Don't Be A Lead Character..

Do you know or have known people who are always the lead character in every story they tell you? If you do,  I am sure you don't like spending too much time with them. It is tiresome. For this reason, you and I must avoid being the lead character all the time in the movie of our lives.

Let others have their scene.

 If you are responsible for managing or leading a group of people, you must not always be the one standing in the limelight. Step back and allow those under you to do their part. Let them have their say. Make them the star.  By doing this, you are showing appreciation. You are sending a message that you recognize other people's contribution.

When you talk with your superiors or other colleagues, mention about the contribution of so and so. Do this sincerely, soon word will go around and the one benefiting the most from this will be you. Humans like the feeling of being important and appreciated. The one that can make others feel this way, will get out the best from them.And isn't that what you want when you are leading people?

By all means be the leading character. It is your life, your movie and the hero will always be you. But just don't do that all the time.

How To Make a To-Do-List

Here is an article I wrote some time ago on creating a to-do list.

Frank Tibolt in his classic book, A Touch of Greatness call making a list the mind sharpener. He describes how a yard master in a steel factory rose to become its president by doing this over and over again.

Making a list is probably the best time management tool ever. There is no need for fancy software or a three day seminar that costs a fortune. Making a list is easy, simple and direct.

Here are some tips on how to make a to-do list at work.

1. Set aside a few minutes early in the day or before bed at night dedicated to list making. I find it the best to make a to-do list the next day just ten minutes before I sign-off from my work.

2. Know your peak and down times. We all have a biological clock inside of us and during the course of the day, we will have our peaks and slumps. Usually people are at the peak in the morning before energy running low in the afternoons and peaking again in the late afternoon or evening. It is important you know yours so that you can schedule your tasks accordingly.

3. Start with the most important and urgent task and go down, with each item down the list becoming less urgent and less important. Another way is to list and easy task after a difficult one, to keep you motivated. But I prefer getting the difficult ones settled first. There are no hard and fast rules regarding this, choose what suits you. What is important is that you finish the tasks in your list.

4. Remember to set aside time for breaks, meetings and other routine items that will crop up during the course of the day.

5. Break down your list into smaller sub-list. Assign time slots.

Apart from a to do list, you can list about almost anything. The list below is inspired by what appeared in A Touch of Greatness. I call it The Kaizen List. It is a list that can be used to achieve daily improvement.

1. How can I improve some part of my job?
2. How can I do this differently?
3. How can I increase productivity?
4. How to reduce the cost?
5. How to increase profits?
6. How to save time?
7. How to avoid delays?
8. What other ideas from a different area can be applied to this?
9. How can I express initiative?
10. How can I simplify this?

If you find it difficult to win over a prospect, why not make a list of all the things in your favor. If you are going to the boss to ask for a raise, wouldn’t it better if you go there with a list of all your accomplishments?

The power of making a list is that it clears your mind. It removes the mental block. We all have a thousand things going on in our head all the time, and putting it down in a list helps to figure out things more efficiently.
And making a list is the best time saving tool there is.

Co-Evolve

Around 130 millions ago, the plants that flower begin to emerge on earth. Around the same time, bees also appeared.  An interesting and mutually beneficial 'friendship' emerged between the two.  The plants provided food for the bees as means for being pollinated. Biologist call this interdependent relationship co-evolution.

We can learn something here. In our dealings in life, there are areas we can co-evolve with a strategic partner by working out a strategy with mutual benefits. It is worth remembering that life thrived on earth by networking rather than engaging in combat.

Russel Simmons Rules For Super Riches

Russel Simmons grew up in a neighbourhood where the only entrepreneurs are drug pushers and "number guys". He is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The founder Def Jam records is also a bestselling author. He is also the CEO of Rush Communications

Here are his rules for getting to the top.

1 Give Your Talents Until They Can’t Live Without It

2 Relentlessly Pursue Your Goals Without Appearing Needy

3. If You Don’t Love it, Leave it Alone


4 Let Go of the Results

5 Get Open

..and the Joy of Giving.

Do You Have a Guiding Thread

"He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life" 
~ Victor Hugo

The quote above captures beautifully the importance of writing a list of your things to do. Of all the time managing tips, this is the best and the only one you really need to use. I came  across the idea of writing down the tasks for the day in Frank Tibolts A Touch of Greatness and have use it ever since with great success.

You  do not need to pay thousands of dollars to attend seminars or throw your money away getting expensive software to help you in getting things done. Just paper and pen to list down all that needs to be done and the self discipline to do it.

The Quiet Work

I am reminded today by quote attributed to Muhammad Ali, "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

The quiet work is just another name for practice. It is the work you must put in, the slave you have to be in order to emerge as the master.

If you are not prepared to put in the work, you might as well drop the intention of being good at anything.

Indulge

Do not always be the disciplinarian. Let yourself loose. Indulge and pamper yourself.

If you are a leader, no matter where, indulge your followers. Let them have their way now and then. An environment where everything is tight, creates a pressure cooker which will snuff out everyone's energy.

Don't worry about appearing to be laid-back, a little indulgence should not give anyone under you that idea.

Learn to have fun.

Petty Things

"Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe."

The quote above is credited to Robert Service and a useful one in today's world.

How many times in a day that we let the small things annoy us and irritate us? The traffic crawl that we face early in the morning, the colleague who did not smile back when we did and other irrelevant things that we face day in, day out.

Keep your focus on your goal. Do let the trivial suck your energy. Learn to smile at the petty things and petty people. Be bigger than the small things and small people that irritate you - ignore them and get on with achieving what you have set for the day, and strive towards your goal

Tips for Goal Setting

Well, it is the time of the year that we set our New Year resolution again. Here are 9 tips you can use for goal setting ( which one of it will be you new Year resolution)

1. Put it in writing
2. Break down your goal into small chunks
3. Focus on the progress everyday
4. Constantly think of your goals
5. Set a time to achieve your goals
6. Deal with obstacles
7. Work smarter
8. Review your progress
9. Review your goals

Put it in writing
Break down your goal into small chunks
Focus on the progress everyday
Constantly think of your goals
Set a time to achieve your goals
Deal with obstacles
Work smarter
Review your progress
Review your goals

Feeling Important

You have staff at work and you want him to perform a lot better than what he is currently doing, then you can use a simple method that always works.

Give him a feeling of importance. Talk to him in a way that makes him appreciated and make known to him that you trust him to perform his job to the best of his ability. And then increase his responsibility.

Giving your subordinates a feeling of importance can pay dividends. Often people under-perform from lack of motivation which in turns stems from a feeling of hopelessness. They feel their work is not appreciated and they are not important.

Dale Carnegie once said that all of us are born with the words" I am important' printed on our foreheads. Use this need to feel important to your advantage

The 7 Drivers of Productivity - According to NZ Government

Recently the New Zealand's Department of Labour published The 7 Drivers of Productivity.
They are:
1. Building leadership and management capability
2. Creating productive workplace cultures
3. Encouraging innovation and the use of technology
4. Investing in people and skills
5. Organising work
6. Networking and collaboration
7. Measuring what matters.

Go here to get the full article.

Can You Say No?

Can you do that? Say no, without feeling guilty.

For reasons of being seen as selfish, rude or simply the need to be a nice guy, we feel terrible inside when we say no.

If you find yourself doing more than your fair share of work, never having time for yourself and always living on the edge, then you probably need to cut down on some of your commitments. The best way to this is to say no new commitments.

Do not associate the feeling of guilt with saying no. By saying no, you are committing your energy to the task on hand. This is better then accepting new obligations but scattering your resources and losing your focus.

By saying no to new tasks at work, you are also letting others grow. If you always been the one organizing bowling tournaments for your organization, why not say no this time around. Let others do it. Let them learn.

Here are several tips you can use to say no.

1. Just say it. Be firm and sincere. Let others know that you have other obligations.

2. Make it short.

3. Be honest.

4. Always be respectful.

5. Repeat, if necessary.

How To Conduct A Meeting - Keeping The Meeting Flowing

A meeting is a dialogue, not a monologue. A meeting is a place where every one of the participant has the right to be heard. As the chair, you must be the guide. Use the tips below to keep the meeting flowing.

1. Ensure everyone is heard. Gather data and information.

2. Be the guide. Let others carry the content.

3. Always use the agenda. Be on track.

4. Vary the pace of the meeting. Speed it up, slow it down, take a break.

5. Periodically summarize the key points.

6. Help the participants to be aware of the objectives.

Remember to end with a thank you to the group before you adjourned the meeting.

How To Conduct A Meeting - Conduct The Meeting

You have planned the meeting and have sent out the notice, now its time to get on with it. These are the things you must do for a fruitful meeting.

1. Start on time. If the the time given in the notice states at 10.00am, it is your responsibility to start the meeting on time. You must never be late for any meeting, especially the one you chair.

2. Assign a note/minute taker. You probably already have one in your mind so this really should not be a problem.

3. Keep to the agenda. A lot of time and energy is wasted discussing topics not related to the agenda. It is easy to veer off the course but as the chair, you must be alert and keep to the agenda. If you sense any member of the meeting is diverting too much from the course, gently bring them back.

4. Take time to tell and hear stories. Keeping the course does not mean you must rigid, you can take your time to tell and listen to stories, so long it is related to the agenda. Remember, humans learn best by hearing stories.

5. Clarify key paraphase.

6. Use brainstorming techniques if needed.

7. Assign next step during the meeting and ensure all steps are assigned.

How To Conduct A Meeting - Planning

From the beginning of the human evolution to the present day, humans had met for one thing or the other. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors probably sat in a circle and discussed (mostly by sign language and groans) on many things, the foremost being lunch and dinner. They would have also 'talked' about keeping themselves and their families safe, to prepare for the coming winter, or summer. Anything of common interest.

Today,although almost none have to hunt and kill for our lunch, we meet to discuss many things. Organizations, big or small, have meetings all the time. It can be to solve a problem or to outline a strategy to beat the competitor or to plan a Christmas party.

The fact is ,meeting to discuss about a matter is a very human thing to do. You don't see dogs in your block sitting in a round table and discussing how to beat the daylights out of the of the neighbouring blocks , do you?

Having attended and chaired hundreds of meetings, I have several tips that I can share and will be writing in the next few entries. I hope you find it useful.

Let us start with planning.

The first step of any successful venture is planning.

There are several things that you must plan before you can even start a meeting.

1. First and foremost decide if you really need a meeting. There are several ways you can get messages across in today's information age. If a matter can be resolved by phone calls, text message, e-mails or just a short discussion, do it. A lot of time and resources are wasted by meetings that are not necessary.

2. Define your purpose. If you have decided to have a meeting then define what you want out of it.

3. Have an agenda. Script it carefully and distribute it before the meeting.

4. Prepare what to say. Be clear to yourself first before you speak.

5. Time. The best time to have meetings are the morning hours. That is when everyone energy is at the peak. Avoid near lunch or just after lunch meetings. Also avoid having meetings near the end of the workday and/or workweek.

6. Place . Usually most organizations have meeting rooms. Make full use of the space and tools provided. The place must be well lit. Not dim and not too bright.