Monday, January 31, 2011

The Last Five Minutes of Your Day - BusinessWeek

The Last Five Minutes of Your Day - BusinessWeek

I was reading this article and thought that it should be brought to my own readers' attention (If I have any out there, :-P). The exercise is an easy one, take the last 5 minutes to reflect on your day. The article even provides a grouping of questions for you to think through at the end of your day:

- How did the day go? What successes did I experience? What challenges did I endure?
- What did I learn today? About myself? About others? What do I plan to do - differently or the same tomorrow?
- Who did I interact with? Anyone I need to update? Thank? Ask a question? Share feedback?

Great questions. Some notes from my own thoughts:
1. Find a way to distance yourself from distractions while doing this. Contemplation doesn't work when you are interrupted by someone convinced that his/her hair is on fire! That means turning off your email and cell phone for a couple of minutes and letting a call to your desk go to voicemail.
2. Write it down. Thoughts are great, but ethereal. Think about the last time you woke-up with a killer idea, thinking you would remember when you got up in the morning, only to loose it before daylight. You can remember the excitement, you can remember the need to execute, but you CAN'T remember the CONCEPT! How frustrating is that? In the same regard, your revelations at the end of the day will be just as fleeting if you don't write them down and review them occasionally.

With those two things mentioned, perhaps I should mention something to do during the FIRST 5 minutes of your day:
1. Look over you calendar, and evaluate the goals of the different activities you have going on that day. Write these down and treat them as action items. Almost nothing is a frustrating to me then activities that don't accomplish what they were set to do.
2. Look over your notes from the night before. Does anything need to be addressed today that came up yesterday?
3. Plan out the blocks where you need to do your work. In many cases you will have papers, reports, or other assignments to work on; and the meetings in your calendar only chew up your time in regards to those assignments. Find specific periods during the day to work on those items, rather than just putting together a to do list that you haphazardly jump through.

Again, do this with as few distractions as possible. Don't let anyone interrupt this time with the claim that the sky is falling. And write it all down!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wacky Wednesday

So which type of Co-Worker are you? Over the next 4 weeks, I will post a cartoon each Wednesday with a different co-worker who is oh so much fun at work. Last week was the Olympic Typist! Let me know what you think!


Really,the reason to show these pictures is because, as a leader, these are the people who surround you and you will have to interact with. As a leader, I hope you are none of these. If it strikes a little too close to home, then no fear. Just work to correct it. After all, nobody is perfect!

Monday, January 24, 2011

The 7 Success Principles of Steve Jobs - Forbes

The 7 Success Principles of Steve Jobs - Carmine Gallo - Your Communications Coach - Forbes

I find it interesting that so many different people idolize Steve Jobs. Don't get me wrong, he is a marvel; but a lot of the principles he espouses are often found in many of the very leadership/management books so many of us run to for guidance. I guess his is an example of how to enact the things that so many of us read about.

1. Do What You Love - How many places have you seen this one? It appears on twitter, in books, magazines, newspapers and blogs; it is the one thing that apparently is easy to say but hard to do. Office Space had a question where whatever you answered, that was supposed to be your career. "What would you do if you had $1m?" One of the programmers came back saying it was a BS question because if everyone did what they wanted, then nobody would be a janitor. True statement; but maybe it is the ones who do what they love that can truly be leaders and the envy of the rest of us.

2. Put a Dent in the Universe - Passion is fantastic, but what about direction? If you don't know where you are going, what the goal is, then how do you know when you get there? You can be a great manager, helping move effectively and efficiently; but how can you be a leader if you don't know where you are going. Your final goal should be to kick a dent in the side door of the car of the universe (or at least huck a rock and nick it).

3. Kick Start Your Brain -There is a fantastic quote in The Game of Thrones by George R R Martin (yes it is a fantasy novel, deal with it). "A brain needs books like a sword needs a wetstone." That isn't the exact quote, I am paraphrasing, but the statement is no less true. If you are going to succeed, then you need to grow, which means getting out of your comfort zone. You do that by reading, and by experiencing life; by doing and seeing new things. If you don't then your mind will become like a sword over the mantel, once keen but now only decorative and dull. Stephen Covey talks about it in 7 Habits (Sharpening the saw, anyone?) This is actually one of the dangers of the Internet. All this information is available, but it is too easy to go to the same pages constantly, to chat with the same people, and eventually to find yourself surrounded by objects that you are way way too familiar with. Go out, experience new things, and then look for how those new experiences can benefit your goal.

4. Sell Dreams, Not Products - This is almost like what a successful salesman needs to do. The answer is sell the solution to a problem, not the product (can anyone tell me a book on sales that doesn't sell this concept?). In fact, every time you're interviewing or networking, then you are should be selling. How do you see yourself? Your staff? Your customers? As a leader you should be enabling those dreams/solutions; not boxing them in.

5. Say No to 1,000 Things - What this really is: the hedgehog concept. Once you have your goal established, pursue it with everything you have. BUT, don't swerve off course with a great new idea that goes against that concept. Both The Goal and Good to Great talk about this idea (in different terms, but it's there). If you aren't advancing your goal, vision, concept, whatever, then you are only wasting effort.

6. Create Insanely Great Experiences - One that I can't think of an immediate example from a book or movie. I can think of the anti-this. All you have to do is look at Bill Lumberge and Initech from Office Space. Honestly, this shouldn't apply to just customers. Think about it, if you as a leader can create great experiences for your team, don't you think your team will come together quicker, work together longer, and for that matter better? These experiences can be company retreats, an afternoon team building exercise, or for that matter a team lunch to show your appreciation.

7. Master the Message - When you think of Steve Jobs, you probably think of a black turtleneck and glasses, with a short haircut, holding the latest piece of revolutionary Apple hardware in front of a captive audience. He gets people EXCITED, not by his presence, but by his message. He has done the other 6 steps to build to this one. BUT, if you can't deliver a precise, on target, message then how do you keep the team, customers, whoever interested in your great work, goal or concept? Just think of all the websites, blogs, books that espouse brand management? What else is Brand Management or than Mastering the Message?

I love the first line from the last paragraph of this article: "Simply put, innovation is a new way of doing things that results in positive change." As leaders you need to constantly innovate. If you stand behind the concept of "that's the way we always do it" then you are missing something. No system is perfect. But you shouldn't stop striving for it. Just look at what Steve Jobs continues to accomplish!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wacky Wednesday

So which type of Co-Worker are you? Over the next 5 weeks, I will post a cartoon each Wednesday with a different co-worker who is oh so much fun at work. Last week was the Spy! Let me know what you think!



Really,the reason to show these pictures is because, as a leader, these are the people who surround you and you will have to interact with. As a leader, I hope you are none of these. If it strikes a little too close to home, then no fear. Just work to correct it. After all, nobody is perfect!

Monday, January 17, 2011

13 Qualities Every Leader Should Have

It's amazing. Once you start looking around, you can find all these lists of things every leader should have, do, etc. The latest I've found  is from Men's Health (http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/leader_qualities/index.php?cm_mmc=ETNTNL-_-2010_12_27-_-HTML-_-bonus).

So why continue to post these lists? Because I am only one voice and other perspectives are important. This list largely came from comparing past presidents. I won't list all of them here, only the ones that catch my attention:

A Seeking Mind: In today's fast paced world, you can't rely on experience for everything. A leader's skillset needs to expand as the world changes around him. Knowing how to program in C++ might not be as useful today, but understanding SQL script could be beneficial. What about the new Android OS? Outside of IT, Six Sigma was (and in some cases, is) king. What is it now? Something new is always on teh horizon, and just because a company use to always do things one way doesn't mean that it should always be done that way. A seeking mind knows this and learns!

A Love for the Future: A leader needs to look to the future while understanding the past. He/she needs to be able to love what changes the future will bring. If he/she is fearful of it, then the change will pass him/her by. A leader is suppossed to be out-front. If he/she isn't then it isn't leadership being exhibited. It is critisism and fear.

A Willing to Change Course: It takes a strong person to admit when they were heading in the wrong direction, let alone change course once the mistake is recognized. The old joke about a man asking for directions comes to mind. How often do people continue down the same path, even after he/she realizes his/her mistake? You don't stop to ask directions... You don't change course... You just keep going in the direction you were because that is where you are pointed. This will take you somewhere, but never where you need to be. A leader needs to be willing to change course, WHEN NECASSARY.

Gravitas: and yes a woman can have gravitas. Really, this is the courage to see things through. To get through Completion. After all, a leader needs to be able to hold the Correct Course (see previous paragraph) throughout the critisisms, speed bumps, and pot holes found during the course. If leaders quit every time things get tough, then you aren't a leader, you are part of the mob.

Look at the rest of the list, and let me know what you think. What else needs to be commented on? There is a lot of material here, and you don't have to be running for President in order to make use of it.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wacky Wednesday

So which type of Co-Worker are you? Over the next 6 weeks, I will post a cartoon each Wednesday with a different co-worker who is oh so much fun at work. Last week I posted the Stalker!  Let me know what you think!



Really,the reason to show these pictures is because, as a leader, these are the people who surround you and you will have to interact with. As a leader, I hope you are none of these. If it strikes a little too close to home, then no fear. Just work to correct it. After all, nobody is perfect!

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Importance of Recognition

In a previous post I mentioned that I am President of my Corporate Toastmasters Club. The club is a little more than a year old, and it meets twice a month. One of the challenges that I am finding in my role as President is keeping people interested. The first major milestone for most members of the club is to complete 10 speeches. When you have 20-30 members, and only 3 speeches per meeting, it can take a while to reach 10 speeches. At the moment we have 3 members with more than 4 speeches. So how do you keep the interest?

The answer: recognize other accomplishments. For instance, the number one fear of human beings is Public Speaking. The first time a person stands up in front of the club to speak can be a nerve racking adventure. That should be recognized, so I created a certificate for that. Now our members have a sense of accomplishment that can be displayed (it isn't bad advertising for the club either, if it is displayed at their desk).

The second recognition happens at the 5 speech mark. Again, another certificate was created and distributed when you reach this half-way milestone. The reason for these two milestones isn't just to give the individual members something to shoot for, but also to show people that progress is being made. If recognition doesn't happen, then the group as a whole starts to feel like there isn't any forward progress. That can make it difficult for people to stay motivated.

One final action I performed as President (so far) was the recognition of my Executive Board by purchasing pins that indicate which role they are fulfilling. However, I didn't just hand the pins out to the board. Instead, I asked each board member to come forward during a club meeting. I then explained the role of each position, as well as individual accomplishments for that specific person. I then handed over the pin, with a hand-shake, and charged the person to continue to do excellent work that they already started.

So, why was that important? First, it provides that recognition in front of the club. The recipient feels a sense of accomplishment, and also value because he/she is being publicly recognized. Second, it motivates that person to continue to do well, since an expectation was set in front of an audience. Finally, it provides motivation to the audience. A lot of people want to be recognized. This provides them another outlet to achieve that recognition.

I have other plans as the members get to 10 speeches. I will describe these forms of recognition in the future as my team gets closer to those accomplishments. In the meantime, how do you as a leader recognize people who do well? A leader should publicly praise his staff, so what recommendations do you have for recognition? Gift certificates? Ribbons? A public acknowledgement during meetings? What else works to not only motivate the recipient, but the team as well?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Wacky Wednesday

So which type of Co-Worker are you? Over the next 7 weeks, I will post a cartoon each Wednesday with a different co-worker who is oh so much fun at work. Last week I posted the Caffeinator! Let me know what you think!






Really,the reason to show these puictures is because, as a leader, these are the people who surround you and you will have to interact with. As a leader, I hope you are none of these. If it strikes a little too close to home, then no fear. Just work to correct it. After all, nobody is perfect!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Traits of a Good Boss...

Last week I posted about 10 Things a Good Boss Does (http://c4-elt.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-things-good-boss-does.html). Well, I found another list. This time at http://msn.careerbuilder.com/Article/MSN-2456-Workplace-Issues-12-Traits-of-a-Great-Boss/?SiteId=cbmsnhp42456&sc_extcmp=JS_2456_home1&gt1=23000. The list is different, so I thought it should be posted.

I won't list the items this time, instead I will let you read it. However, I honestly think the first list is a little more insightful. This list talks about feedback twice, basically saying the same thing. It mentions spreading praise, but doesn't really talk about deflecting fire from above.

However, there are a couple of good things mentioned here. I agree that a leader shouldn't let his or her concerns about life, job, etc show to his staff. There was a line in Saving Private Ryan  where the Captain tells is men that gripes go up, not down. Captains don't gripe to Sergeants, Sergeants don't gripe to Corporals, and Corporals don't gripe to Privates. However, the chain can go up. If a Private has a problem, then he should let the Corporal know (provided it is a legitimate problem, I don't think the Corporal needs to know that the Private has Athletes Foot), and so on and so forth.

I also like the concept of asking your staff what they need to execute their job. After all, as a leader you need to support your people. If you don't know what they need, how can you support them?

So, what do you think? Is this list better, worst or the same as last weeks? Will it impact how you are a leader? How does your experiences relate? And again, what's missing?