Who are you to do this?

Businesses make the world a better place by supplying the things and solving the problems that people (consumers) voluntarily pay for because it makes their life better.

Who are you to be running such a business?  You ain’t perfect!

“The blessed work of helping the world forward, happily, does not wait to be done by perfect people.” – George Eliot

You may not be perfect, but you can provide something people want very well.  And, it’s who you become in doing it that really matters.

Grow through it

It’s messed up.  You messed up.  You presided over people who made mistakes.  

You have to clean it up and fix it.

This is part of getting smarter and better. Don’t waste a mistake.

Learn, fix it, train others and become smarter and more valuable by making the changes necessary so it doesn’t happen again.

Go Grow through it.  

Suck it up, buttercup!

The pursuit of goals and other great things is not all sunshine and rainbows.  You won’t like the work many times.

As Muhammed Ali said, “I hate every morning in the gym.  But I love being world champion”.

But failing also sucks.  You can work hard (or not work hard) and fail, and that’s worse. 

Some people think if they don’t like what they are doing each minute that they are failing or not doing the right thing.  But boredom and monotony and the feeling you are wasting your life are probably worse.  

Suck it up buttercup!  Success is hard work!  You got this!

Take the blame

What went wrong that was partially your fault?  

Take the blame.  A leader who accepts responsibility will earn the trust of their team.

Give away the credit.

Who do you need to thank publicly for getting a good/great result (even if you were involved)?

You have more opportunities than time.

There is an abundance of opportunities that can take hours, months or years to pursue well.  If you chase too many, you are not likely to do anything well.

You have to choose.

Creative work first

Do creative work first thing in the morning before you get into transactional work like emails, phone calls, and meetings.

Your mind works better when it’s fresh and there is less on your mental clipboard.

Do YOU really have to do that?

Leaders – Just because a task to be done presents itself to you doesn’t mean it needs to be done by you, now, or at all.

You’re the leader.  You can’t neglect the leadership job while doing things others can do. 

Goals

Goals are a specific set of instructions to your brain for what to look for and move toward in the world.  

Your brain has search capability better than Google’s – but you have to put the search criteria in!

Keep your instructions in front of you – on your bathroom mirror where you see it twice a day.

Responsiveness and Responsibility are not the same

Responsiveness is not the same as responsibility.  Being available instantly all the time is not the way to get things done as a leader.  Find a place where you are unreachable for part of the day or week.  Stick to YOUR high-priority agenda and ignore the rest.