Do You Really Want to Lead?

I'm spending the entire week next week with a group of aspiring leaders. They have answered the call of their organization to step up to a leadership role. In addition to more pay, they will also receive many opportunities to make a real difference for their organization.

And most of them are clueless to the challenge ahead.

The truth is that being a leader can be difficult work. It's easy to sit back and criticize someone in a leadership role. I try to remember that when I'm tempted to complain about national political leaders. It's completely different when you are in the chair, at the table, and the decisions rest with you. Leadership is, indeed, not a popularity contest.

Do you really want to be a leader? It's a good question to ask as we start a new year.

The Wall Street Journal had a thought-provoking article on the topic recently. It's worth reading if you have intentions on increasing the scope of your responsibility.

Serving in a leadership role is a tremendously rewarding experience. And it is hard work. I look forward to both inspiring (and sobering) my aspiring leaders next week!

What's your take? Do you remember what expectations you went into your role with? Has it been more challenging than you thought? Send me an e-mail with your thoughts!

Labels: conflict, executives, leadership, managing up, uncertainty, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 6:11 PM  

"Project Management is a life skill"

"Project management is a life skill."

I say this in nearly every workshop I deliver. I know it sounds a bit geeky, but the truth is we're doing projects all the time. Not only can it help us at work.... It can also help at home.

Take this story from Donna, a recent workshop participant:

Hi Andy, Thank you, thank you, thank you! The reason why I attended the Project Management class last week was strictly business/work related. However, the WBS structure Delphi Technique particularly the "wallpapering" portion changed the climate in my house to peaceful and the level of my blood pressure to normal! :-) Here's how.... I have a teenage son that's a senior in high school who has a 4.0 gpa with big plans and NO ACTION!!!! Everyday since the first day of school he has carried a list of about 20 college/universities around in his wallet that he would like to attend, coupled with endlessly talk about big plans to play football in college, and would really, really, really like a part-time job to work on the weekends. After many unsuccessful attempts to demand, bribe, motivate, encourage, influence, and even challenge him to take action, my efforts fell on dead soil. This kid did not take ACTION! He only came up with excuses. As I sat on the sofa as usual thinking about what I would try next to give this kid a push, I began to take the work I brought home out of my bag. Guess what came out with it.....THE GOLD SHEET!!! As I looked at what I had written down for the "key things I learned" the fire works went off! I jump up and began to put the WBS Delphi Technique (wallpapering) in motion. (Some tweaking fit the purpose) I also added a daily log. (Something has to be done everyday! Even if it's nothing but adding a task.) Directly in front of my son's room I placed plastic over the wall to protect the paint and created the high level structure. (RED and BLUE in the pic) I chose the wall in front of his room to serve as a reminder every time he exited....... there's work to be done! I then explained to my son what we were doing and turned him loose. He had to add the details. (ORANGE, WHITE, AND YELLOW in the pic). Here's what he has accomplished within a matter of days..... Decreased his list of 20 college/universities down to 5 Scheduled to re-take the ACT Scheduled to take the SAT Completed 3 of the 5 college applications (turned in one including transcript requests) Began the essay portion of the applications Scheduled a meeting with his counselor Began the creation of his football highlight DVD Completed 2 job applications GOT THE PART-TIME JOB!!!!!! (within 3 days!!!!!) As you can see......this system is a lifesaver for my son and an answered prayer for me!!!! Needless to say.....he thinks I'm crazy! ha ha ha! Thanks again!

Way to go, Donna! As we stress in our workshops, this stuff only works when you take action on it. Project management skills are completely actionable and practical to daily life, both at work and home.

Ready to start helping you team (and family!) more reliably deliver? Contact us today!

Labels: project management, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 8:15 AM  

So Much To Do, So Little Time

"So much to do. So little time."

It's the theme song of most professionals these days. "How can I keep up with what's most important when there's just so much to do?"

A recent CIO Magazine cover story laid out twenty of their best tips to invest 20 minutes wisely. Though they may overstate them as "20 minute miracles", the article has value for those seeking some relief from overloaded in-boxes and towering to-do lists.

Some highlights include:

• #2: The Mini-Meeting. We regularly coach leaders to be more aggressive in cutting the length of time dedicated to meetings. In our experience, recurring meetings are often the biggest culprits in wasting time. Though I rarely recommend trashing them (as suggested in the article), cutting their duration in half is a great place to start. Need some motivation? Take the hourly rate of everyone in those recurring meetings, and multiply that over the course of a year. Ouch! That's an expensive meeting!


• #7: Life Without E-Mail. Though I haven't found "Zero E-Mail Friday" practical (as suggested in the article), there is so much opportunity to be more efficient with our favorite tool to hate. My book How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-mail Clutter can help you and your team save time and reduce the stress of e-mail overload.


• #8: Say Yes to Staff Training. OK, so you might suspect self-interest in my highlighting this one! But just this week I had participants in a project management workshop exclaim how techniques they learned will save them time. And training doesn't always have to take a big bite out of your time! Our Leadership Fast Track Program meets for 2 hours or less, 8 times between June and October. By spreading out the learning into smaller increments, we find you not only save time, but actually apply the learning. And since I facilitate it over the web, you're not wasting time traveling to a training facility. In fact, you can participate from anywhere in the world!


• #13: What's So Funny About Company Peace, Love, and Understanding? Basically this tip comes down to finding ways to get exposure to other departments. In our leadership keynotes and workshops we talk about practical ways to make this happen, and the advantages for you and others. Contact me to learn how we can help you improve your influence and exposure within the organization.
  

So much to do? So little time? We can help you sing a different song: Get more done, with less stress! Check out our Leadership Fast Track Program for details.

Labels: leadership, learning, networking, time management, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 3:14 PM  

Everything You've Learned About Exercising is Wrong (Plus a Free eLearning Presentation)

"I'd exercise if I had the time."

Ever found yourself saying that? It reigned as my number one excuse for years. That is until I met my coaching client Brian Cygan, who runs a group of Chicago area personal training studios called The Exercise Coach™.

I help organizations around the world who are struggling with how to deliver projects and lead teams. So why a post about exercise?

Whether I'm working with a multi-national organization with tens of thousand of employees or the owner of a small business, one of the most consistent challenges comes down to one factor.

Time.

My company helps people deliver projects, become more confident leaders, take focused action and achieve results. Yet much of the joy for our clients comes when they can reap these benefits while maintaining a more balanced life.

Exercise is one of the key ingredients to a balanced life. But who has the time?

Brian recently delivered a presentation that shows how his approach allows people to get significant health and fitness benefits in only two, 20-minute sessions per week. More than that, he blows away some of the bigger myths regarding exercise and weight loss.

Could it be that much of what we've learned about exercise turns out to be wrong?

I was skeptical when I first started talking to Brian about these ideas. But after a year of putting them to the test, my wife and I are now lifers! Ellington Darden's book Living Longer Stronger reinforces the principles that drive The Exercise Coach's successful approach.

Free eLearning Presentation
Want to hear Brian’s presentation? As a benefit to our Horizon Time newsletter subscribers and regular blog readers, we are pleased to offer you this free learning opportunity.

Click here to begin the program.

NOTE: Make sure pop-up blockers are turned off for this site. Also, your security policy must allow Flash to run in order to view this e-learning session.

P.S. If you live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, check out Brian’s studios. Even if you live outside the area, you can learn how to use his approach to get the greatest benefit from your exercise investment. Learn more about The Exercise Coach™ at http://www.theexercisecoach.com/.

Labels: exercise, work/life balance

posted by Andy at 10:31 PM