Get Up and DO

It's so easy to get into a rut. Especially when you're in between jobs. The worst

thing that you can do is sit and wait. But sitting at a computer, day after day, applying for jobs is not going to get you by. You have to be more active.

Sitting and waiting for something to happen is going to weaken you. It will weaken your skills, your knowledge, your ability to interact socially, and most of all your motivation. You have to get up and get moving.

I'm currently in between jobs and was falling down that hole. I did two things to help me stay towards the top, allowing me to feel better about myself and my outlook of things to come. The first is volunteering.

Volunteering is actually good for you. It provides physical and mental rewards. It helps you gain other types of professional experience. And the biggie - YOU make a difference.

The other thing I did was . . . I got a job. It isn't the type of work I'm looking for, nor making the money I need, or even has the possibility of continuing. But it is pulling in some money and keeping me busy. Plus I'm able to help out a friend (grateful to that friend). Cleaning boats is not a career choice, but it's keeping my mindset in the work world. It also shows me how lucky I am to be here and reminds me of the successes I've had.

So if you're out of wack and in that rut, get out and DO. It's quite the pick me up.

Paying People to Quit

As launch week, for the new book Under New Management, is drawing to a close, I have

the honor of hosting a guest blog by author David Burkus. Under New Management has been wildly successful this week and I encourage you to get a copy today.

Paying People to Quit: The Cost of an Unengaged Hire

Possibly the most counterintuitive process to appear in recent years is the idea of paying people to quit their jobs. Not only are some leaders finding it beneficial to company performance, but research suggests these incentives may even have a positive effect on the people who stay.

One benefit of paying people to quit is obvious: it screens out people who would probably end up quitting anyway. In a purely logical world, as soon as people figure out that they've made a bad decision in coming to work at a company, they would leave. However, humans are not logical creatures. As such, we’re subject to a cognitive glitch that makes it difficult to quit the things we start. Economists often refer to this as the 'sunk costs fallacy.' Sunk costs represent the time, money, or effort we’ve already invested in a course of action. Money has already been spent, and there’s no getting it back whether we continue down the same course or break away and go our separate way.

Rationally then, the moment we realize we’ve made a mistake, we should change our course of action. But we don’t do that. In one of the original studies on sunk costs, Hal Arkes and Catherine Blumer (both of Ohio University at the time) asked undergraduate students to envision the following scenario and make a choice:

Assume that you've spent $100 on a ticket for a weekend ski trip to Michigan. Several weeks later you buy a $50 ticket for a weekend ski trip to Wisconsin. You think you'll enjoy the Wisconsin ski trip more than the Michigan ski trip. As you're putting your just-purchased Wisconsin ski trip ticket in your wallet, you notice that both trips are for the same weekend! It’s too late to sell either ticket, and you cannot return them. You must use one ticket and not the other. Which ski trip will you choose?

Surprisingly, the majority of students choose the more expensive Michigan trip even though the Wisconsin trip would be more fun. Despite the fact that the full $150 was spent and couldn’t be recouped students were influenced by how much had been spent on the trip and that led them to make a less enjoyable choice. We’re biased toward throwing more money or more effort at a less enjoyable — or doomed — cause if we’ve put significant effort or money behind it already. Jobs are no different.

It takes time to find a job, and when you’re hired, if you suddenly realize the job isn’t right for you, your sunk costs exert pressure to ignore that realization and continue. Offering a quitting bonus can help offset the sunk costs building up in the mind of the future underperformer. 

For both the employee and the employer, sunk costs make it difficult to end a doomed relationship. Companies that pay people to quit are acting rationally and ignoring sunk costs. They realize they can’t really head off a future problem by investing more time and money in someone who isn’t a good fit. When a company pays an employee to quit, it’s often doing so in the belief that even if they accept the offer, the company is getting a good deal. By giving the employees most likely to be disengaged the option to leave, companies save a lot in the long run. According to research from the Gallup Organization, disengaged employees are less productive, more likely to steal from their employer, skip work, and negatively influence customers and other employees.

At companies that have implemented this policy, only about two to three percent of people who get the offer take it. When people stay, not only does the company get to keep the money, but they might even get a more engaged and productive employee. So what happens to everyone who stays? The answer to that question points to the second reason why paying people to quit works: cognitive dissonance.

'Cognitive dissonance' is the term psychologists use to describe the discomfort you feel when two ideas conflict in your mind, as well as your attempts to reconcile them. The theory of cognitive dissonance was first proposed by Leon Festinger, a social psychologist who worked at a variety of universities, from MIT to Stanford.

Jack Brehm, another social psychologist, built on Festinger’s theory with a phenomenon he labeled 'post-decision dissonance.' Brehm theorized that after we make certain decisions, we modify our beliefs to strengthen the validity of that decision. In a famous experiment, Brehm asked 225 female students to rate a series of common household appliances. The students were then asked to choose between two of the appliances they’d rated to take home as a gift for participating. Brehm followed up with the students and asked them to complete a second round of rating the same appliances. Oddly, the students’ ratings had changed. In the second round, most of the participants rated the appliance they’d chosen as a gift higher than they’d rated it in the first round, and likewise rated the rejected item lower than they had before.

While it may seem counterintuitive, offering disengaged or unsuitable hires the opportunity to self-select out can lead to greater engagement and productivity from the employees who remain, as well as increased profitability for the company as a whole.

*****

David Burkus is the author of the new book, Under New Management. He is host of the Radio Free Leader podcast and associate professor of management at Oral Roberts University. Please visit his website at www.davidburkus.com.

Under New Management

Times and technology are always changing. With these changes must come

process and management style changes. The problem is, that what we need to do to keep up doesn’t always happen. A new idea here and there is too slow and dispersed.

A number of things that I see in David Burkus’s new book, Under Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual, I’ve seen before. But what’s great about it is that he gathers these things - and much more - shows great examples, and puts them into one easy to read, understand, and implement reference.

Including research and case studies, Burkus presents examples of organizations that have successfully implemented each of these practices. Zappos paying people to quit. Whole Foods hiring as a team. Wegmans putting customers first. Adobe eliminating yearly performance appraisals. McKinsey & Company celebrating employee departures (and keeping contact).

This is the book to read if you’re ready to make a positive change in your organization or even if you’re just starting out and building from scratch. Leave the past in the past. Let go of the old ineffective methodologies. Create an organization that will provide the base for success.

I don't know . . . but I'll find out

Anyone who has worked in customer service has heard the phrase, “I don't

know . . . but I’ll find out.”  It's a wonderful phrase that will help keep

customers happy and coming back.  You shouldn’t have a problem saying it, as nobody expects you to know everything. How long will this movie be showing? What are the requirements? Is there an age limit?  You should never leave them wondering.  

But there's another side to this phrase.  Saying “I don't know, but I'll find out”, benefits you also.  If you don’t know something, you need to find out even if it’s not for this customer.  Someone is eventually going to want to know - and BAM, you already have the answer and you don’t have to spend valuable time finding it.

Now take that phrase and apply it to your everyday work, or hobbies, or whatever.  Learning never ends.  Not after college, job orientation, or even relationships. How can I utilize Google Docs? Why do we do it this way? What problems have people run into before me?  Saying this phrase, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” to yourself, will make you continue to seek out knowledge.  It keeps your imagination and curiosity flexible.

Personally embrace this phrase to learn and explore areas that lead you in new directions.  You’ll never become stagnant.  You’ll never be bored.

The Missing Dab

Well, I'm sure you've seen it by now. I'm talking, of course, about Carolina Panthers QB,

Cam Newton's post-game press conference. It was the perfect example of an inexperienced leader. It's all fun and games while he's winning, but talk about a 180 when he loses.

Keep in mind that Newton was drafted just five years ago and although he's had some great success on the field, he still has much experience to gain in the off-field leadership arena. He's the face of not only his own brand but of the Panthers. What he displayed, no matter how painful, was the wrong picture. I've seen high school state championship losers act better.

A leader can't dab and dance while things are going well and then turn over when things don't go your way. That sets the tone for the rest of the team. The people that look up to you and respond off of your cue's. A leader is a role model, which can go either way, positively or negatively.

So hopefully Newton learns a lot from this experience - his first of multiple Super Bowls - and takes some cue's from QB's that "aren't like him, such as Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and even rookie Jameis Winston (I've been totally impressed with his attitude during his first year). The Super Bowl is a HUGE stage and no matter what happens, sometimes, as a leader, we just have to suck-it-up.

BTW. Congratulations to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

The Serving Leader

The newly updated edition of The Serving Leader: Five Powerful Actions to Transform

Your Team, Business, and Community, by Kenneth R. Jennings and John Stahl-Wert is one for your bookshelf.  Better yet, keep it on your desk.  It’s a small (154 pages) read with a big message.

The authors take you through their leadership model via parable, stopping throughout to discuss in more detail the five actions of transformation,

• Upend the Pyramid - You qualify to be first by putting other people first.
• Raise the Bar - To serve the many, you first serve the few.
• Blaze the Trail - To protect your value, you must give it all away.
• Build on Strength - To address your weaknesses, focus on your strengths.
• Run to Great Purpose - Arrange each person in the team to contribute what he/she is best at.

This all adds up to becoming the serving leader.  It’s time to step away for self-centeredness.  The book provides the traits and actions that are needed.  All that needs to be done is take it all to heart (there’s a lot of heart in this book) and put it into play.  This is a caring and sharing book for your team, family, and colleagues.

Out of the Question

This could be the 2016 winner of best leadership books - Out of the Question: How

Curious Leaders Win, by Guy Parsons and Allan Milham.  Two words in the title sum it up - Question and Curious.

In this new book, Guy and Allan discuss the difference between Knowing Leaders and Learning Leaders.  Knowers know what to do and how everyone should get there.  Learners are open, creative, and foster collaboration.  Which one do you think is more effective?

Today’s workforce is nothing like that of the past.  The, my way or the highway days are over.  Try that with your younger workers and see how long they stick around.  Leading with curiosity brings out questions and collaborative learning.  Just because you may be in a leadership role doesn’t mean you have all the answers . . . although we see many people who still think that.

I love the section on the Power of the Pause.  Yes, pause.  I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many “leaders” I’ve known who never pause during a discussion or planning session.  They always have THE answer - immediately.  How many times have we run into that and ended up reworking?

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take themselves and their teams to the next level.  Read this book and use it and you’ll probably end up multiple levels ahead.

The 3 Gaps

I knew there was going to be something special about the new book, The 3 Gaps: Are You Making a Difference?, by Hyrum W. Smith, once I realized that he was one of the original co-founders of Franklin Covey.  I surely wasn’t disappointed.

Just reading a short description of each of the 3 gaps was an indication that I needed to read this book.  Unless you actually sit down and realize what these gaps are, and how big they are, you’ll never live up to your potential.  Without action, the gaps will stay open.

Within each chapter are personal accounts from people throughout Hyrum’s life that drive the messages home.  The Beliefs Gap shows the difference between what we believe is true and what actually is.  The Values Gap shows the difference between what we most value and what we actually do.  The Time Gap shows the difference between what we plan on doing and what we actually do.  It sounds so simple, but we all have gaps that need help closing.  I can see it in myself, in my friends, and in the people I work with.

We constantly hear people saying they want inner peace.  Here’s your chance. This is a book that everyone should read as a guide to managing ourselves to be our very best.  It would be a great book to add to book club or to share with others.

Mastering Leadership

Wow, how time flies.  It's been about a month since I posted last, but what a way to come back, with a guest

post from Bob Anderson and Bill Adams.  Their new book Mastering Leadership, was released yesterday.  You should definitely pick one up.  I'm sure you won't regret it.

From Taxi Team to Team Captain

The most powerful beliefs are the beliefs and internal assumptions by which we establish our identity. These powerful self-defining beliefs get incorporated into the core of our IOS throughout our life from emotionally powerful, positive, or painful experience. They also are installed by important people in our lives—parents, teachers, coaches, bosses, mentors, political leaders—and by institutional, national, and cultural affiliations. As we adopt these assumptions, we live by them and reinforce them. The brain puts them on autopilot so that we do not have to think about them anymore. They are just seen as true.

Bob: One of my deeply embedded assumptions is that I must be perfectly successful in order to be okay. I come by this belief honestly, and most of the experience that created this belief was positive. For example, when I was 13, I tried out for the football team. I had never played football, and most of the guys on the team had been playing for a few years. I did not know that you needed to work hard to get noticed by the coaches, so I stood patiently on the sidelines waiting to be put on the practice field. As such, I was not seen as a player. Since the coaches did not have the heart to cut me, I ended up on the “Taxi Squad.” The few of us on this squad practiced together on another field. The real team had eight male coaches. We had Mrs. Dixon, a nice lady who knew nothing about football.

At this time, I was not moving in the circles in which I wanted to move. The cool kids were on the football team, and as long as I was on this Taxi Squad, I had little chance of getting accepted into their group. To make matters worse, all the cheerleaders practiced near where the team practiced, and I did not have their attention either. I was a nobody.

One day, Mrs. Dixon did not show up and the coaches were forced to allow the Taxi Squad to practice with the team. What happened that day changed my life. I was playing left defensive tackle and after a play in which I must have done something right, one of the coaches picked me up, lifted me up above his head and screamed into my face, “That was great! Do that again.”

I was so unaware of what I just did that I asked him what I had done.

He took a personal interest in me for the rest of the practice. He taught me how to play that position. Soon, I was wreaking havoc on the offense. That week I went from Taxi Squad to captain of the team. I started on offense and defense for the rest of the season. I also moved into the center of the boys with whom I wanted to be friends. I even piqued the interest of the cheerleaders. I went from nobody to somebody in one practice.

I learned that day that I am somebody if I am first string, captain of the team. I learned that I had to be the best, first string or else I would be a nobody.

This story illustrates how the driven nature of my personality began to form. I could tell other stories about how this drive was refined into the need to be flawless at everything I did. So, I entered adult life believing that my worth and self-esteem, the success and security of my future, depended utterly on being flawlessly successful all the time.

Of course, I assumed I would be a good mentor; however, that was not the case. My perfectionist standards and fear of failure combined to make me inept at letting go to others so that they might learn. What made this so difficult for me was that I had to let go when we were working with key clients. I did not do this gracefully. Every time one of my colleagues was not performing well enough, I became terrified that I would lose the client. Consequently, I took over the session and later pointed out all the ways my colleague could have done better. This approach so undermined their confidence that no one could learn from me, and I was failing to scale the business.

My perfectionism and need to be successful had me. I did not have them. I did not start to face this belief until after two years of failing to scale the business. Once I saw how I was the problem, as I dropped into this belief structure to see its illusion, and as I began to see my fear-driven perfectionism as resulting from another irrational belief, I began to mentor more effectively and the business began to scale nicely.

These beliefs form the core of the Reactive operating system—the mechanisms by which we form our externally validated identity. Because we need to be seen by others as X, our self-esteem, security, and future are in their hands. They make us up. How they see us defines us. We depend on external validation, living within the confines of a Socialized Self, as the Self-Authoring, Creative Self lives beyond the bounds of these Reactive beliefs. We tend to oscillate and return to normal as we react to meet the expectations of these beliefs. This is how Reactive Mind is structured and, since structure determines performance, how it performs.

*****

Excerpted from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015)

Bob Anderson is Chairman and Chief Development Officer and Bill Adams is CEO of The Leadership Circle and the Full Circle Group. They are coauthors of Mastering Leadership (Wiley). Visit www.fcg-global.com or http://www.theleadershipcircle.com.

The New Social Learning

Things are not always as they seem.  They’re not as simple as they seem.  And social learning is no different.  Social learning is of course nothing new.  But how it’s accomplished is always changing.

 We’re not just talking Facebook and Youtube.  The New Social Learning: Connect. Collaborate. Work, by Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner, shows us how to capitalize on the people, tools, technology, and practices in order to increase engagement and collaboration.  In this book you will read about organizations that have transformed meaningful social learning into advantages over other organizations.

Don’t do what most people do and just focus on the tools.  How can they be used to your advantage?  People have a great desire to make a difference.  Learn here to facilitate the growth in the way people learn.  See how you can learn to “work outloud” to build learning relationships.

Share this book with your training, marketing, and HR departments.  Heck, all departments.  And don’t forget the leadership team.

Collaboration Begins with You

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about reviewing books, it’s don’t miss a Ken Blanchard book.

 Collaboration Begins with You: Be a Silo Buster, is no different.  This new book by Ken, Jane Ripley, and Eunice Parisi-Carew is a book for every employee.  We shouldn’t wait for a culture of collaboration to begin from the top.  It begins with you.

The authors share a parable - which makes it an easy read for everyone - on the three-part approach to busting silos around you; the heart, the head, and the hands.  Put it all together and it provides a way for us to change our beliefs of collaboration so that we can truly work together instead of just going through the motions.  In order for collaboration to really work properly, it needs to become company-wide . . . and accepted.

So you think you, or your organization, are already collaborative.  Try the self-assessment towards the end of the book.  You may soon feel a bit different about those thoughts.  It’s easy for organizations to fall into the beliefs of how good they think they are.  But once you actually, honestly look at the Heart, Head, and Hands domains of collaboration, you might very well see that, Hmm, we have some work to do.

This book will show you how to break down the barriers and get started, instead of waiting for it to filter down.  The outcome?  A collaborative mindset leading to increased trust and productivity.

Flip Flops in the Office

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about things his manager does that drives

him nuts (many).  The one issue that really struck a cord was flip flopping.

I've had a couple of managers throughout my working years that were pros at flip flopping. Whether it was making changes to a new SOP and eventually flipping right back to the way it was originally written, or telling me to do one thing and then completely going off when it's being done.  

Now don't get me wrong.  There's nothing wrong with changing your mind.  Things change. Circumstances change.  I totally expect it.  But to be a good and trusted leader, you must take the time to think things through.  Knee jerk reactions have a bad habit of coming back on you.  People start to wonder what the interpretation of the day is.  You may think it doesn't affect you, but it affects your team and the way they do their jobs and the way they think about you, whether positively or negatively.  Flip-flopping will eventually lead to people throwing up their arms and giving up and negatively impacting the culture.  Then everyone's productivity goes down.

I think a lot of it comes down to time management.  Throughout the last 20 years or so I can't even count the number of times I've heard how "busy" people are, and that's their excuse for not reacting or thinking through.  Everyone is busy, but time is an important factor in good leadership.  You have to make the time.  Leaders are role models, whether that means good ones or bad ones.  The easier you make your teams job, the easier you're going to make your job.

Time for Co-Active Leadership

Easy to read.  Quick to read.  Powerful learning.  Unlike so many leadership books, Co-Active Leadership: Five Ways to Lead, by Karen and Henry Kimsey-House breaks down

leadership into an easy to understand and implement model.  The Co-Active Leadership Model is broken down into the Co-Active Leader Within, in Front, Behind, Beside, and in the Field.  Before you even start reading, you have a good idea where it’s going which helps you understand even better.  A big focus on who we are, what matters, and making connections.

Leadership is not just about standing within your own bubble and outwardly directing.  This book shows us how to get over that, and to become a complete responsible leader that others want. It's just the size and type of book that's perfect to use for a leadership development program full of people who "don't have time". Once they read Co-Active Leadership they'll be asking for more. . . . . Maybe Co-Active Coaching?

The Genius of Opposites

Opposites attract, right?  Sometimes in better ways than others.  Understand how introverts and extroverts can

work together and you’ve got a winning team.  We know that opposites have differences . . . duh.  The key is to understand what those differences are and enrich those different skills to understand and appreciate the other.

Jennifer Kahnweiler’s new book, The Genius of Opposites: How Introverts and Extroverts Achieve Extraordinary Results Together, shows us how to work, together, with someone who is our opposite.  This is a five-step plan to grow a cohesive partnership.  Conflict can be a good thing and Jennifer uses some excellent examples of famous opposites to explain.

Being an introvert myself, I found this book compelling and strengthening.  With the information, examples, tools, and techniques included in this book, it would make a great series of lunch and learns for your leaders and team members.

I'm pleased to have Jennifer Kahnweiler as my guest blogger today.

Email: a Multiplier of Misunderstandings?

When was the last time you came back to your office and listened to 100 voicemails?  More likely you responded to the many emails in your inbox.

I reached my saturation point a few weeks ago after I realized that I had not one live conversation all day.  That is an energy drain for an extrovert.  The real tipping point came during a back and forth email dialogue with an introverted work colleague.

As our email tennis match proceeded, I could see the misunderstandings multiply.  I wrote him an email to ask for a five minute phone call to clear up the issue.  He wrote back, asking me if we could “settle it on email”.  “No way,” I thought.  “It would take more time to write each other again that it will to talk.”

So, a bit nervously, I picked up the phone and dialed his number anyway.  We had a brief conversation in which he explained his position and we discussed several viable options.  The matter was resolved in four minutes.

I know that, as an introvert, he prefers to communicate via email.  As an extrovert, I agree — most of our communication can be handled that way.  I also believe that a personality preference is not a prescription for every situation.  There are times when we need to be able to ask each other questions, dig a little deeper, and listen to a person’s voice tone to better understand their point of view.  We also need to clearly express what we mean.

To what degree should the situation drive the communication mode?  How much do you moderate your preferred style to accommodate others?

Originally published 2/6//2009 on JenniferKahnweiler.com.

Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, Ph.D., Certified Speaking Professional, is a bestselling author and global keynote speaker known as the “champion for introverts.” In addition to her latest book, The Genius of Opposites, she has written two bestselling books about introverts (Quiet Influence and The Introverted Leader), which have been translated into 14 languages.

Soft As A Brick and The Anatomy of Peace

The Anatomy of Peace, by The Arbinger Institute . . . what a great new (revised) book, for business

AND personal life.  I hear a lot about trying to separate work and home and the more I hear and read the more I’ve come to realize that it’s impossible.  This book will help with that balance.  After reading, you’ll look at everyday things and people so differently.  We cause conflict.  We hold on to conflict.  But we also have the ability to solve conflict.  It all comes from within and how WE relate to OTHERS.  We can’t sit back and wait for someone else to take the first step.  Be proactive and read this book and learn from deep within about the person that you can, and should be.

Today I have the honor of hosting Sam Whitney, Client Solutions Manager at The Arbinger Institute, with a great lesson for us all.

Soft As A Brick

Some time ago I worked as a trainer for a fairly large organization. As a trainer I had to coordinate with employee supervisors in order to obtain training topics and schedule training. One of my supervisors was not helping me; in fact he was sabotaging my trainings. And, it seemed clear, he was doing it on purpose. He would “forget” to schedule the sessions, not give me proper topics, and then undermine what I was saying during the training sessions. I was very close to making a formal complaint and I was hopeful I could get him fired.  I had been working with my training supervisor for months looking for a solution to all the problems he was causing me. I wasn’t treating him poorly, and I felt I was doing a great job as a trainer; I had no clue as to why he was being such a problem.

Soon the book The Anatomy of Peace fell into my lap with a recommendation that it might help solve my problem. My first reaction was “I don’t need this, I just need to get this supervisor out of my way.” But I was wrong. As I read the book I was impressed how the ideas challenged me to get outside of my own way of seeing. This was really hard for me to do because it forced me to see this supervisor as a person. There was one line in the book that changed the whole game for me, “We invite in others the very behaviors we say we hate.” When I read that I realized I needed to be responsible for my contribution to the problem I was having. I was finally able to see how I was actually provoking negative behavior from this supervisor. It turns out the way I was going about scheduling was not working for the supervisor; it was hindering his own scheduling. I was also training in a way that was not taking into account what the employees needed and what the supervisor needed. I found out that he thought I was the problem.

I decided to have a meeting. In this meeting I told the supervisor all the things I was doing that I thought were getting in his way or making his life harder. He was impressed and after discussing both of our needs and objectives we saw that neither of us was worthy of firing. We both were trying our best but had been blind to how we were affecting each other.

From that moment on our work changed dramatically. Training's improved. We held them more often and with better topics. The employees benefited, sales increased overall, and the company was able to see improved engagement from its employees.

Here at Arbinger we have a saying about The Anatomy of Peace—it’s about as soft as a brick. It hit me hard when I needed it most.

Sam Whitney is Client Solutions Manager at the Arbinger Institute, the organization-author of the bestsellers Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace, which teach concepts and models designed around the idea that seeing people as people can dramatically impact the results we achieve in organizations, in relationships, and in the world. Click here to learn more.

The Treasure in Books

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates loot on Treasure Island

and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life."

This is one of my favorite Walt Disney quotes.  A lot of quotes we see, no matter who they come from, tend to be just soundbites.  But they're just comments with little actual meaning and left up to the reader to interpret.

But this quote leaves little to figure out.  Reading is important.  It's important all the way through school . . . and beyond.  Anything you want to learn more about is probably in a book.  The Internet can be a great resource, but it doesn't take the place of a great book.

Whether we're trying or not, learning never ends and we all need to feed that learning.  I'm always talking about this with leaders.  Things change, people change, cultures change, and there are a number of author's out there that keep up on these changes for us.  All we need to do is pick up a book here and there.

Take a look at some of these author's writings and build your loot:  Mark Miller, Bill Treasurer, Julie Winkle Giulioni, Lee Cockerell, Cheryl Bachelder, Ken Blanchard, Chris Edmonds, Kevin Eikenberry.  Now get out there and pick up a book.

“To Do” or “To Stop?”

Well, I've been away from the blogosphere for about a month, but what a great way to

jump back in.  Today's guest blogger is John Manning, author of the brand new book, The Disciplined Leader: Keeping the Focus onWhat Really Matters.  Whether your leadership is in need of focus or refocus, this book is the place to go.  John gives you the tools to prioritize and create the right balance of activities to achieve the most successful results.

“To Do” or “To Stop?”

If you’re struggling with time management and feeling overwhelmed by the trivial many, it’s time to create a “To Stop” list.

Include activities on your list that aren’t vital to your professional and personal life and that can either be terminated or delegated to others. Consider involving your staff members in helping you develop this list, asking for their input. You may have people on your team who are happy to step up and assume more responsibility to improve their own skills. Lose what lacks real value in your life, and you’ll free up more time to focus on the “vital few” factors that drive your success.

Here are four steps to help you develop your “To Stop” list:

Evaluate where you spend your time. Pick an average week or month and chart your activities — write down what you are doing and what percentage of time you are spending on various tasks and responsibilities, e.g., answering emails, conference calls, putting out proverbial fires, etc. Within that snapshot, analyze when you were most productive — what did that look like? When were you least productive — what did that look like? Of everything you’ve listed, what really matters? Anything that qualifies as “noise” or is extraneous to your company’s mission and core strategies isn’t vital. Those are the items that belong on your “To Stop” list.

Understand the impact. Once you’ve charted what you’re truly doing with your precious time, it will be impossible to ignore or overlook the correlation between the “trivial many” and lost productivity. Let that discovery and any associated revelations (good or bad!) get under your skin and motivate you. Embrace this very natural catalyst to jumpstart the changes you’ll personally need to make.

Challenge yourself to let go. Just as you would with an unhealthy relationship or a bad habit, call upon self-discipline to let go of the work habits undermining your progress, productivity and profit. Take your “To Stop” list and start acting on it. Challenge your team and ask them to step up and take on some added responsibility. Simply put, to stop what’s on your “To Stop” list! Either find someone else to do it or quit it altogether.

Stay focused on the “Vital Few.” Once you’ve eliminated the “trivial many” from your daily agenda, be proactive about doing more of what’s essential to your success. How? Dedicate your free minutes to the “Vital Few,” whatever is directly related to your core mission, critical goals, or only what you can or should do. Stay the course, centered in this way, and you’ll find it’s much easier to avoid the temptation to slip back into old habits or get derailed by those ever-new distracters.

What are some of the “trivial” things you do that you could assign to others?

Originally published February 9. 2015

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/create-stop-list-john-manning

John Manning is the president of Management Action Programs, Inc. (MAP), and author of The Disciplined Leader - now available on Amazon. Learn more about his work at www.disciplinedleader.com, or connect with him on Twitter @JohnMManning.

A Tuna Sandwich Named Kevin

I just recently saw one of those cute little sayings on Facebook that said, “Strange new trend at the

office. People putting names on food in the company fridge. Today I had a tuna sandwich named Kevin”.

As funny as that sounds, it’s actually pretty accurate. And that’s not so funny. Whether it’s a sandwich, an employee or personal space in the “cube farm”, R-E-S-P-E-C-T seems to be often missing. With a lack of respect comes a lack of trust. With a lack of trust comes an unproductive office. Oh yes, creativity also takes a hit.

Did I mention that teamwork suffers, as does enthusiasm and commitment to the organization? Let's not forget that customer service suffers. Motivation decreases, and so does communication.

Seems to be a trend here. Instead of having to deal with all of these negatives, why not show some respect for your employees and colleagues and turn those negatives into positives?