involved to experience the benefits of short term wins so they can stay motivated for the future and the change that is yet to come. John Kotter list several roles that short term wins play:
1. Provide evidence that sacrifices are worth it: Wins greatly help justify the short term cost involved.
2. Reward change agents: After a lot of hard work, positive feedback builds morale and motivation.
3. Help fine-tune vision and strategies: Short term wins give the guiding coalition concrete data on the viability of their ideas.
4. Undermine cynics and self-serving resisters: Clear improvements in performance make it difficult for people to block needed change.
5. Keep bosses on board: Provides those higher in the hierarchy with evidence that the transformation is on track.
6. Build momentum: Turns neutrals into supporters, reluctant supporters into active helpers.
Therefore it becomes critical in any change planning to build into the strategy several things that can be done within the first six months that may be small in scale but clear wins that everyone can celebrate.