Thursday 19 April 2012

Welcome back from your Easter breaks, if you had them and thank you to those who were here keeping the ship afloat.

During my week off, between the rain, I was reading some of Dan Rockwell’s thoughts – he writes a blog under the pseudonym of Leadershipfreak. It’s excellent and thought provoking. I thought I would share some edited highlights with you because it really made me think about what I spend my time doing at work, particularly at a time when so many of us are working very hard.

When Working Hard isn’t Working

It doesn’t matter how hard you work if you’re working on the wrong things. Managers and leaders are the hardest working people I know. Working in your organisation is necessary but dangerous.

You work “in” when you do your business. Farmers milking cows, accountants accounting, preachers preaching, teachers teaching, and doctors doctoring are all working in their business. Working in is dangerous because it:

1. Captivates attention.
2. Consumes energy.
3. Distracts from a powerful concern – working on your business.

 This get’s you stuck - I know I sometimes feel very stuck.

 Your passion and ability to focus on getting jobs done blocks you from:

1. Creating or enhancing systems.
2. Defining long term objectives.
3. Identifying, leveraging, and enhancing the strengths on your team
4. Offloading present work so you can focus on the future.

Working IN prevents you from working ON. This is dangerous.

Getting things done works for the short-term – soon it drains – but, eventually it destroys you and your effectiveness. Constantly working in your business without working on it:

1. Defeats your innovative spirit.
2. Saps vitality
3. Restricts growth.
4. Limits your potential.

So we somehow need to breakthrough to working on:

Evaluate the use of your time. How much is spent working in rather than on? Breakthroughs materialize when you alter dead-end habits.

1.  Create a weekly “working on” appointment with yourself. Identify and take a next step.
2. Make small adjustments. You’ll never shift toward working on your business in onegiant leap.
3. Find new eyes. Discuss systems, strategies, and vision with experts outside your field.
4. Listen. Many leaders and managers owners have too many answers and too few questions.
5. Try something. Waiting for stunning success prevents progress.
6. Delegate more even if it takes longer at first.
7. Follow-up and follow-through. Frustrations inspire conversations regarding improvements but follow-through changes things. Perhaps some form of accountability would help?

 How can we as managers and leaders work on our business or organization?

 For daily updates, discussion, personal opinion, comment or just to connect or keep in touch you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/drcarltonbrand.

 Thanks for reading - talk again in a week or so.

 Carlton