***From Chapter 7 of 10 Keys to Great Leadership Book*****
Welcome back, we hope you enjoyed part one of the piece last week. Today we move on to part 2.
But first a simple recap of the 5 pieces from part 1
1/ Measure
You will never know if you are getting the results you want unless you have some type of measurement.
2/ Expectations
Understand what you expect.
Understand what all those you are responsible for expect.
Understand what all those you report to expect.
3/ Discipline
There is the word again. Didn’t we just cover that a couple of chapters back? If you don’t have the discipline to stick with the task and help others stick with it, how can you ever expect any results?
4/ Consistency
You have to do it all the time, every time.
5/ Plan
You can talk about it all day long. You can think about it all the time. Yet you still might never achieve it. Without a plan of what you are going to do, you are never going to make it happen. Yes,
Today let us go on to numbers 6-10.
6/ Action
You have to do something.
Someone once told me “Until you take some action, nothing happens.”
Until you make a decision to act and do it, nothing happens.
Again, thinking about it doesn’t do anything. You can still be thinking about it while everyone else passes you by. Thinking about running every day gets you zero, but get up and run, even just a little and you are moving forward.
Wanting it is a great start.
Dreaming about it is good.
But without an action, it is never going to happen. Do you understand? Never going to happen.
Try this: One simple thing. Every night before you retire, write down one thing you are going to get done tomorrow. Then do it tomorrow. One more thing. simple, but amazing. You might add another and another after a while, but just one thing can lead you to amazing results.
7/ Believe
If you don’t believe it is going to happen, then you are right, it is not going to happen. I know many out there think I am a bit crazy, but if you believe you can do it, you will be amazed at what happens.
When I left the USMC, I had a simple vision, get a BA in Accounting. Now, remember I was a terrible student in High School. But I believed I was going to make this happen, and not just happen, but I was going to make it happen in 3 years. How much do you think that belief had to do with it happening?
When I took over as the National Sales Manager for a company, they were doing average. They had no belief they could be a great company again. They settled into being content in that position. Within 18 months of my taking over, we had taken sales up to 80% and had one of the best sales teams in the country. Why? Because I believed it could be done and I got the rest of the players to believe and take actions.
You have to start with believing.
Try this: One thing your team has really been struggling with and none of you seem to believe it can be done. Write it down. Just change the way you interact about it with them. Then watch how they change. Once they see that you believe, it totally changes how they feel.
***If you like what you have heard so far – then please jump in and get a copy of the entire book, for only $.99. Limited time offer*****. Just click the book.
8/ Focus
To many times, we try to do everything and we end up getting nothing done. Do fewer things instead, and do them extremely well and watch what happens. If you are not getting results, it could be you are just stretched too thin. Give some things up and watch what happens.
You have to choose what the highest payback item is and you have to focus on getting that done. In my ‘90 Days to Success Process,’ we work in 90-day time frame because it allows us to focus and get our hands around something and get it done. When you look too far out and have a “to-do” or “project list,” that is hundreds of entries long, you focus on the list, not the tasks.
To learn more about that product, go to this link. http://coachmanny.com/90-days-to-your-success/
9/ Delegate
You cannot do everything. No one does everything well. We all have our gifts and our problems. Do what you do well and delegate the rest.
If you are a new leader, this might be one of the biggest problems keeping you from being a great leader. Especially if you were a superstar at what you did before you became a leader. I was a super programmer who could write code better than 99% of the people out there. But when I became a leader, that was not relative nor was it how I got measured. The measurement now was, “can you get your team to write code better than 99% of the people out there?” Think about that as it relates to your team.
If you have been leading for a while, you might be hitting the burn out stage, perhaps that is why you are reading this book. Your faith in people may be slipping and you need encouragement. Start by getting stuff off your plate and on the plate of your team. Encourage them and watch what happens.
Or you might be a superstar, but still you are doing way too much and getting way too little done. Simply put, you need to give more to your team and help them be superstars. You are the leader, you’re expected to delegate, support, encourage, measure and motivate your team.
Try this: Spend the next 2 weeks writing down everything you do, and then next to each item, ask the question, “Could someone else do this?” Then go through the list and start delegating everything that someone else can do. You will be amazed. Do this every six months, and you will find great time and get so much more done. Amazing!
10/ Celebrate
Don’t just get it done and move to the next thing. Take some time with those involved and pat them on the back. Just a little. Then move on.
You don’t have to have a party every time to make a great accomplishment, but you do need to give credit where credit is due. Remember what I stated earlier, give the credit, take the blame. You are a leader.
Try these:
Simple stuff like pizza for lunch for the team.
Coffee gift cards for all team members.
A mailed personal ‘Thank You’ card to each member from you.
Recognition in front of the team for certain things. Simple things.
Shirts also work great, company shirt and jeans Friday.
Bonus
11/ Lessons learned.
When you get to the results. Ask and write down. What worked, what didn’t? You will be amazed at what happens the next time.
Reflection on how you did. We rush so fast past what we should be doing that we completely forget to ask, “What did I do right, wrong? What did I learn?” This can be amazing stuff.
I learned it at Boeing where we would have formal lessons learned meetings, and review every project when it was complete. Great stuff.
Try this: The next time you finish a project, get the team together and ask the simple questions. “Team, what did we learn?” “What did we do extremely well?” “What did we suck at?” “How can we do it better next time?”
This is not a complete list. These are all important things. If you don’t have a list, start by using this one. If you have a list, add the ones you don’t have. Now, go and achieve some results.
But make sure you do the exercises.
***If you like what you have heard so far – then please jump in and get a copy of the entire book, for only $.99. Limited time offer*****. Just click the book.