Busy does not equal important

Just because you are busy, approving, directing, doing, and multitasking, doesn’t mean what you are doing is important, or most important.

The marketplace does not reward busy. It rewards productivity in building value and serving others.

Most of us are busy – the question is “doing what?”

Prioritize your activities

The most successful people don’t get everything done; they get the most important things done.  

You have to know what they are first, and then prioritize.

What are you doing first today?

Are you doing the right things?

If someone parachuted into your life and watched what you did day in and day out for a while, would it be obvious by what you are doing what your primary goals are?

Have you defined your big goals and gotten clear on them? Have you broken down your big goals into micro goals that are going on your daily schedules that will bring you closer and closer each day?

So what now?

Sterile Dreams

What do you want in and from your business?  

If the activities and tasks for next steps are not in your calendar, it’s a dead dream.

What’s on your calendar today? Will those activities take you closer toward your big goals?

Why would they work for you?

You know a great employee who is making a great contribution working somewhere else. Let’s say you asked them to work for you today. What reason would you give them that they shoud quit where they are working and come to work for your company?

If you don’t have a good enough reason, and you worked for six months to make a reason, what would it be?

What is Your Brand?

Your brand is the graphic image that people see. What does it make them think when they see it? In my industry we have identified three qualities of a great brand:

1) They know what we do when they see it.

2) It inspires trust.

3) It is memorable.

For 20 years, our brand was not right.  It was not memorable and didn’t represent everything we did as we added services. Then we got it right, and everything changed. Everybody knows us now.

If you are going to market anyway, you may as well get what you are putting in front of people right.  Set criteria, and pour over every detail.  Once you get it right, don’t change it.

What does your brand say (according to others)?

The Highest Calling

“When you create a successful business, you improve the lives of hundreds, thousands or even millions of people.  There is no higher calling.” – from my book, The Highest Calling.

If you don’t do it well, you can make a mess too. Your business is a vehicle for you to make the world a better place.  A wonderful one.  And as it turns out, that’s how you succeed – by solving other people’s problems first. When your employees win, and your customers win, then and only then, you can win.  

How is your organization (group of people under your leadership), making the world a better place? 

Functional Optimism

A leader has to have a vision of the future.  It’s easy to talk about grandiose plans and get people excited – for a bit.  But you have to be practical too.  If you have a habit of being all hat and no cattle, and not being able to come through on your plans, then you lose credibility and your ability to influence people in the future.

Cast grand visions – that can be achieved.

Qualities people look for in a leader

In a brilliant book, “The Leadership Challenge,” they studied what qualities people look for in a leader.  While there were many, the top four were – Competent, Honest, Forward Looking, and Inspiring.

Take a minute to consider how you stack up in these four areas to your people.  Of course your opinion is biased and not the perception others have, but you can really find out if you were brave enough.

Competent, Honest, Forward Looking and Inspiring.

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Leader – Dealer in Hope

As we have said before, hope is not a strategy. We have to have a plan and do something. But hope is when people believe tomorrow will be better than today. If we can’t give people that, we can’t get them to engage and commit or stay.

Do you think your people feel like tomorrow will be better than today under your leadership?