10 Actions To Take Your Leadership and Management Success To The Next Level

Action 1: Do an honest self assessment

It might be tough to do but if you are serious about moving forward, you need to take a long hard look at where you are right now in terms of mindset, skill set, experience and personal attributes.

Action 2: Get some feedback

Feedback is hugely valuable to you.  Getting some insights from others helps you to understand where your strengths are and what you need to work on.

You can read more by Duncan and subscribe to his ezine, blog & twitter feed at his website

Action 3: Get clear on your priorities

The biggest concern I hear from professional people is that they are running at speed but still struggling to get things done.  We can all fill up our week or month with activities but you need to be focusing on the priorities.

Action 4: Set a few key goals

We are all (me included) inclined to be far too ambitious when it comes to setting goals for the year ahead.  When setting your goals focus on a few major goals that will have a significant impact on what you and your team deliver.  It might be process automation, updating a system, a new product launch, a new way of running meetings or a new way of reporting to name just a few.

Action 5:  Set aside time for leading and managing
A huge part of leading and managing is about making time for your staff.  Sadly many leaders and managers fill their calendar with lots of activities and forget about making time for staff.  You can be sure that there will be staffing issues during the year so plan with this in mind.

Action 6: Think about how you can add more value

Many organisations are currently facing or are likely to face real challenges in the coming year.  The people who step up to the plate and focus on adding value are likely to get noticed. Ask yourself how you could add value to the organisation.

Action 7: Think about your contribution to the wider organisational agenda

We all to a greater or lesser extent can get stuck in a silo mentality where we only think about our own function or department.
Those that aspire to be a leader know that they need to be able to contribute to the overall success of the organisation, not just within their functional area.

Action 8: Take on a new challenge

I don’t know about you but I often found that I delivered better performance when I took on a new challenge.  We all can to some extent become complacent and go with the flow if we don’t have a new stimulus.  Taking on a new challenge not only stretches you but builds your skills, experience and provides renewed motivation.

Action 9: Make more use of your team

As a leader or manager you have responsibility for a team.  If you want to get the best from that team you need to help each and every team member grow and develop.  This might mean delegating and empowering individuals more or even setting up a small action learning set to resolve a particular problem or challenge.

Action 10: Make a commitment to developing yourself

None of us know everything and we all need to continually work on our professional development.  Make a plan, set aside the time and take the action to develop yourself in 2010.

Bottom Line – Achieving more success and getting the personal rewards that this brings relies on you taking a number of actions rather than looking for one magic solution. So what action will you take to make the breakthrough in 2010?

You can read more about Duncan, suabsribe to ezine, blog or twitter feed at his website www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

• Health enough to make work a pleasure.
• Wealth enough to support your needs.
• Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
• Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
• Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
• Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
• Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.
• Faith enough to make real the things of God.
• Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.”

Johann von Goethe

The Foundations For Great Achievement

I’ve been studying human achievement for almost 50 years (professionally for over 30 years), and the longer I do this work, the more I see that the “recipe” for achievement is simpler and in many ways, much easier than most people believe. In fact, Socrates described the basics almost 3000 years ago with the simple phrase, “Know thyself.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to create a workshop around this simple recipe, and I want to share some preliminary observations with you.

First:  Know your strengths

High achievement comes from knowing what you do well, what you love and where your passion lies. Mid-level performance comes from people who can “get by” or are doing something “acceptable” but they are not using their talents to the maximum. When human beings do something they love and have some talent for, they are unstoppable!

Think about a teenager learning to drive, play sports or music, or asking someone special for a first date. Or how about your own determination to be a great parent, good lover or successful investor. When we are doing something that “makes sense,” something that draws and excites us, we find ways to get good at it. “First, know yourself” and always go with your strengths, passions and talents!

Second:  Know your weaknesses

We all have blind spots and weaknesses. We have things we don’t enjoy, or don’t want to do, and yet too often we create lives or careers that require us to do precisely that! How dumb is that?

If you don’t like detail work, hire a bookkeeper! If you are shy or introverted, don’t go into sales or politics! If you’re a natural born entrepreneur, I wouldn’t recommend a career in the military. Like, duh!

Unfortunately, most of the time our weaknesses are not so dramatic and we find ways to hide or work around them. Then we end up in situations where we can get along, but we “forget” to do the accounting or calculate the budget. We get “bored” with meetings or annoyed with “those dreamers” in the R&D department. It’s important to know what you’re good at, but it’s absolutely vital to know what does not suit you. Acknowledge your weaknesses! Don’t spend your life “trying” to do things that don’t fit! Life’s too short for that! Build on your strengths rather than compensating for your weaknesses.

Third:  Know what you want

We all have dreams and desires. We know what brings us joy, what excites us, what fires us up. Sometimes, we get confused or lose track of our dreams, but they are still “in there.” The trick is to identify and express them!

The winners in life know what they want and they find healthy, productive ways to go after it. They ask, they poke and prod until they “find a way.” Recently, a client expressed amazement that since he identified a particular skill he wants to develop, suddenly he sees people doing it all the time! We’ve all had that experience. My comment was that “when you know what you want, you’re much more likely to get it.”

Fourth:  Know how to express yourself

The final piece is “finding your voice,” your unique way to let the world know you exist. Some do this naturally and become entertainers, politicians or whatever. Others struggle to express themselves, but winners eventually find a way. They speak up. They reach out. They “go for it” and “make waves.” They voice their suggestions, work for their causes, and make a difference in the world.

High achievement starts by knowing who you are, what you want, and going after it. That’s not always easy or simple, but winners keep trying “until” they find a way. “Know thyself and to thine own self be true.” There is no stopping a human being who knows who they are, what they want, and is determined to get it.

Copyright (c) 2009, all rights reserved. U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1529-059X
You may copy, forward or distribute TIP’s if this copyright notice and full information for contacting Dr Philip E. Humbert are included. Contact him at: www.philiphumbert.com or email to coach@philiphumbert.com

Economic recovery is now in sight but the pressure is still on to create equity and drive profit, and every minute counts in the life of an entrepreneur. Can being better organised really hold the key to being more profitable? Sue Reeve, founder of lifestyle management company Consider it Done, thinks so and highlights the key things to focus on.

Being organised is about keeping processes and cash flow healthy, while at the same time allowing business owners the freedom to focus on their customers and new business generation. Operating efficiently also helps reduce stress levels, letting entrepreneurs perform even more effectively.

1. Invest time in tomorrow
Successful entrepreneurs plan and commit to the most important things to get done each day. Give everyday a schedule, even if it’s rough. Without a plan it’s easy to let unproductive activity lead you into avenues where you serve the loudest voice, rather than dealing with the biggest priority for your business. Schedule time for housekeeping; emails, files or de-cluttering paperwork. Importantly, schedule time for business or financial planning, and ideas generation. Put up a whiteboard on the wall, keep a dedicated notebook for the purpose, or use the notepad tool in your iPod or PDA. Whatever you need to give you somewhere to record your thoughts as they come to you. Use waiting or travelling time to think and scribble.

2. Manage distractions
Don’t let them manage you. Turn off the continuous email notification if it stops you from constantly checking your inbox, and make a point of learning more of the functions of your mobile phone to help you manage calls by filtering or diverting them for a period of time. Allocate time for responding to messages, and prioritise call backs. Commit to handling each email or piece of paper only once. Become aware of where time leaks from your day – dealing with junk email, or looking for things – and take steps to improve your operation to reduce it.

3. Schedule regular cost saving reviews
The investment made in shopping around properly for stationery, software or marketing materials could shave your cost base. It’s simple to set up an account with providers and see how their prices compare to your current sources. Check the best fuel prices at nearby petrol stations before a long business trip at www.petrolprices.com. Utility and telecoms suppliers change tariffs constantly, so plan to review them every quarter. If time pressure is in the way, find an independent consultant who will audit the business, and handle all the switchovers to the best possible rates. They can build their fees into your savings, so the review costs your business nothing.

4. Make your diary work harder
Computerised calendars such as the one in Outlook, are everywhere, and it takes seconds to set up a reminder. Use them for absolutely everything where time is a factor, and you’ll stay on the front foot. Contract renewal dates; meeting preparation; report generation; customer reminders; or, break up big projects (the ones you keep putting off) into component parts and diarise them to make them more likely to happen. Use the meeting function to invite others into your task management or reminder system.

5. Don’t wing it with IT
IT issues can stop a business running in its tracks. IT support doesn’t have to cost a fortune and some technology companies can work on low monthly retainer fees tailored to a business’ needs. Work with them to build in plans for equipment replacement, to avoid being forced into big outlays during an IT crisis. It’s good practice to have an online back-up system, so that if your office equipment was stolen or damaged, your business data isn’t lost.

6. Be available for your clients
Missing a call from a client or prospect could leave you missing earning opportunities. A cost effective way to getting this right is by contracting a dedicated call answering service, so that there will always be someone answering the phone professionally. You’ll be able to respond to the important calls, and filter the time wasters. Factor in a cost of between £30 and £90 a month based on the volume of calls you need answering. Gain one more piece of business as a result of a call you didn’t miss, and the payback could easily show returns in multiples.

7. Delegation = freedom
Stay asset-light, and by-pass the responsibilities of being an employer by finding a quality organising service that can provide the resource you need, when you need it. Small businesses in particular may only need adhoc or occasional part time help, which would make all the difference, but doesn’t warrant an extra head on the team. While you are out of the office securing a new contract, you can stay focused, knowing that someone is managing the office, chasing outstanding invoices, dealing with IT problems, researching, dealing with correspondence or tracking budgets and expenses.

It takes unrelenting tenacity and energy to make a business successful, but by adopting smart working principles, and finding quality support, it’s possible to reach your goals faster. You have it within your power to bring the midas touch of good organisation to what you do.

Sue Reeve is the founder and managing director of Consider it Done, a lifestyle management company offering organisation and PA support to businesses and individuals.

1. Do one thing at a time
2. Know the problem
3. Learn to listen
4. Learn to ask questions
5. Distinguish sense from nonsense
6. Accept change as inevitable
7. Admit mistakes
8. Say it simple
9. Be calm
10. Smile

Refreshingly simple common sense! About this list.

Try this yourself or with your team.

• Keep it simple.
• Brainstorm a list of specific, short ‘dos’ like these. The question to brainstorm against: how can we work better?
• Choose, say, the top 5 ‘dos’. Selection criteria: things you can do straight away, requiring no extra time or money.
• Then do them for a month and review – what was different? Did you work better?
• Repeat

What Are You Suggesting To Yourself?

You have a burning desire.  You have written it down, committed it to memory, and you repeat it morning and night. As a result, your desire is seeping into your unconscious mind.  That’s good!

Yet, what are you telling yourself about your ability to achieve that desire?

Napoleon Hill believes that a major stumbling block to living the life you want is often your lack of self-confidence.  “This handicap can be surmounted, and timidly translated into courage, through the aid of the power of autosuggestion.”

Autosuggestion is what you suggest to yourself about yourself.  Moreover, you accept what you say as the truth, so it is to your benefit to suggest positive thoughts of confidence to your mind if you want to achieve your desires, or definite purpose, as Hill calls it.

How can you accomplish this?  Work the Self-Confidence Formula as defined by Hill in his classic book, “Think and Grow Rich”.

The Self-Confidence Formula:

First: I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my definite purpose in life; therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.

Second: I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality; therefore I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture.

Third: I know through the principle of autosuggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it; therefore I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of self-confidence.

Fourth: I have clearly written down a description of my definite chief aim in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.

Fifth: I finally realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice; therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects.  I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people.  I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others….

I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person.

Hill concludes by saying, “Like the wind which carries one ship east, and another west, the law of autosuggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according to the way you set your sails of thought.”

Set your sails of thought to those of positive autosuggestion and sail away to your definite purpose in life.

10 Ways To Help You Get Funding From Your Bank

By Guy Rigby, Director & Head of Entrepreneurs, Smith & Williamson

Getting funding from your bank isn’t nearly as straightforward as it used to be. If you’re an entrepreneur or growing company relying on bank finance, maintaining a positive relationship with your bank is more critical than ever.

Here are 10 ways to inspire confidence in your bank and help you get the funding you need:

1. Invest time and energy in communication. Treat the bank as an integral part of your team. Banks that fully understand your business are far more likely to be able to assist in the event of need.

2. Understand who and what you are dealing with. It’s not just your bank manager — in the current climate the credit underwriter is charged with protecting banks’ weakened balance sheets and they are adopting tighter lending criteria.

3. Focus on your key business issues, both positive and negative. A well thought out credit proposition addressing the issues which are critical to lenders is essential. It will help you negotiate better terms and pricing.

4. Take advice. In the current climate there is no doubt that banks are comforted by the use of specialist advisers who can add credibility to your proposition.

5. Be proactive with business updates. Voluntarily provide regular copies of business plans, financial projections and reports before you are asked.

6. Maintain a ‘no surprises’ policy. Build trust and keep your bank informed of any potential threats. Let the bank know of anticipated funding needs as early as possible. You need to arrange financing much earlier than previously to avoid experiencing your own ‘credit crunch’.

7. Be professional. Make sure information is accurate and plan ahead carefully for any meetings, especially when seeking or renewing debt facilities. Your presentation should be detailed, realistic, show an appreciation of the risks and how these can be mitigated. Focus on the positive but recognise weaknesses and set out actions to address them.

8. Be consistent. Provide reliable information and supporting numbers which are comparable over different time periods. Poor quality financial information will lead the banks to assume the worst.

9. Take care not to breach covenants and deliver financial information in good time, as covenant waiver fees are being enforced. Perception is usually regarded as reality, so don’t create a bad one.

10. Be realistic. As banks are trying to rebuild their balance sheets they are looking to reduce exposure, increase margins and fees and tighten covenants. Be sure that the lending structure requested is sensible and consider whether the overall circumstances may warrant price increases or changes to historic terms and conditions.

Guy Rigby – 020 7131 8213 guy.rigby@smith.williamson.co.uk

Many thanks to Greg Begley at GGW Corporate Services for his contribution to this article. GGW Corporate Services provides corporate debt advisory services to medium-sized public and private companies, including arranging new and/or increased facilities, restructuring existing credit lines, refinancing and renegotiating terms, pricing and covenants.
Greg Begley – 020 7131 4891 gb@ggwcsl.com

1. That Good Work is endless … and constantly tugs at our shirt, pulling us back into busy-ness and routine.  Regular pruning recommended.

2. That you can’t do Great Work by yourself.  It’s too lonely, too hard – and too limiting.  Get the right people to come and play.

3. That it’s worth stopping to celebrate.  Celebrate successes, because you’ve worked to get there.  Celebrate failures, because they teach you.

4. Great Work is stepping into the unknown.  No wonder you get that little ball of anxiety.  That’s a good thing.  It tells you you’re on the right path.

5. Don’t take it too seriously.  C’mon.  Lighten up.

6. Plans don’t work.  But planning is a useful thing to do.  So don’t worry when your plan doesn’t work out.  It was never likely to.

7. Saying No gets easier.  Sometimes all you need to do is delay saying Yes for a bit, and the No just shows up.

8. We all have our signature patterns – making the same mistake again and again.  Don’t beat yourself up about it too much.  You’re getting better at it.

9. Figuring out what you want and then asking for it (knowing that the answer may be No) gets you a long long way.

10. Don’t trust advice.  Or top 10 lists.

The Wisdom Questions

• What do you know to be true about your Great Work?
• What’s different now you’ve read FYGW and done this e-course?
• What do you know is the next step for you to take?

Here’s to your Great Work,

Michael

Michael Bungay Stanier
www.boxofcrayons.biz
The Home Office
137 Marion St
Toronto, ON M6R 1E6
Canada

You can follow her progress on her blog, twitter or podcast.

Without doubt she is a one-off and an example to all of getting out of your comfort zone. (This piece was first published in the Sunday Times, 23 April 2006.)

I Am What I Am

“The thoughts and philosophies of Roz Savage, an impressive ocean-rowing adventurer.

• Don’t waste mental energy asking yourself if you CAN do something. Just do it. You’ll surprise yourself. I did.
• Be clear about your objectives. Ignore others, stay true to yourself and measure success only against your own criteria. I was last to finish the race – big deal. I went out there to learn about myself, and I did.
• The only constant in life is change. So don’t get depressed by the bad times, and don’t get over-excited by good ones. Accept that things are exactly as they are, and even bad times have something to teach us.
• Life can be magical, but magic only gets you so far. Then you need discipline, determination and dedication to see it through.
• Hope can hurt. The danger is that you hope for too much and set yourself up for disappointment. Be optimistic but realistic. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as you expect it to be.
• Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today’s actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?
• Decision-making: act in faith, not fear, and don’t worry about making a ‘wrong’ decision – the way you implement it is more important than the decision itself.
• Be your own best friend. The more you rely on other people, the less control you have over your destiny.
• Be proud of your own obituary: a few years ago I wrote two versions of my obituary, the one I wanted and the one I was heading for. They were very different. I realized I needed to make some big changes if I was going to look back and be proud of my life. I am making those changes, and now I have a life worth living.”

You matter

• When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter.
• When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter.
• When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter.
• When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter.
• When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter.
• When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter.
• When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter.
• When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter.
• When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter.
• When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter.
• And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.