Keep One In Your Pocket

“We developed so many talents as we went along that I lay awake at night

figuring out how to use them. That's how we become so diversified. It was natural branching out." - Walt Disney
How many times have you had a great idea in the middle of the night or while sitting relaxing at the pool, beach, or back porch and told yourself, “I’ll write it down later”. How many times has “later” never come? I wish I had a nickel (or a dollar, to account for inflation) for every time I said that but forgotten the idea 15 minutes later.

Ideas, and thoughts on how to develop them, begin streaming when we’re relaxed - when we don’t have the stresses of phone calls, meetings, and people popping into our offices. And, because we’re not prepared, we lose many ideas. We have to be equipped for these instant concepts at all times.

That takes me back to my Navy days. I ALWAYS carried around one of those little green, government-issue memorandum books in my back pocket - constantly at the ready to record my thoughts or work schedule of the day. It was a great asset (and great application for CYA).

These days, that little green book has been replaced by a smart-phone. It can record thoughts just as easily and they can be converted directly to memos or emails.

Make sure you have the available means to record your instant thoughts and the next time you can’t sleep, at least be productive and pull out that “little green book”.

Purpose Must Be A Priority

This weeks post is by guest, Jeremy Kingsley who's new book, Inspired People Produce Results will be released on March 11!  If you like it half as much as I do, you'll love it! Get it now.

As the leader of your team, you must clearly understand and be able to pass on the purpose of your organization and your team’s role within that organization. If you don’t know the purpose of your efforts, you certainly won’t be able to inspire your team to success.
     
Communicating purpose will take more than requiring your team to memorize the company mission statement, however. It must become part of the culture of what everyone in your organization thinks about, says, and does each day. It will influence decisions made at the top and choices made by the “lowliest” employee.
     
Keep your own sense of purpose honed and sharp. You are the leader. Keep that big picture in mind and know exactly where you are and where you are going. Communicate your enthusiasm and dedication. Carry everyone else along with you. It will take energy and effort, but no one said that being a leader was easy.
     
Grow together. At times, it may seem that everyone has a different purpose, and that paths are diverging. Make sure that everyone sees the way back to the common goal, and that the impact their work will have on it is clear to them. It is as if each team member must make a brick, ensuring that it is strong and free from flaws, and then firmly set it in place, among others, so that the next course can rest safely upon it.
     
Friday is a great time to bring your team together, to review the week, discuss the one to come, and end the working day with a sense of triumph, feeling united, energized, and eager for what lies ahead.
     
I’m a runner, I know how my legs ache halfway through a race, and at work my head often hurts at some point during a week. It is purpose that carries tired limbs and overburdened minds on until a second wind comes and that tape is in view. Purpose fathers that final burst of energy that carries your team over the line, with the broken tape fluttering at their feet. Purpose paves the way to victory. “Good leaders,” it’s been said, “create an organization with a purpose that rises above the bottom line; great leaders go a step further, finding ways to leverage the passion of each employee in order to create incentives that transcend financial rewards.”
     
What does this statement mean? I think it’s saying that to be an exceptional leader, you must discover ways to link the passions of each individual on your team with the purposes of your organization. You may have to find ways to do this that go beyond traditional methods. As you get to know your team, you’ll discover more about their individual desires and goals and how they define their purpose in life. It may be based on their family values, faith, or recent experiences. Pay attention to these clues! The more you can find common ground between your organization’s goals and purposes and the individual goals and purposes of each member of your team, the more effective and happy they will be on the job.
     
You won’t regret making purpose a priority.

About the Author
Jeremy Kingsley is a professional speaker, author, and the President of OneLife Leadership. Since 1995 he has spoken to over 500,000 people at live events around the world. He has given over 2000 keynote speeches and his messages have reached millions through radio, television, and the internet. He has a new book titled Inspired People Produce Results, published by McGraw-Hill. Order now and learn more at www.jeremykingsley.com

Leaders Need to Learn

That's right . . . learn.

Like I used to tell all of my young Sailor's who would get discouraged with setbacks and lacked ambition - success is like a video game.  You have to know which buttons to push and when.  If you get knocked down you have to figure out which way is the better way to get ahead.  In other words, keep learning as you're progressing.

This learning doesn't stop when you become a supervisor, director, or even a CEO.  Part of good leadership includes continued learning.  No one can ever get to ANY level and say, "I now know it all".  But how many leaders have you ever had that had just that mentality.  I've had "a few".

 Jim Rohn once said, "The book you don't read won't help."  Makes sense, doesn't it?

Make a habit of reading books - any subject you're interested in is out there and just waiting for you.  Read trade magazines or blogs.  Go to local seminars or complete online courses (there are a lot of free ones out there).  There are so many resources out there for you to learn from.  There's no reason why you shouldn't be taking advantage of them.

"No time", you say?  Wrong answer.  Make time.  A blog only takes a couple of minutes to read.  Start by finding a couple that are published by notable "experts" and go from there.

You're never going to know it all - realize it and believe it.  You need to keep learning.  Google "leadership blogs" and/or "leadership books" and get started now.

Keep It Out

As we get closer and closer to election time, we hear more and more "stuff".  And that's exactly what it is.

Have you ever wondered how no one is ever wrong when it comes to politics?  Why is that?  Because we never know ALL of the facts on why someone did this or didn't do that or thought this or that . . . NEVER.

Politics boils down to one thing - opinion.  Anytime someone speaks of politics, it's mostly the way they've developed "information" in their own head.  No matter what, you can't win the argument.  So what purpose is there to purposely bringing non-winnable arguments into the office?

I say, go ahead and have your opinion.  Everyone's entitled to it.  But don't bring it in the form of a controversy   There are so many other things in the office that we can constructively put that effort towards.

Oh, by the way . . . the same goes about religion.

Feed Your Employee's

By FEED, I don’t mean buy them lunch everyday (although once in awhile would be great). I mean feed them knowledge and experience.

With all the talk about Millennial’s, Gen-Xer’s, Y’s and Z’s, we’re seeing more and more employee’s that don’t want to take over the reins of the company. They just aren’t quite as ambitious these days as say the Baby Boomer’s have been.

Employees don’t have their sights on the corner office as much as they used to. They’re perfectly happy trying to balance work and life – with an emphasis on life. There’s too much challenge and demand on CEO’s and VP’s these days so the ambition to get that high is lacking.

Now that’s not to say that today’s workforce is lazy - to the contrary. They work very hard. Actually, a recent study found that the notion of Gen-Xer’s being lazy was way off and that it’s really just the opposite.

Now is the time to start grooming – learning and training - or you may just find your succession plan slipping away.

Where The Heck Did The Time Go?

Where the heck did the time go? Wow. How many of us have asked ourselves that one . . . many times?

The average day can be divided into six segments (with average hours):
Sleep - 8
Work - 8
Eat - 3
Personal Hygiene - 1
Commute - 2, and
Various - 2

Most people think they know how much time they spend on what they do. But unless you’re keeping track of it, mmmmm no, you really don’t. It’s like a diet. Until you start writing down EVERYTHING you eat, you don’t really have a clear picture of what you’re putting in your body – believe me, I’ve done it.

According to Merrill & Donna Douglass in their book Manage Your Time Your Work Yourself, “we have about two hours each day to do the various personal things that make life worth living. That’s not much. But it gets worse. By their own account, most people waste at least two hours every day”! Any free evening is a luxury.

The only way to get out of this rut is to sit down and figure out just what you’re spending time on and learn to manage your time better. This is called – work life balance.

The Douglass’s suggest drawing three circles divided like a pie. In one, distribute your time the way you THINK is true. In the second, indicate how you ACTUALLY distribute your time. In the last, draw an IDEAL pie. “The difference between where you are now and where you would like to be is the source for possible goals.”

Just like anything you do to be successful, you need to plan and set goals.

To Do Lists

A few months back I saw writer Larry Winget for the first time on FoxBusiness's Happy Hour. I was immediately intrigued by his attitude towards business life. He writes/talks about business in a straight forward, to the point manner. He "tells the truth and doesn't give a damn if you like it or not". Yesterday I started reading his book "It's Called Work for a Reason". I found a fantastic idea in the first few pages.

In his book Winget suggests that you get rid of your "Things to Do" list and replace it with a "Things That Have to Get Done" list. How many times have you taken time to make a "to do" list and only partially gotten any of it actually completed? Herein lies the problem. According to Winget, your "to do" list is nothing more than a wish list. "Your "Things That Have to Get Done" list is more focused and concise, and acts as an action plan for your day." It has a more psychological effect.

Lists that you make up of things that you need to accomplish are part of your time management. By making a list you hope to be able to accomplish more. But if you're constantly only getting bits and pieces done, you're not really accomplishing anything.

It's time consuming to manage time. Winget says that "Everyone should forget about managing time and should instead focus on managing priorities. When the right things get done, time takes care of itself". Focus on what has to get done, not what should get done or would be nice to get done.

Roy Disney once said, "When priorities are clear, decision making is easy." Set the right priorities and everything else follows.