It's hard to influence without a great reputation

Leadership is the action and ability to influence.  To be the influence you want to be, you have to build a great reputation.

Have you done that?

Don't sell out

Beware of what you become, in pursuit of what you want.

Find Quiet Time

In the old days, boredom was something people experienced at times.  In today’s age of smart phones, nobody is bored anymore.  We are all continually entertained and distracted; and there is no limit to the content available to you at any moment.

The downside is we don’t take time to think and process and generate our own ideas.  We need to SCHEDULE quiet time to be with our own thoughts, away from the influence of other’s content and agendas.

Quiet time is not always just you.  Often it’s you and something – your work, your project, your hobby – but without the rest of the world interrupting.

Don’t you love your quiet time?

Schedule it if you have to. 

"Monk Mode"

It’s hard to get things done with distractions.  You may need to go into “Monk Mode”.  Sequester yourself to write, work, study, get a project done in solitary confinement.

It’s amazing what you can get done with distraction free time in distraction free space.

Communicate to your people

The big stuff.  The stuff you think you don’t need to say.  The obvious.

Often.

Don’t forget.

Who is your mentor?

A mentor is someone who knows the road ahead.  They can anticipate and see things you can’t.  They can give good counsel, and that has great power and value.

Who is your mentor?

Should you get one?

"No" is a complete sentence.

“No” is the master skill of the superachiever.

Say no to protect your valuable time to be working on what you said YES to.

You can’t do everything, and if you try, you will be average at everything and remembered for nothing.

Say no and focus.

Constructive Suicide

Hanging on to an old mission that is not working is only preventing you from being successful at something else.

If you succeed at something else, you won’t be remembered for the failure; unless you die still trying the failed experiment.

Sometimes you have to admit failure to start to succeed.

Addicted to being busy

When we just started out, being busy was something we ensured we did so we could survive.  Work hard, work long, don’t stop, multi-task like crazy, and do lots of stuff.

But now we think we should still do that, and it prevents us from stopping to observe, ask ourselves questions, and think strategically.  Our new job awaits us, but we can’t do the old job and the new one at the same time.

What are you putting up with?

I’m not a big fan of firing people, but here’s a question.  If you sold your business to someone who was an experienced proven builder of great teams, what current employee would not be there once the new guy figured out what was going on?