Category: Leadership

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Organizing Results

While facilitating a client’s recent executive leadership retreat, one of the attendees asked me: “So how do you stay on top of your priorities and get things done?” Many in the room expressed a similar interest in this topic, and they agreed to start 30 minutes early the next morning to create some extra time for me to share these techniques:

Make a list and check it often – Each Sunday night or first thing Monday morning I rewrite a one-page tracking sheet of everything that’s a major ‘Rock’ priority. This paper sits on the left-hand corner of my desk for the rest of the week, and it’s my way to keep focused on the big picture items that otherwise might be forgotten during the hours of a crowded day. This means the ‘not urgent and important’ quadrant that Covey identified never strays too far out of my mind.

Don’t let e-mail control your life – Once you open your In Box in the morning, you’re no longer in control of your day. So, I spend an hour working on other things before checking e-mail and diving into the fires that come with being a leader. (Note: read my post titled “Setting Priorities” on July 15th for more on this including my “Dr Pepper Approach.”)

Prioritize your piles – My goal is to start and end each day with a clean desk, and I’m probably successful 75 percent of the time. This means staying organized and being efficient. I have two types of current files: ‘clients’ that exist in the desk drawer to my right and ‘events’ that rest on the credenza to my left. I pull out client files the morning of their coaching sessions and place them in order by appointment time. The event files are clear project folders that I implement for all the other things we’re working on in our business. Each day I prioritize these from top to bottom, so I’m always focusing on the most important project first.

In addition to these, I utilize my calendar to block Genius Time for such things as writing this blog or reaching out to prospects. I also prioritize my workday by sequencing ‘these are the things I absolutely have to get done before I go home.’ One mental approach that works for me is to treat every day like it’s the day before I leave on vacation. I find it’s much easier to complete tasks and hit deadlines that way.

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Revised Planning

Last week I facilitated the executive leadership team retreat of a client for the second year in a row. As the CEO concluded his opening remarks, he turned to me and said, “David, you should feel really proud we invited you back, since we accomplished very little coming off of last year’s meeting. That may be a first in the history of facilitating.”

Obviously, this created an immediate opportunity to discuss what didn’t happen… and to identify how the team – which has several new members – will change its approach this time around. Through this opening discussion the team identified 26 ‘traps’ that had them end up hitting a nice ground rule double instead of a home run. Listed among these disruptions were: too many things to focus on at once; operating in silos instead of joining together; allowing ‘fires’ to displace working the plan; and, poor communication across the organization.

This was a wonderful dialogue that moved us through what didn’t happen and got everyone’s cards on the table right off the bat. In fact, when we broke for lunch that first morning, I asked them to come back prepared to answer that they had ‘left the past behind’ and are ‘all-in’ going forward.

Ultimately, we ended day two with a clear path for what the new plan is, what steps they will each take to complete their part and how they intend to hold each other accountable. We put in place ‘check-in’ dates where they will meet regularly to provide updates on progress, so they don’t wait until the last minute to do things. Most importantly, I met individually with the CEO and coached him on how to stay ‘on top of the pyramid’ thinking big picture while engaging his leaders at the ‘ground level’ to keep them focused on achieving desired outcomes.

This time I think we got it right, and they’re going to soar. Perhaps they might invite me back again next year.

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Blog This

Recently, a client said he wants to start a blog… yet he has no idea where to begin when it comes to creating content. “You’re a writer, I’m not,” he said. “I’m worried I won’t be able to come up with any ideas. Help me.”

That’s a quandary many folks face when they try to develop thought leadership material on a consistent basis. Since this is my first blog posting in three weeks, you might think I suffer from a similar challenge; however, the reality is I took a vacation, traveled out of town to work with a client’s executive leadership team and stepped back into my former life to produce a series of videos for a client. It’s actually been finding the time to write, not a lack of inspiration, that’s disrupted my plan.

So here’s the approach I recommended to my client to help him get over that ‘writer’s block’ mental hump and, hopefully, allow him to share wonderful ideas with his desired audience. First, keep your eyes open for insights that appear before you. These may come from reading an article, having a discussion with a client or friend, or reveal themselves in a late night dream. The key is to connect the dots with a “that’s something I would like to write about” realization.

Second, keep an ongoing list of these ideas near your keyboard. Then when you’re ready to write, you won’t have to sit down and stare at the screen hoping some idea pops into your head. Third, and this is a new awareness I’m testing today, block time to write four or more entries at once. Then you simply have to schedule them to post at regular intervals. That’s going to be my way of preventing long interludes between musings.

Finally, and this is the most important lesson on writing I learned – and it came in the fourth year of creating my monthly E-Newsletter – never worry about what your readers think. If it’s well thought out, true to what you believe and comes from your heart, then your part is complete. Allow your viewpoint to resonate with those who are open to receiving it.

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Setting Priorities

The legendary French skier Jean Claude Killy once said he starts every morning with a cold shower; that way whatever happens the rest of the day can’t be all that bad. My approach to the day’s first activity is the same philosophy, so I begin weekdays with 15 minutes of stretching and 15 minutes of sit-ups and push-ups. Most of the time this requires a mental struggle to finish – as I continually remind myself, “Everything is going to be a lot better in just a few minutes.”

Whenever clients ask how to better organize their workday I recommend a similar strategy: “Focus on your most challenging project for at least 30 minutes when you first sit down at your desk; then whatever fires come up later seem a lot less daunting.” After a few weeks of adjusting your mindset, of course, this becomes habit and your productivity soars.

One of the key adjustments of this technique is to avoid checking e-mail. While this high-tech world is great, a major drawback is iPhones, Blackberrys and desktops can take over you life. So it’s important to take back some control. My recommendation is to utilize the “Dr Pepper Approach” and check e-mail three times a day. (That’s a reference to their commercials when I was a kid that suggested drinking Dr Pepper at 10, 2 and 4 provided a pick-me-up.)

Simple changes can lead you to big results. Getting more organized and putting first things first doesn’t take a complete overall… just a little tweaking. It’s a lot easier than taking cold showers. Trust me, I’m a doctor.

(Disclaimer: I’m not really a doctor, but that last line – taken from Dr Pepper’s current commercials – was too good to pass up.)

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Better Results

At dinner two nights ago, our kids took sips of their milk and said almost simultaneously, “This doesn’t taste right.” So I jumped up, went to the refrigerator, looked at the plastic container and proclaimed, “The ‘sell by’ date says it’s still good; must be your taste buds.” My wife, meanwhile, had a different attitude about this situation. She opened the other gallon purchased the same day and poured the kids new glasses. Sure enough, that milk was bad, too. Must have come from the same cow.

Our house – which is one year older than the 12 we’ve lived in it – is starting to have some big things go sour as well. By month’s end we’ll have replaced one air conditioning unit, two hot water heaters and three faucets. Like the spoiled milk, my thought is ‘How did they all know to go bad at the same time?’

In business, so much of success is about hitting expected dates of completion. Whether it’s meeting the deadline your boss asked for that spreadsheet, or delivering a product on the day you promised a customer, it’s imperative to pay close attention to the calendar. Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges my coaching clients typically face is the ability to get their team members to finish things on time.

The biggest reason for this is these leaders are better at abdicating than delegating. They hand off assignments, set off to extinguish the next fire and forget the essential piece of following up to ensure things progress on a steady schedule. Then on the due date, they pick up the phone and ask where it is. Usually, a quiet voice on the other end says, “Yes, I’m still working on that.” What follows is a hurried race for the employee to remember exactly what their boss wanted and quickly reprioritize his own ‘to do’ list.

A better approach is for you, as leader, to set firm deadlines upfront including ‘check-in’ dates where your direct reports share progress and solicit guidance and feedback from you. This tweak in your approach eliminates last-minute surprises, ensures things finish as planned, and keeps you from ending up with a sour taste in your mouth.

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