Four Generations Of Time Management
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Time Management
Stephen Covey pioneered this type of thinking several years ago but it is certainly worth repeating based on the incredible pressures we are all under in the area of time management. In a day when it is impossible to do everything that comes our way we must find ways to prioritize the important things and the discipline to say no to everything else.
The first wave or generation of time management could be characterized by simply taking notes and making checklists to try to keep track of all the things we needed to do. To some degree we still use this today but in a much more effective way.
The second generation started to use calendars and appointment books. The big improvement here was in planning ahead and making sure we had an idea of what we wanted to accomplish over a longer period of time. We all still use calendars today and they help us not only in planning but in daily execution as well.
The third generation brought into play the whole concept of prioritization into the process where we try on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis to identify those things that are most important and do them first and move the lesser items to the bottom of list. We started setting goals and incorporating those goals into our time planning which place a priority on efficiency.
The emerging fourth generation that recognizes that time management is a misnomer because the ultimate challenge is not to manage time as much as it is to manage ourselves. This whole concept recognizes that just because we can do things faster today they might not be the right things to do and that you cannot a week in advance know everything that should be on the top of your list.
The fourth generation mindset is that I will value relationships over results and I will always be open in the flow of my life to change direction on any given day when a greater priority comes into my life. The use of time is based on core values and is not driven by efficiency but effectiveness.
The Building Blocks Of A Strategy
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Leading Change, Time Management, Vision Casting
One of the best books I have read on developing a strategic plan and all that is involved in the execution of that plan was written by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan called Execution. It is a must read for any organization that uses teams to accomplish planning and execution.
A strategy is the key steps or methodology that you are going to use to accomplish your goals or mission. Many times the goal seems to be clear and necessary but the breakdown occurs at the point of determining how we are going to accomplish what we want to do.
In this book he lists several critical questions that should be answered during the development of your strategy to ensure a high probability of success:
1. How good are the assumptions upon which the plan hinges?
2. What are the pluses and minuses of the alternatives?
3. Do you have the organizational capability to execute the plan?
4. Are the short term and long term balanced?
5. What are the important milestones for executing the plan?
6. Can you adapt the plan to rapid changes in your environment?
The two most important questions are do you have the organizational capability to execute the plan? Just because it is the right thing to do may not mean we have the right people in place and this is the right time for implementation. If we add something major to our process without additional manpower it must be assumed that something else needs to go.
The last question is even more important in the culture we live in today. Just because something looks great as a strategy today and even works for awhile does not mean that it will be viable in the next twelve months. This means that nothing must become so sacred that it cannot be changed if necessary when a better plan is discovered.
The Five Practices Of Leadership
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Leading Change, Personnel Development, Servant Leader
I am constantly reading new materials on leadership and occasionally I review great books from the past. One of the all time classics is The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner.
This very exhaustive book centers around these five simple but very powerful practices:
Model The Way-Find your voice by clarifying your personal values and set the example by aligning actions with shared values.
Inspire a Shard Vision-Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities and enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.
Challenge The Process-Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve and experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes.
Enable Others to Act-Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion.
Encourage The Heart-Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence and celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.
Big Hairy Audacious Goals
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Leading Change
There has always been a delicate balance in goal setting between what can be done and what could be done. Goals should be realistic and achievable but they also must be courageous and challenging. Safe is not good enough anymore and we must be willing to take risks that stretch us outside our comfort zone to achieve greatness.
I absolutely love this quote that is extremely timely in our current environment, “Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much no suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt, 1899
When President Kennedy said in the early 60’s we are going to land a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of this decade the overwhelmingly majority of people thought he had lost his mind, and yet we did it.
The world has changed dramatically in the last decade. The power of technology and the globalization of all the world economies are driving change in unprecedented ways that no one could have imagined either just a few years ago. When this recession is over we are never going back to the ways things used to be.
What goals are you setting for yourself and your organization that are commensurate for the challenges that lie ahead in the 21st century? They must be big hairy and audacious if they are going to lead to outstanding performance.
Five Keys in Setting Goals
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Time Management
All of us have experienced the frustration that comes from really wanting to accomplish something important and thinking we are really committed to it only to realize several months later it did not happen. When I evaluate personally and professionally where the breakdown occurs it usually centers on the disciplines involved in effective goal setting.
These are the five critical things I have learned over the years:
1. Write it down—if it is not important enough to write down in your personal planner or enter into your cell phone list then it will almost always never get done.
2. Check your resources—do you realistically have the time, energy, knowledge, skills and commitment to make this happen?
3. Make it clear—you must be very specific about what you want to accomplish. It cannot be I want to lose weight; it needs to be twenty pounds over next six months.
4. Develop your plan—strategy is the realistic intersection of resources and commitment. There is a big difference in walking twenty minutes five days week and training for marathon.
5. Evaluate your progress—this is where the rubber hits the road. Do it often until you know you have sustainable momentum and most important celebrate every win.
Just Don’t Do It
Filed under: Goal Setting, Leadership Callling, Life Balance, Personal Development, Physical Fitness
Just Do It is a phrase that has come to represent the cultural mentality of an entire generation of Americans. The sheer discipline that is represented in those three words has pushed many of us to do things that otherwise we would have walked away from and left undone.
In my life the major point of application is in the area of physical fitness. When it is cold and dark outside most of us do not want to jump out of bed and go for a nice run when the temperature is in the twenties and the wind is blowing. In some small but very effective way, thinking about Just Do It can make the difference between turning over and getting up.
An even bigger problem for most of us is the daily discipline of learning how to say No. Everyday all of us will have more to do than we can possibly get done. It happens at work, at home, with friends and hobbies.
The real secret to success in life is in knowing on a daily basis what to say No to and walk away. The real tragedy of life is when we look back and realize even though we have been incredibly busy we have done so many things that were really not important at all.
I don’t know about you but the Just Do It mentality has pushed me beyond my limits too many times. I do not want to waste my time, energy, passion and relationships on things that do not add value to others.
I encourage you to just pick one thing a day for a week that you can say No to so that you can have the time to find your bigger Yes.
Dan Greer
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