Leaders struggling with time management – listen up!

Time is not the issue – it’s you! Take a moment and let it sink in – yes, it’s you, but that’s the best part; this means you are in full control to fix the problem. A simple breakdown of your day includes sleep (6-8 hours), family /personal time (up to you depending your workaholic tendencies), and work/commuting time (8-16 hours). It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you’ve got plenty of work time and it is the thoughtful configuration of activity within that time which produces the best results.

Work on these 4 things to take control of your schedule.

1. Focus on outcomes

   It’s easy to lose sight of goals when you’ve got a hectic schedule. Whether you’re looking at your daily or weekly schedule, assess whether the activity is well aligned to contributing to your goals, objectives, and success measures. Move it, delay it, or delete it if the connection is not there.

2. Set priorities

   Everything cannot be a priority and you’ve got a finite amount of time. What can be delegated? (There’s a good chance – more than you’re willing to give up – potential for gains here). Define your criteria for what is urgent – assess situations as they arise and remember other’s urgency is not necessarily yours.

3. Discipline

   This is the hardest part for many people. Great intentions alone only get you so far. It’s your commitment and follow-through that makes the difference. Do it or don’t do it. Riding the fence is a waste of time.

4. Consistency

   It only works if your do it every day. We’ve all learned from diet fades that they don’t work because it’s really about changing your eating habits for life. Apply this same principle when determining how to use your time effectively.

Important note on setting priorities; find the right balance between…

1. Daily tasks and tactical activity that needs to occur just to keep your business running, and…
2. Key initiatives and improvement effort to solve problems, help you become more efficient, and promote business growth.

I commonly refer to this as (a.) working in versus (b.) working on your business. Not enough of the latter sets up an environment for complacency, bottlenecks, and stagnation.

The same goes for leadership. Here are three ingredients that I consider to be critical for success.

Three Critical Ingredients of Leadership

1. Influence.

   Leadership influence can be defined as “the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, and opinions of others”. Easily said, but doing it well is not as easy. Years ago when I was doing some work for Hasbro, I was presented with a challenge by a senior executive during a monthly review meeting. He reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a short string, and stretched it out on his desk – one end facing me. “Push on the string” he said. Naturally, when I pushed, the string simply bunched up into a small pile. He responded with “this is representative of leadership influence, it doesn’t work if you push them, you’ve got to pull them with you”, referring to his employees. “Pulling” results from setting direction, building trusting relationships, communicating with composure, and challenging people to do more than they would do on their own.

2. Information.

   The sad fact here is that most leaders keep their employees partly in the dark, most of the time. Not intentionally but the result is the same – not good. If you want your employees to make sound decisions, build their confidence, and perform at their best you must give them all the information they need to be successful. It is essential that employees know how they are connected to, and are part of, the company’s success. Take a salesperson as an example – their job has a direct impact on company revenue – easy to see, right? But it is not so simple for every job. For all employees, communicate how their contribution has an impact on team, department, and company results.

3. Impact.

   Think in terms of how you impact your employees during the time that they work for you. Ask yourself, will my employees look back on my leadership as a positive contribution on their career? It’s that simple. Be honest with yourself, and if you can’t say “100% yes”, it’s time to make an adjustment.

The Right Proportions at the Right Time.

Leaders face many situations at different times requiring a unique response. Practice these critical ingredients regularly and apply them proportionately to get the best results.

Now, to be more accurate, leadership is not comprised of a set of strict rules but rather by guidelines that should be followed instinctively which allows for flexibility (and agility) when dealing with the diversity of situations handled by leaders each and every business day. So let’s toss out the notion of an exact science and think more in terms of a balancing act.

1. Understand your audience – everybody is different; getting the most from your employees depends you knowing their needs (motivators), aspirations, thinking style, personality, and values.
2. Communicate effectively – when to speak, when to listen (truly understand), your body language, and adjusting to others’ style.
3. Connect people to success – ensuring that individual efforts are well aligned to what is most important, to team success measures, and your company’s goals.

Top 5 Rules of Leadership

I know I stated earlier that there are no strict rules however there are some DOs and DON’Ts that can be followed closely in most situations;

1. DO set expectations for employees as clearly as possible. There is no quicker way to failure than by poorly set expectations. You can also forget about accountability.
2. DON’T tell employees what to do. Engage them by setting direction and establishing a model for top performance. They will figure out what to do.
3. DO let employees make (some) mistakes. You don’t want a bunch of robots following orders. Mistakes allow people to learn, grow, and become more valuable.
4. DON’T be afraid to confront poor performance. Mistakes are normal. The same mistakes repeated are not. Be swift and supportive with your approach.
5. DO work on you own professional development. When you improve your ability as a leader, so will the performance of your employees and teams.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Just like highly paid professional athletes, they did not achieve the high levels of proficiency overnight and neither will you. It takes an open-minded attitude, consistency, and plenty of practice.

At a recent luncheon a successful business leader in the software industry was asked if he had any resolutions for 2013.  He responded he intends to spend more time on his business and less time in the business this year.  He believes refocusing his perspective will pay significant dividends over time.

What exactly did he mean?  Another way of thinking about it is day-to-day tactical activities versus strategic efforts, which could improve business operations.  Every good leader starts by working in the business; correcting problems, improving operations, building teams–getting to know the business.

However, working in the business can be addictive.  If you do it long enough, it becomes your comfort zone making it a tough habit to break—but one essential to overcome.  Consider a recent McKinsey Global Survey in which 84 percent of executives said innovation is extremely or very important to their companies’ growth strategy. Innovation comes from exploring possibilities. In other words, there is a need to be working on the business.

A balance must be struck between working in and on the business.  If virtually every decision in your organization is made by you, the balance is out of whack.  Team members and processes should be developed to eliminate the need for the leader to be engaged on all but the most difficult decisions facing the organization.

The biggest hurdle facing most organizations trying to scale is the need for the leaders to work more on the business.  According to Lisa Firestone, president, Managed Care Advisors, “We started to grow when I could focus on what I do best and not on daily minutiae.”

Here’s to a fresh start in 2013…

You’ll hear some people say that they perform better under pressure but this is largely not true and only adds to workplace stress. Based on my experiences working with businesses and their leaders procrastination is a productivity killer, and for leadership teams, is a major root cause for poor execution on business plans and initiatives.

Why people procrastinate!

I am not a psychologist and have never played one on television, but I can share my understanding based experience and observation working with organizations for more than ten years;

1. The Perfectionist – those who set unrealistically high expectations or standards. Everything must go exactly as planned, so it is hard to get started.
2. Take No Risks – there are those who prefer the safe path and avoid tasks or projects that could reveal a personal weakness.
3. Avoidance – difficult tasks; we naturally tend to avoid difficult things in favor of those which seem easy to us.
4. Important but not urgent - these tasks take the largest blocks of time, and large blocks of time are only available on the weekend.
5. Knowledge or skill void - no one wants to make mistakes, so these people wait until they learn how before they start.

Don’t procrastinate. Do it now!

Each time you delay, procrastination is reinforced. In other words, it reinforces your negative attitude toward that task. It is never too late to stop procrastinating so start now! When you go back to work, recall the list above and commit yourself to work on it. You may still procrastinate at times, but now you’ll be able to resolve the situation much more quickly.

Many consider President Reagan one of the most effective leaders of the 20^th Century. As he indicates, leadership and delegation are inexorably intertwined. For organizations to be able to scale, managers must be careful not “live in the weeds.” Instead, they must lead, and delegation is a critical element for success.

“A good leader isn’t a slave to detail; he uses his valuable time to tackle what’s truly important. Buried in the small details, a man will lose the big picture and fail to see that the mission is falling apart until it is too late.” -Brett and Kate Mackay, Money and Career

So why do many of us fail to delegate?

• Many believe that only they can do it right
• Some fear that their own competence will come into question if they are not demonstrating “by doing”
• Focusing on the big picture can be undefined and sometimes uncomfortable
• Many are uncertain as to how and what to delegate (and hesitate to seek out guidance)

However, delegation by itself is not enough. It must come with clear direction and accountability. Failing to do so can lead to confusion, low morale and unintended results. Effective leaders are adept at managing resources, and delegation to the right people in the correct fashion is a requisite skill.

It comes down to this – are you satisfied with where your organization is today, or do you have higher aspirations for the future?  Are you a manager or a leader?  If you are a CEO, do you want leaders in your organization or simply managers?

To answer these questions, successful leaders make deliberate choices; and these choices are reflected in their actions.

Leadership with a Purpose is a lively, engaging, and informative leadership communications program; relevant to both today’s leaders and future leaders. The program is available for any HR association or chapter that would like to have SKYE Founder and President, David Liddell, speak to their group, as well as any HR professional who would like to attend a SKYE seminar.

We are pleased to have the quality and substance of our leadership communication program recognized by this leading international HR professional development organization. More than 120,000 HR professionals worldwide maintain the HRCI’s credentials as a mark of high professional distinction. We are excited to help foster the real-world application of forward-thinking HR practices and principles, in alignment with the mission of HRCI.

For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HR Certification Institute website at www.hrci.org. For more information about SKYE’s Leadership with a Purpose program please call Sandy Mayo, SKYE Business Solutions, 877-603-7593.

“The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.”

Even if you are not at your fiscal year-end, it’s important to take a serious look at your strategic business plan to determine what you’ve done well and what needs to change. In fact, your plan should be reviewed at least once a quarter so that proactive adjustments can occur regularly. True leaders know that success is not accidental, but rather, it occurs incrementally through consistent and deliberate efforts.

What do I mean by “recharge”?

Being “recharged” is mostly a state of mind. Recharging provides a source of intellectual energy that powers you through the toughest challenges and helps you consistently achieve your goals. The effectiveness of a recharged mind comes from a heightened sense of clarity of what needs to occur, in what order, and the determination to follow through on all strategies and tactics.

Start by clearing your mind of the clutter that’s collected over the last twelve months. A significant amount of your time is spent on the details of running your business, and for good reason. However, business success requires a certain amount of business improvement time: what I call “working on your business.” Without it, it is just more of the same thing over and over – and that’s not much of a plan.

Clearing out mental clutter!

1. Be realistic about your successes and failures. There is nothing wrong with failures, but understanding them is the key to sustainable success. To what degree did you succeed or fail? What were the contributing factors? What can you improve or change?
2. What are the strategies that proved to be winners over the past 12 months? Analyze the data and facts for proof. Reapply these strategies for the coming year (but first, confirm that these strategies continue to be aligned with strategic goals and objectives).
3. Reset your strategic goals and objectives. Don’t automatically assume numbers need to go up or go down. Make well informed plans by examining your entire business picture, the business environment around you, and the impacts and relationships between the two.
4. Determine what stays the same and what you will change. No magic here – just get it done!

Finally, don’t complicate things by over-thinking! You’ve already got most (if not all) the answers – you just need to take some time to think them through.

Happy Holidays and a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year!

“Due to the economic climate, we will not be expanding our workforce this year.”

“Our division is behind projections, so steps will need to be taken to improve results.”

“We have a new health care insurance provider which will change the benefits currently offered to employees.”

Whether the audience is a single individual or a group, attention to the following points will make the delivery of difficult information as effective and painless as possible:

• Anticipate the perspective of the receiver when crafting your message
• Simplify and emphasize the main points – “what” and “why”
• Practice delivering your message in advance. Out-loud is always best.
• Have, and demonstrate, empathy for the audience
• If challenged, be responsive – not defensive
• End your communication with a clear sense of direction. What needs to be done going forward? “What’s next” should be the concluding main point.

While it is tempting to put off the delivery of difficult messages, delays are harmful. At best, the unaddressed situation will continue the way it has been for longer than necessary. More likely, employees will feel they are being left “in the dark.” Speculation, fear and uncertainty will permeate your organization.

As always, confidence during delivery is paramount. Preparation leads to confidence, and with that, your communication will be most effectively received.

Success is rare without high performing teams to back superstars up. Can an individual superstar do all the work themselves? Not a chance and you know it. All organizations rely on individuals but, more importantly, teams of people to successfully make it happen.

Teams come in various forms including departmental, ad-hoc, programmatic, and cross functional. No matter what the form, all teams have common requirements: the ability to organize, to self-manage, act with empowerment, and reach intended team goals.

Consistently developing and launching high performing teams does not happen by accident. It requires a well-defined plan and purpose, a structured approach, a clear understanding of desired results, and a way to measure success. Teams require superior communication and trust between members, a focus on reaching consensus, and a commitment to achieving results. Developing productive teams is a process that takes serious effort and discipline. It requires hard work, but is extremely rewarding to those who are willing to invest in the effort.

Launching a Successful Team: Seven Important Steps

1. Appoint a team leader. The team leader acts as a team member but also sets the tone for coordination, collaboration and accountability.
2. Ensure the team has sponsorship at a senior level. This is important for strategic alignment and overcoming company red tape.
3. Determine the team’s objectives and the skills needed to achieve them. This may be determined by a higher level or generated by the team.
4. Invite people to be part of the team based on the skills needed – personal skills, team skills and technical capabilities.
5. Meet as a team to discuss the team’s purpose, operating norms, strategy, and success measurements.
6. Clearly define team member roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
7. Operate with precision: team meetings, brainstorming, consensus building, planning, and measuring success.

The work of building high performance teams never ends; it needs to be part of every company’s strategic objectives. With a little time and effort, your organization can significantly improve the quality of your teams and foster a philosophy that will guarantee the effective execution of business plans that exceed expected results.