Leadership – Page 17 – Fast:Forward Farther

January 25, 2016

Back Again

So I looked up recently and realized somehow – except for my annual year-end lessons recap – I forgot to Blog since August. OK… so I didn’t really forget, it’s just that these missives took a backseat to other areas of focus in my practice.

That happens, doesn’t it? You get rolling along – on a project or assisting new customers or picking up the slack for a departed employee – and suddenly weeks have passed quickly.

One of the most frequent topics my clients bring up during coaching sessions is how to prioritize effectively and efficiently. Of course, everyone has a boss (even CEOs) and often that person is the driving force behind the topic du jour… or du month. That said, leaders at all levels make conscious decisions every day as to where they will spend time.

The key to making the right choices is to continually check your output against what drives the most value for your business. Much like it says in Ecclesiastes, there is a time to every purpose. Sometimes you have to be in the weeds. Sometimes you need to be strategic.

The roadblocks and disruptions occur when you lose control over which time is right now.

December 31, 2015December 14, 2015

Lessons Learned – #2

Two more remain. The #2 lesson I learned during 2015:

Clear Foresight – Two years ago in this same issue, I advised you to keep an eye on a talented youngster who might become golf’s next superstar. In 2015, that athlete far surpassed the future I envisioned – winning two Majors, becoming world number one and being named PGA Player of the Year. Of the many accolades announcers use to describe Jordan Spieth – tough competitor, incredible putter, humble person – the best I heard is the 22-year-old has an amazing ability to put the last hole behind him. That’s a skill of great business leaders, too: Let yesterday pass. Focus on the now.

December 29, 2015December 14, 2015

Lessons Learned – #4

Continuing to countdown the Top 10 Lessons I learned in 2015, here’s #4:

Interviewing Success – I keep an active Word document to share with clients questions they might want to ask potential employees – and there are more than 50 entries. Based on that Ft. McMurray interaction, the three latest additions are: “What is your experience with being coached by your boss?” “How do you react when your supervisor or a peer provides candid feedback to you?” “What is your most recent example of taking feedback and doing something with it?”

December 28, 2015December 14, 2015

Lessons Learned – #5

The 5th best lesson I learned this year:

Mentoring Skills – I spent so much time coaching leaders in Canada this year that my accent may have changed. On a trip to Ft. McMurray in far north Alberta, I was the last person sitting in the hotel banquet room after our group breakfast… watching the service manager work with a new employee: “Remember yesterday when I showed you how to place the salt and pepper shakers on each table? Let’s do it together right now.” That’s a tasty recipe for effective delegation: show someone how to do it; do it with her; watch her do it; let her do it. As this training unfolded, I got up to put my plate on the dirty dishes cart. The new employee rushed over and said, “Please allow me, sir. It’s my job.” That young lady is going to be a good one.

December 27, 2015December 14, 2015

Lessons Learned – #6

My sixth favorite lesson of the year:

Dunking Machine – Twice this year I journeyed to the world’s largest oil platform 150 miles off the coast of Newfoundland to provide coaching for the leadership team. Preparation required multiple days of classroom certification – including survival maneuvers should the Sikorsky helicopter encounter problems during the 90-minute flight. Atlantic Ocean temperatures there are beyond cold, so training includes donning a neoprene flight suit, boarding a mock fuselage, being fully submerged, getting flipped upside down, and escaping by knocking out a window and floating to the surface… in 20 seconds. Of course, you do this four times. Spending eight days with the 270 hearty souls on Hibernia is one of my proudest career achievements… and I get to return for more adventures in 2016.