What is stopping you from achieving your goals? Ready, aim (part 1)

I find it scary how fast time seems to go by these days. It seems like it was just the beginning of summer, and here it is almost Thanksgiving!

With the end of the year so close, it’s time to evaluate your progress on your goals for this year, and start thinking about goals and dreams for next year. In part 1 of this 2-part series called “Ready, Aim,” we will look at some of the reasons you may be floundering, and in part 2 on Friday, explore ways to advance on your way to success.

Some of the biggest roadblocks to achieving goals include:

• Unreasonable goals. I frequently have grand ideas of what I want to accomplish, but then the nitty gritty of every day keeps me sidetracked, and suddenly that goal seems unreachable.
• Uncertainty about how to proceed. Some goals can be intimidating, and you find yourself stumbling over what the next step should be. That can lead to procrastination because it seems too difficult to figure out or deal with.
• Someone else’s goals. Be honest here, how many times have you set goals because family or friends encouraged (ok, pushed) you to – but you weren’t 100% sold on the idea yourself? It is hard to buy into a goal about which you are not passionate.
• Vague results. Goals must be clear and measurable. You’ve heard this before – don’t set a goal like “lose weight” – because how will you ever know when you have succeeded? You will be more likely to achieve success if you set a reasonable goal like “lose 10 pounds by X date.”

For me, goals help me manage my life, so my life doesn’t manage me. When I set sensible goals with realistic results, the outcome is much more satisfying.

The problem comes when I haven’t set proper goals to begin with. Then they become just another obligation to avoid, and it ends up being detrimental to my peace and contentment.

To counteract these problems, here are some down-to-earth tactics that will help you meet your goals:

• Set reasonable goals. It’s ok to dream about owning the company, but if you are just getting started, it’s probably not a realistic goal for next year. Start with achievable goals that move you in the right direction. You might strive to “take # classes to build leadership skills” or “train X team members to take on X responsibility.”
• Break the goal down into steps. You aren’t going to reach your goal in one leap, so don’t set yourself up for failure by stating it that way. Spend some time planning what action steps it will take to reach that lofty goal. If your goal is to run a 10K in 6 months, but you haven’t exercised in years, the first step would be to walk a mile 3 times a week. Then plan to walk a longer distance more often. Then add running.
• Set goals for you. Decide what you need to accomplish for you and set goals around that. Don’t be influenced by others here – you have to be passionate about what you want to achieve or you will not make progress.
• State what “wildly successful” looks like. How will you know when you’ve reached your goal if you haven’t stated what finished is?
• Share your goal. That’s right – don’t keep it to yourself. State it out loud to someone you trust and who can encourage you. Even better, challenge a friend or family member to help hold you accountable by asking about your progress periodically.

Goals are worthless if you aren’t making progress toward them, and determining the barriers is only part of the challenge. In part 2 of the series “Ready, Aim,” we will explore the process of setting up better goals to help you reach your dreams.

What excuses are keeping you from accomplishing your goals?

 

Are you swayed by the crowd?

Photo courtesy of Karen_O’D (Creative Commons)

It is tempting as a leader to make choices and decisions based on what your team, clients or customers want most. But that’s not always what is best for your company or organization.

Whether you are considering changing your hours, altering your process, or adding a new product line, it is important to that you evaluate all of your options instead of listening to the loudest and most urgent voices. The following steps may help you determine the best path in those situations:

• Input from different areas – Be sure to talk not to just the most vocal group wanting the change, but talk to each department or segment affected. Find out how the change will impact their area, whether that is an increase in phone calls or changes in how they will have to process. Ask a lot of questions!
• Consider all sides – Look at pros and cons for each option, and consider not just the immediate need, but what is currently working and what is frustrating those affected.
• Look at long term – Don’t just look for a quick fix. Be sure to look at long term affects, including cycles or seasons, and how the change will play out over months or years.
• Don’t be influenced by personalities – Remember that it’s business, not personal, so don’t let the characters involved be part of your decision.
• Take your time – Actually, take the time appropriate to the magnitude of the decision.  Don’t be rushed or drag your feet.

As a leader, you must be intentional in making those big decisions. While it is tempting to go with the requests of the majority, consideration must be given to all sides of the issue and all parties involved. Yes, change is difficult, but changing back is harder!

What decision have you made because of the crowd that you regretted later?

 

Nourishment of the mind and soul

What are you reading lately? Do you have a stack on your bedside table?

One of the most important things a leader can do is read to stay stimulated, keep a sharp mind and improve their leadership skills.  I know from my own experience that many times a business book will present material I’ve seen before, but it does so in a way that strikes a chord and makes a difference in my leadership or productivity now. That’s right – it makes sense now when it didn’t on previous encounters with the same information. Bingo – inspiration!

So here’s what I’m reading and why:

• The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (release date 10/25/12 – if you haven’t already pre-ordered, I highly recommend it. I originally requested a preview copy so I could write a review, since I’m taking the Blog Topics Master Class with Chris Brogan. But what I’ve discovered is that there is so much information about getting your message out that I have highlights and post-its on practically every page and am having to read slowly to absorb it all! This will definitely be a book I revisit often.
• How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere by Larry King – this was homework for Blog Topics Master Class, but has turned into a nice little read. Larry King has a delightfully casual style of writing, so it feels like we’re sitting down with a cup of coffee for a chat. I’m learning all sorts of ways to be a better conversationalist.
• Love Works by Joel Manby – interviewed by Chris LoCurto for the EntreLeadership podcast, I cannot wait to dig into this material which promotes values like patience and empowerment in the workplace.
• God’s Promises for You by Max Lucado – a friend lent me this tiny volume that is jam packed with scripture and commentary broken down into different topics like praise, trust and grace.

Your turn, what are you reading and why?

 

Categorizing when you defy categories

How do you describe yourself? Your leadership? Your skills?

It is natural to try to fit people into categories, and especially the folks you work with – they are great with numbers, or she’s an artist, or he gives terrific presentations. There are personality profiles such as the DISC profile, which will define you as dominant, influencing, steady or consistent or Meyers-Briggs, that will refine your style to things like introvert/extrovert, thinking/feeling, etc.

But do you discount or overlook a person’s other skills or talents because you have tucked them into a particular pigeon-hole?

For instance, I am a high high C on the DISC profile and an ESTJ on Meyer’s-Briggs, which means that I am highly analytical and detail oriented. I fit very neatly in that category and thrive in very structured environments creating lots of plans, lists and guidelines.

And yet, I have an artistic side with my writing and graphic design. What wildness is this? Maybe I don’t fit so neatly in that structured category after all.

Have you done that with your team members?

Don’t get me wrong – I definitely agree with working within someone’s dominant personality style, but I think it’s important to remember that they may have other qualities as well. And we shouldn’t just assume they are only what they project most often.

Here are some ways to explore your team members’ strengths and better utilize their skill sets:

• Evaluate – find out what your team members’ strength areas are and under what conditions they work best. But also look at what their secondary areas of strength and interest. Ideally, this should have been determined before you put them in their position, but at least make sure they are in a suitable work situation.
• Talk – ask what parts of their job your team members enjoy the most, and what other areas they might like to explore.
• Observe – when does your team member excel, but also, when does she light up? What really brings a smile?
• Challenge – challenge your team member to find ways to utilize their other strengths. Are there other areas of your business or organization that could benefit from even a short term project using their other strengths?

The best leaders don’t just rely on the primary strength areas of their team members, but know them well enough to develop their other areas of passion as well. Imagine how much more successful your team would be if team members contributed all of their assets. And how much happier!

How can you expand the effectiveness of your team by using all of their strengths?

 

Keeping up when you’re in front of the fire hose

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Picture flashing red lights and alarms blaring and a deep voice saying “caution, caution” – that is my brain on overload! I love to learn, and I will seek out books, conferences and conversations where I can absorb new information to make myself a better leader and a better person.

I have a huge pile of books (both literally and “stacked” in my Kindle Fire) that I want to read. Most are business/leadership books, like The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, How To Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere by Larry King, Love Works by Joel Manby and The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. On top of that, I’ve been to 3 different conferences in the last couple of months.

Lately, I feel like I’ve been blasted by a fire hose of inspiration!

I have struggled with how to use all that information in the best way, and not be so overwhelmed that I let it all slip away. I’ve discovered a few tactics to help process and use all that  information effectively:

• Take notes – your brain can’t possibly remember all that you heard or read, so notes, even references to page numbers, highlights or snippets of information can remind you later on.
• Process – set aside some time a day or two after your finish the conference, book, etc. and think about and jot down what your biggest takeaway ideas were. What impressed you?  What made you say “aha”?
• Share – if possible, talk with someone else, whether or not they were at the same conference or read the same book. Sometimes verbalizing your impressions causes you to remember things that would otherwise have stayed hidden. And if that person shared the experience, they might remind you of points you missed.
• Decide next steps –what are the next steps you need to implement based on what you learned? Don’t hope that you get it done, write it down and add it to your calendar or task list right now so you will see it and DO IT.
• Revisit – after a week or two, revisit your notes and next steps. Have you accomplished what you noted? What additional steps or tasks do you need to make progress? Are there additional resources you could seek to progress more?

It’s so exciting to come out of a conference fired up by the speakers and the new ideas, or finish that book with conviction of how you will improve. But we both know that when the routine and demands of your work and life press in, you slip back into old habits. By taking a few simple steps, you can keep the new information fresh, prolong that inspiration and stay motivated to make the changes you desire.

How do you take in and process a flood of new information and motivation?

 

Finding strength in your weaknesses

Let’s be honest – you’ve probably lost count of how many times you have had a performance review, and your boss goes through all the things you do well, and then there’s a pause. For effect. And then you have to listen to him tell you about your “areas of opportunity” and how you need to improve your performance in those areas.

We hear so much these days about working in your strengths. Author Tom Rath’s book Strengthsfinder 2.0 as well as author Marcus Buckingham’s books Now, Discover Your Strengths, Go Put Your Strengths To Work, and Standout, all encourage us to identify our assets and utilize them more effectively.

Yet as a leader, you probably will have responsibility for areas that are not your strengths. So how do you work around that and still help your team succeed?

One of my “areas of opportunity” is public speaking. As a high C on the DISC profile, I am all about details, planning, and strategies. Give me a big problem and I can break it down into smaller pieces and get those organized into a logical progression to get to the solution.

But tell me I have to present that solution to a group of people (more than maybe 5), and I freeze up and start looking for excuses why someone else should do it.

Over the years, I have discovered some strategies to cope with my areas of weakness, that may help you become more effective in your leadership:

• Partner– combine efforts with someone who is strong in the area(s) you are not, and share the responsibility.
• Train – learn how to do it – take classes, do exercises, work with someone – you may never consider it a strength, but at least you can improve.
• Practice – make time to work on that area so that you are more comfortable with the tools, skills or process.
• Write it out – write down what you hope to accomplish, whether that’s the outcome of a project or situation, so you can gain confidence. Seeing what “successfully finished” looks like can help you see alternatives to getting there.
• Discipline – just buckle down and do it. Thinking about it is often worse than just doing it.

While a good leader works within his strength areas to excel with his team, a great leader does not shrink back from finding ways to overcome his weaknesses. The key is to find the strategies to work through  the weakness and still accomplish the goal.

As a leader, what do you do to overcome your weaknesses?

 

When mind and heart are full

I am still feeling the effects of conference afterglow. You’ve felt it right? That kind of “let’s go out and conquer the world and slay all my dragons” gung ho attitude at the same time as the “my brain is going to explode with all the new information” limpness.

First let me say that attending the EntreLeadership 1-Day event on Friday was pretty awesome. I have attended EntreLeadership before, but listening to amazing leadership information from Dave Ramsey, Chris LoCurto and Jon Acuff with my team refreshed me and reinforced the keys to being a good leader.

Coupled with that, I attended the Quitter Conference with Jon Acuff. That’s right – I spent two full days learning and being inspired.

At Quitter, we learned how to identify our dream, battle the fears that hold us back, and move toward living our dreams. What an amazing experience it was to meet people and ask “what is your dream?” instead of asking “what do you do?” as the opening question. Pretty powerful.

We explored building platforms, creating tribes, and developing a community. We compared notes on the negative voices in our heads telling us why we won’t succeed and received validation that pursuing our dreams will be fulfilling.

I am both exhausted and exhilarated by the confirmations, overwhelmed and excited about the possibilities, humbled and psyched at the new connections.

Now the challenge is to act on the things that I’ve learned, and not let them just sit on my desk in the workbooks. Instead of diving back into my world as it was, I need to quit making up excuses and get over the fear of pursuing my dream of writing. I need to make sure to stick with some of the habits I’ve already begun in order to carve out time to practice.  And I need to “choose to delight” both myself and you, my readers.

As Jon says, “A Quitter for me is someone who quits average. People who refuse to accept common and instead dare to live out the talents and gifts they’ve been given.”

So my question to you is – are you a Quitter? Will you dare to live out your dream?

 

What do you need to hand off to accomplish more?

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I struggle with delegation. As a high C on the DISC profile, I tend to obsess over details and having things perfect, which means it is difficult to hand off tasks and responsibilities to others. But I can’t do it all! Like runners on a relay team, I can accomplish more if I hand off the baton and not try to run the whole race myself.

In re-reading and studying Dave Ramsey’s book EntreLeadership with our management team, I am reminded of the fact that I can get caught up spending time on tasks that are urgent but not important, rather than the other way around. I sometimes spend the entire day just entering information in the database or doing other routine things that are urgent (sometimes only because it means one less pile on my desk) but do not help me accomplish any larger goals or finish a bigger project.

If I am not consistent in planning my days, it’s easy to let the important items slip down the list. As a leader, I need to be more focused on accomplishing the important things that only I can do, rather than spending my day doing routine things with which others can help.

I see the solution as having several parts, which must be done consistently and together to be effective.

1. Set your goals. It’s important to articulate what your larger goals and projects are and what successful completion looks like. I use the 4×4 initiatives which I’ve written about (click here for previous post) to create 4 areas of focus for the next 4 weeks.
2. Intentionally schedule blocks of time (energy bursts) during your week to focus on your goals or 4×4’s so the less important things won’t consume all of your time.
3. Review the previous day (or week) to see what tasks or time-wasters kept you from moving ahead on your 4×4’s and help you refine your schedule to accomplish more.
4. DELEGATE the tasks that you can. This is the hard one. In my case, I need to be more proactive in scheduling volunteers from my data entry team all week to free me up from spending so much time entering information in the database.
5. Share your progress. Communicate your progress with your team and celebrate moving your 4×4’s ahead. Sharing also gives you accountability to continue moving ahead on your goals, and a feeling of accomplishment when you make progress!

Delegating is the most effective way to allow you to focus on the critical components of your goals, whether for work or personal life. Visualize what you could accomplish if you hand off some of those less important tasks and focus on what you do best as a leader.

What will you let go of today in order to move your goals forward?

 

Is appreciation a forgotten art?

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It is very satisfying when someone notices the work you did and thanks you for doing it, isn’t it?

Makes me realize how many times I neglect to give feedback to my team and how that makes them feel like I’m not paying attention.

In his book EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey suggests that you “recognize people in writing” by doing handwritten thank you notes. You know how much more it means to you when someone takes the time to write a note to you, especially for something unexpected. And to do it in writing, not just an email dashed off or a verbal thanks as you pass in the hallway.

If you are a leader, a side benefit with your team is that when you recognize and reward the good behavior of your team, they will most likely repeat it.

A few weeks ago, I gave this idea a try, and wrote several thank you notes to people I work with, and saw amazing results! One volunteer told me she had tears as she read my note (it was just a few lines telling her what a difference she makes and thanking her for her service.) I noticed another co-worker had posted her note on the bulletin board over her desk.

It was a tangible and lasting way to show my appreciation for the people who make a difference in my life. By writing a note, I let people know that the work they were doing was meaningful and significant. So why didn’t I keep that up?

There are the usual excuses:

• I got busy.
• Deadlines crowded in.
• A day off put me behind.
• There’s not time in the day to get everything done.
• It fell from the top of my to do list.

A note takes a couple of minutes to write, less time than getting another cup of coffee, really. So why do I not do it consistently?

I can’t answer that suitably. So this week, I will remedy that situation. I am stating this publicly so that I have accountability:

• I will notice the people I work with and pay attention to the good work they are doing.
• I will write at least 3 notes a week to thank people around me for what they do.
• I will continue to notice and not just do this for a week or two.

There’s my pledge. What about you?

How will you show your appreciation to the people you work with?

 

Discover when tightening the rules can give you freedom

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As leaders, how we empower our teams can make the difference between accomplishing great things or sinking into a broiling mess of mundane details and frustrations. Especially at a nonprofit organization utilizing hundreds of volunteers, lack of communication and empowerment can hold the agency back from helping many of the people it is intended to assist.

At the recent Global Leadership Summit, and in his book The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni shares the importance of educating and inspiring your team through the clear communication of your core values and your strategic anchors.

Without guidelines such as these, people will be hesitant to make decisions on their own and your office will have a revolving door as people continually come to you for guidance, even on simple things.

In my mind, the strategic anchors are like the fence around the playground. They are the boundaries within which your team can feel comfortable making choices. They are the criteria that guide all decisions throughout the organization at every level.

The example Lencioni gives is Southwest Airlines, whose strategic anchors are so well communicated throughout the company, that even a clerk at the ticket counter can make a decision if it meets all 3 of the criteria, saving the customer time and frustration of having to wait on a supervisor, explaining their situation again, etc. etc.

That’s one of the reasons Southwest Airlines continues to gain such high marks for customer satisfaction.

The first priority is to establish the strategic anchors for your organization, which can be a sloppy exercise. My team is currently working to identify our core values and strategic anchors and the difficulty is narrowing the scope to the two or three things that absolutely must be true for any major decision. What are the deal-breakers? What is at the core of our organization?

Once you determine the anchors, the process cannot stop there. Those anchors won’t help anyone make a decision if they are written down and tucked away in a file. You and your leadership team must clearly communicate (and OVER communicate) – to everyone in the organization, what those anchors are so that team members understand the significance.

One-on-one coaching will be important as your team begins to understand that they are empowered to make decisions within the guidelines of those anchors. Most team members will be new to the idea of permission, so as your leaders work with them, they must be clear and consistent on the significance of those strategic anchors.

But imagine the results. What a boost to morale and to productivity throughout your organization when people are comfortable making decisions within the boundaries of those anchors. You will be freed up to do the kind of high level thinking and planning that can only come when you aren’t mired up in daily details, and your team might surprise you by raising the bar with even better ideas, solutions and decisions. Your customers or clients will experience better service. A win-win-win!

How have you as a leader empowered your team members to make decisions?