Vulnerability

As a leader, you shouldn’t try to put the act on that you are a perfect human being.  Others will see the contradiction, and criticize you for it and you will lose credibility.  

Instead, admit your weaknesses and ask for their help in filling in for them.  Acknowledge that some of your staff are better than you in those areas and appreciate them for it.  

Showing genuine weaknesses is better than false strengths.

Keeping people together

A great leader knows the art of keeping people together.  Reducing or eliminating gossip, making people feel appreciated and cared for, brokering peace between employees and departments, and giving special attention to those that need special attention in the way they need it.

Running a business is very much a people art.  Are you a uniter? 

Obsession

High performance people make every hour and even every minute count.  They are doing things on purpose.  Every thought, every motion, every action – moving towards a goal or higher ideal.  They seem to get 2X or even 10X done in a day compared to others with no greater goals to work toward.  

High performance people have decided what they want and are obsessed with its pursuit.

Have you decided what you want?

Is your head in the game?

If you aren’t satisfied, that’s ok; so long as you are willing to change your actions, learn new things, and step out of your comfort zone each day to become the kind of person that attracts what you say you want.  Keep your head in the game.

But if you say you want X results, and you just don’t have the willingness, energy or vision to change, that’s a problem.  You’ll need to do one of three things – 

1) Soul search (shouldn’t take long).  Compare alternative lives.  Ask yourself if you REALLY want it, and if so, turn the switch on inside you and muster up the desire and courage.

2) Acknowledge that your original goal wasn’t for you and bring it down to a smaller goal you can be happy pursuing.

3) Get out of the way in your organization and let someone else lead it for you.

Whatever way you chose, live on purpose and be happy with it.

What did you want in the beginning?

You started your enterprise for a reason.  What was it?  Personal Freedom?  You wanted to be the boss? Greater income?  Creative expression?  Personal challenge?

Are you getting out of your business, your entrepreneurial experiment, what you set out to get?

What has to change for you to get it?

Marketers will rule the world

There is the product, service or idea.  But how it’s presented to whom and how effectively is EVERYTHING.  The rise and fall of fortunes, outcome of elections, rise of revolutions, and actions of individuals rest on marketing.

You need to be at LEAST at good at marketing what your organization does as the doing itself.

Are you? 

Choosing what YOU should do

Doing the right things, even not so well, is far better than you doing things well that ought not be done by you at all.

What high value, legacy producing, time leveraging, team and business building activities should you be doing?  Why do anything else?

Watching the money

Are you a good steward of the $_____________ that comes through your company’s checking account each year?  You ought to be – it belongs to your suppliers, your employees, your creditors, and your mortgage holders. If you get all that right and get them paid, the last portion, if any, belongs to you.

Watch the money carefully.

Forcing Clarity

One way to learn something well is to teach it to others.  When you have to explain something and generate the words and cause them to come out of your own mouth, you realize your brain must have a good understanding of the subject matter first.

Teaching forces you to clarity.  What do you want to become more expert at?  Teach it to others, and it will happen.

Principles over policies

Your employees should have guiding principles, not policies.  No “policy” can create a positive outcome in all situations, and they are bound to cause someone to be unhappy and dissatisfied.  

Principles, however, provide a guide for how to behave in any situation and if followed, will cause the right people to be happy, or at least feel fairly treated.

What are your company’s principles?  Write them down now in several short sentences.  Then communicate them (posters, signs, payroll stuffer notes, meetings, talk) so your staff knows them as well as you do.