Time management and your workspce

You most valuable commodity is your time.  As a leader, you must manage it well, and work on the highest value activites you can.  If your desk is in a place where anybody can come along and distract you and claim a piece of your time anytime they want, you’re not going to have control over your time and be able to focus on things that require thought for more than a minute or two.

I find it’s best to have several work spaces – one in a “public” setting among employees, and another sactuary where you go for quiet time.  I have a big bag to shuttle work back and forth.  This way you don’t have to be rude to employees asking to be left alone, yet still have your most productive quiet space.

How does your work space work for your time management?

Risk/Reward

What’s the worst that can happen?  You’ll be broke?  That’s how you started and what you’ll be if you do nothing.

It’s impossible to achieve great rewards without taking risks.

Of course be smart, but sometimes you gotta’ hang it out there.

The Sacrifices of Success

You can’t be a great success in an endeavor and do whatever you want otherwise.  If you are to be a great musician, businessperson, or any other specialist in any field, and stand out from the rest, you’ll have to make sacrifices.

You can’t socialize as much as others, spend much time on leisure, enjoy entertainment, go on casual trips or even spend as much time talking as others do.  You’ll pay a price for your glory – if you achieve it.  Whether that choice is worth it depends on what you see as valuable, what you enjoy, and who you are.

If it’s right, the sacrifice is a small price to pay.

Tow rope or stop sign?

The company will never outgrow the leader. Ever.

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Ooze and Project

Your prospects confidence and enthusiasm will never exceed the confidence and enthusiasm of the salesperson.  

Do you and your people ooze and project a greater level of belief and optimism for what you sell than is necessary for the customer to buy?

It all rides on your ambassadors

Do you feel that you have the best salespeople you can?

How much do you train them?

Does the person that’s training them know what they are doing?

From nothing – something

There’s incremental innovation – making something that replaces something else that existed – destroying the old products’ place in the market.

Then there’s innovation that represents a whole new category of thing that people want – once they know it exists – a completely new thing that adds to the marketplace.  These innovations create whole new categories of business and customers.

What could it be in your business?

Waste

What are you paying for that you don’t have to pay (that much) for?

There’s always something…

Occupational Hazard

As an owner of a business we are prone to a disease – its called “crazed”.  Sufferers of this disease are often called “Crazy”.  This disease causes us to not think clearly, rush important decisions, lose sight of priorities, and try to jam too much in too short a period of time.  It’s caused when we try to work efficiently and with a sense of urgency, and take it to extremes. 

The cure is rest, the occasional vacation, getting your mind off of work with outside activites, enough sleep, eating right, and delegation to the right people, coupled with listening to your body, and asking “where am I now?” and “who is important?” and “what is important?”

Impacting others

“My life extends far beyond the limitations of me.”

This is true for all of us, and even more so for business owners. The thoughts and actions you take will change the world for many people – for better, or even better than that.

What is the impact of your business on the world?