The Biggest Mistake

The Single Biggest Mistake I made As A Leader (And How I Fixed It) by Chris Myers at Forbes:

I’ve made my fair share of mistakes as a leader, but the worst mistake by far was allowing negativity to take root inside of my organization. Negativity is like a cancer inside of your company; it grows undetected until suddenly it consumes you. More often than not, bad attitudes start out fairly innocently. Sometimes it can be as simple as a disagreement over a particular strategy. Other times, it can start out as a personality conflict between team members. Regardless of its origins, unchecked negativity tends to snowball into something that can be fatal for a team. Looking back, I realize that I noticed early signs of this happening in my team but chose to ignore them because I genuinely wanted to think the best of people. Unfortunately, I learned that my inaction allowed the problem to fester and ultimately cause more damage than it should have. Here’s how I went wrong.

I didn’t heed my own advice

I’m a firm believer that at the core of every successful business is an amazing team. Building that team is often one the most difficult and risky challenges you can face as a leader. That’s why I’ve adopted a simple rule that guides all of our hiring decisions at BodeTree: we look for people we trust, respect and admire. It sounds trite, but I’ve found that if the candidate fits those criteria, everything from cultural fit to skills naturally falls in line. The problem is that I don’t always heed my own advice.

The problem began when I allowed my lack of patience to get the best of me. We were preparing for a surge in activity at BodeTree, and I grew frustrated while trying to fill a key role that we desperately needed. After going through countless resumes and enduring several excruciatingly bad interviews, I jumped at the first candidate who made a good impression. I didn’t take the necessary time to get to know the person and determine if they were someone I truly trusted, respected, and admired. Instead, I took the shortsighted easy way out and set the stage for future problems to arise.

I ignored the contagion

Several months later, my executive team and I started to notice a change in the attitude of some of our team members. We were going through a significant organizational shift at the time, directing our focus towards institutional sales and away from the direct-to-consumer model that we had built up over the course of the past few years. Unfortunately, not everyone was on board with this shift, and I did not do a good enough job of selling every member of the organization on the vision. The key team member I had hired a few months earlier took particular exception to the shift in strategy. I took the traditional steps to offer coaching to shine a light on the issues we were experiencing, but I failed to grasp how contagious an attitude could be.

Instead of recognizing the severity of the situation, I treated it as an isolated incident and moved on. I wanted everyone on my team to be successful and went to great lengths to make excuses for their shortcomings. It was only later on that I realized I wasn’t doing them any favors. Psychological momentum is a powerful force, for better or worse. By not calling out bad behavior, I allowed it to gain momentum and influence others. Before I knew it, great employees who I thought very highly of were being drawn into the same downward spiral. Negativity had taken root in that particular team, and I knew then that if I didn’t take decisive action, one bad apple would spoil the bunch.

Finally, I eliminated the problem at its source

Once I fully realized the severity of the situation and the role I played in allowing it to happen, I took decisive action. I had to eliminate the source of the problem and stop the rise of negativity in the rest of the team. It required a delicate balance of providing transparency into what was happening while still being respectful of individual privacy. I didn’t want to demonize any particular individual, but at the same time I needed the team to understand what behaviors were considered unacceptable. My management team and I moved quickly, providing additional clarity into the situation and recognizing our shortcomings. When all was said and done, the rest of the team was fully on board with the direction we were taking, and the negativity disappeared.

This was a difficult time for me as a leader because I saw all too clearly how my personal failings allowed the situation to progress out of hand. Still, the lessons I took away from the experience have proved to be invaluable. Negativity simply cannot be tolerated in any organization. This does not mean that dissenting voices should be ignored. To the contrary, disagreements should be heard and thoughtfully considered. However once a decision has been made; the entire organization needs to rally around it. If any team member continues to spread negativity and dissent, their attitude will act like a cancer inside of your organization. As a leader, you have to make sure that you avoid this situation by hiring people you trust, respect, and admire. Then, if you see the early signs of contagious negativity, you have to eliminate it at the source. The process might be painful, but your organization will be healthier for it

Focus

13 Habits to Increase Focus - by Kirby Ingles (via Adam Smith)

Do you spend your day with a clear plan or strategy?

What has the most emotional impact on you?

How are you spending your time? On the Urgent or the Important?

How Do You Contribute to the Problem?

You will normally do the things that distract you like checking email, answering phone calls, sending text messages and responding to notifications on your smart phone. Productivity requires you to focus on your day. Analyze the key components of your day, create a plan and focus on what you can control. We live in an age of distraction. Everyone wants your attention and you are connected to the rest of the world 24/7. I can even log onto the internet and get a live feed of the space station right now.

Your Focus is Being Targeted

You can focus on the things that are barriers or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem. – Tim Cook

Everything you do, interact with and see is marketed towards you. The study of human behavior is so good that we know how to stack shelves to catch your eyes and your kid’s eyes, the type of colors to use and packaging that will attract your attention. I even know what times are effective to send emails to you and my co-workers so it increases a higher percentage of being opened. Each popup window is strategically placed based on your past behavior. This is why in today’s world it is increasingly important to focus on the task at hand.

Take Back Control of Your Focus

1. Get clear-cut on what you want. There are a thousand things on everyone’s to-do-list. Which is more important and moves you towards your goals?
2. Make sure you focus on what’s important. Select 1 or 2 things that are most important to you and are related to your core values.
3. Keep it to a minimum. Only select 2-3 items per morning to work on. Anything more has your brain cluttered and juggling more than it can handle.
4. Disconnect from the world. Probably the toughest, but best advice you can receive. Your will power and ability to resist is higher in the morning.
5. Turn off your notifications. Smart phone and computer notifications keep us up-to-date, but pull us away from important tasks.
6. Clear the clutter. Whatever work station you might have, keep it clear and minimal. Whether it is a lad, cubicle, or service truck, clutter distracts the mind.
7. Email kills productivity. Control how you check your email so it doesn’t control you.
8. Train people to respect your time. Someone needs something at every second of the day and what they are working on is more important to them. Take the time to do something for yourself while meeting the needs of others.
9. Don’t try to do too much. Think quality over quantity. Efficiency is much more productive and faster than working frantically.
10. Stop multi-tasking. Attempting to multi-task destroys focus and prevents efficiency.
11. Take more time. Plan more time to complete tasks. If you get done early, use the extra time you have as a reward.
12. Plan the night before. Planning the night before allows you to reflect on today’s current success and failures and lets you apply lessons learned before tomorrow gets here.
13. Take breaks. Breaks are rewards. Breaks refresh will-power and focus.

Leave At 5 Without Guilt

How to Leave At 5 Tonight by Kevin Kruse at Monster.com

Would you like to leave the office at 5:00 p.m. today to make it home for dinner? Would you like to do it without feeling guilty?

Early in my career I was constantly overworked and overwhelmed. As the founder and president of a fast growing startup, I worked long days, slept too little, and literally jogged down the office corridors rushing from meeting to meeting. When I was at home, my mind was still at work. Going through the motions of date night, stacking blocks with my daughter, but thinking the whole time about the million dollar pitch I still had to work on.

My life changed when I read High Output Management, by then Intel CEO, Andy Grove. In the book, he describes how he always arrives to work by eight in the morning, but never leaves later than six, and he never brought work home with him. The CEO of a major tech company clocks out at 6:00 p.m. every day? How is that possible?
Later I would read about other highly successful people:

• Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, leaves work at 5:30 p.m. every day so she can have dinner with her kids at 6:00 p.m.
• Doug Conant, as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, made the time to hand-write twenty thank you notes each day.
• President George W. Bush held an annual reading contest with Karl Rove; although he lost the bet, President Bush read 95 books in one year.

The leader of the Free World has time to read 95 books in one year?

You just know the President of the United States of America has a million things to do. At the end of each day, there are more foreign leaders to call and influence, more CIA briefings to read, more campaign contributors to suck-up to, more veterans to visit, more voters to rally, more, more, more—and by the nature of the job, he had a limited number of days to make an impact! And yet President Bush “found” time to read 95 books in one year.

In his book, Grove described a fundamental time management truth:

My day ends when I’m tired and ready to go home, not when I’m done. I am never done…There is always more to be done, more that should be done, always more than can be done.

That simple realization—there will always be more to do—hit me like a ton of bricks.The ultimate secret:

There will always be more to do; I will never be done.

Highly successful people don’t just burn hour after hour trying to cross more items off their to-do list. Instead, they think through their priorities, schedule time for each, and then enough is enough.

Bush probably valued reading two books a week because it was a way to relieve stress, get smarter, and he knew that recharging was, in itself, a valuable task. Sandberg is committed to Facebook’s success, but also values her family and thus schedules time (invests her time) with them. Conant once told me that writing thank you notes was his ritual for daily gratitude—it enabled him to see all that was going well, after a day of putting out fires.

Yes, your work is important; your career is important. And there will always be more to do in these areas.

What else is important to you? Exercise? Family? Sleep?

Looking back, I view my always on the go lifestyle as a form of laziness. I wore “crazy busy” like a badge of honor (“Look what an important entrepreneur I am! Busy, busy, busy!”)

But once I contained the number of hours I spent on work each week—and it was still a lot of hours—I had more energy, more focus, and ironically, achieved better results.
Now is the time to send a txt message to your spouse; say you’ll be home for dinner.

The Importance of Talking to Yourself

Good piece on "self-talk" - Focus On Your Internal Conversation by Kirby Ingles (via Adam Smith)

The clear advantage between someone who is achieving the things they want in life and someone who is not is the momentum they create. Focus is a matter of creating momentum just as much as it is about concentration. The snowball effect can make the difference here. If you missed that post click here.

The way you carry yourself everyday in your life affects your mindset – how you walk, talk, and think. Take some time and focus on what you crave in your life. Your internal conversation about these cravings affects how you carry yourself and feel. Changing how we address ourselves and others can give us power and determination to create a better quality of life. The right thoughts will lift you up.

Find people who walk the walk and talk the talk. These people are those that you admire. You can also find something about them that you desire to create inside yourself. Whatever it may be, you have an urge to do or create.

It only takes five minutes everyday to start creating an internal conversation that convicts you into believing you can have what you desire in life. Successful people do what others will not and I claim that if you do this for five minutes a day for a year, you will have a profound confidence. Do this by making your internal conversation a ritual or habit when you wake up every morning.

Reflect on those people who have had traumatic experiences or abuse in their lives and that turned out fine. Now consider all those that had love, education and everything in life that came easily and are not doing so well. The biggest difference between these two different outcomes is not about what they have, but the meaning in their lives. You and I could have the same experience and different outcomes. The decisive factor in the outcome is that one of us looks at ourselves as a victim and the other as a survivor. Some will look at themselves better off and become stronger in learning from an experience and others will feel less fulfilled.

Being aware of what you say to yourself will affect the temperament you place yourself in. Questions that start with “Why” are knee buckling and make you the victim. Asking yourself questions that start with who, what, how and when, can help you find the meaning beneath emotions and behaviors.

Those who do not achieve are those who do not reach out and dare to dream and act. They will not make an attempt to grow emotionally and spiritually through their experiences and fix their eyes upon being productive.

10 Productivity Habits

10 Habits Successful People Give Up to Increase Their Productivity by Carl Preston at Life

What are you willing to do in order to reach success? It is common among people these days to be average and not stand out too much. But those who are successful do not fall under this category.

In order to stay on top of your game and reach the level of success you want, you need to follow a certain set of self-induced rules. Success is not something that happens by accident; if you want it bad enough, you will get it. Learn the habits that successful people have given up in order to reach their own success.

1. They don’t work in their comfort zone.

What is your comfort zone? Your comfort zone is defined as “A psychological state in which a person feels familiar, at ease, in control, and experiences low anxiety.” When you get outside of your comfort zone, it doesn’t mean that you should strive for a constant state of anxiety and stress. It simply means that, in order to grow, you should try new things and expand your horizons.

The reason we are comfortable in our comfort zone is because we are not taking risks when we are in this state. When we live in our comfort zones, we are living life like hamsters on a wheel, going around and around in a constant cycle, but going nowhere in our lives.

Famous motivational speaker, Les Brown, said it best with, “If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness.”

2. They don’t do without first learning.

Learning is what we do best. The greatest thing about learning is the benefit that we receive in all aspects of our lives. Successful people strive to continue learning new things and expanding on things that they already know.

If we stop learning, then the only thing we can do is settle with what we already know; if we settle for that, then there is no way to expand our minds. Expansion is essential on the path to success. Since our minds require learning for expansion, we must never stop seeking new knowledge.

Imagine what would have happened if Bill Gates stopped learning and growing. The internet would be much more primitive than it is today. But because he followed his dreams and continued growing, he founded one of the biggest companies in the world and it is still flourishing and growing today.

3. They don’t fear asking for advice.

Richard Branson, a famous entrepreneur, stated, “When you need to make hard decisions, being able to discuss your ideas with entrepreneurs and business leaders who have solved similar problems can make all the difference.”

Asking for advice is not always easy. We think that we have the same opportunity as everyone else and sometimes feel insecure and dependent, so we decide not to ask for advice, and try to figure it out ourselves. But this could be greatly limiting us from reaching our full potential, because the advice we might be seeking could be something that somebody knows very well.

4. They don’t get lost in the small details.

When life gives us seemingly endless opportunities, it is very easy to get lost in the small details. The small details are very easy for us to become focused on, thus causing us to miss out on the overall vision, also known as the “big picture”.

Focusing too much on the smaller details constricts your ability to see how everything ties together. Much of our lives hinge upon the connections that we make with others and with ourselves. If we get lost in the small detail, it is like having missing pieces to a puzzle. How are we supposed to solve that?

Imagine what would have happened if Henry Ford only saw the small details. When building the company that Ford is today, he knew that he must do something different if his company was to succeed. After many people told him it couldn’t be done, his company continued improving upon the smaller details until they got it right.

Henry Ford didn’t focus too much on the small details, which were the hundreds of times he failed; he saw the overall goal and knew that it could be accomplished. It required seeing the bigger picture to make it happen.

5. They don’t multitask.

Multitasking is typically viewed as a skill that only certain people possess. But truth be told, nobody actually has the ability to multitask. Multitasking is known to actually decrease productivity. Those who are successful focus on one specific task and do that task to the best of their ability without interruption.

Team Building - Enjoy the Journey

An important lesson on team building from Michael Nichols:

Why is it such a challenge to get everybody headed in the same direction? Why do team members get frustrated? How do you get them excited about what you are doing?

A few weeks ago, I was driving Madison and her friend to school. To avoid busy school traffic, I turned down a narrow back road.

As we talked about her morning and her after school plans, the passenger side tires left the pavement for a few moments spinning up grass and gravel. I laughed and told Madison to keep her side on the road – the same thing you say to your kids, right?

Then Madison asked, “Dad, why does mom always complain about your driving?” (For the record, Sarah doesn’t ALWAYS complain about my driving. And she complains less today than she used to.)

I responded, “Because I drive fast sometimes. And sometimes I fast.”

Madison was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “Dad – It’s really not all about getting there fast. It’s about enjoying the trip and getting there together.”

She’s right – more right than her 8-year-old mind can comprehend at this stage of her life.

What about you? Are you having fun? Is your team excited about what you are building and becoming together?

Here are 5 ways to help your team gain momentum and lead with passion:

1. Clarify Vision

Vision is the foundation for all growth.

It allows people to determine if (and how) they fit within the culture and direction of the organization. And you must be communicating the vision often enough to provide ample opportunity for them to self assess – their performance, their vision, their passion.
Your people want to be reminded why their work is so important and how their contribution is making a significant difference.

2. Develop people

One of my core convictions is, All people are valuable and worth developing. You will never be able to develop everyone. So you will have to choose to do for a few what you would like to do for many (something I learned from Andy Stanley).

Never accept less than their best. If you do, you are cheating them. You are cheating your team. And you are cheating the organization.

When your team members do well, express gratitude. And do it publicly. They’ll love you for it.

3. Trust

Many believe trust is the byproduct of trustworthiness. Meaning – if someone is trustworthy, they can earn your trust.

I wonder if we have talked ourselves into this perspective because we are too lazy to do the hard work of real trust.

Trust is a choice. Period.

For every team member, you choose to trust or to be suspicious.

If you are suspicious, you’ll find yourself operating from a win-lose perspective. You will assess every situation wondering if you (or your organization) are winning or losing.
When you choose to view a team member through the lens of suspicion rather than trust, usually everyone around knows it. They see it in your communication, in your actions, and in your decisions.

Let’s face it – nothing productive ever comes from interactions based on suspicion. Your team members deserve your trust.

Read the rest at the link.

Are You A Leader?

Are you a leader? Unsure? Red 10 Signs You're a Leader and Don't Even Know It by Margielyn Musser

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that in each and everyone of us, there is a potential leader. The difference between John Quincy Adams and yourself however, is the courage to take a step forward and the drive to reach a goal. Do you ever lay awake at night thinking about the promotion you should go for but can’t because you don’t think you would be fit for it? Think again, here are some indications that you are a great leader, and you don’t even know it yet.

1. You are approachable.

If you find yourself giving advice to your friends and coworkers more than you are taking it, it means that they value your opinion and are the go to person for help. Being approachable is an important quality for a leader to have because no one really wants to work for someone without an open door policy. People trust your judgment and confide in you: take pride in that.

2. You maintain a smile, even when it is difficult.

Maintaining your composure professionally is an excellent trait many leaders have and many companies are looking for. It is important to keep calm and keep the situation under control. If you have found yourself nodding silently and listening to someone who is obviously upset and is screaming at you, then you have more patience than most.

3. You have a open mind.

Keeping an open mind is an important trait when it comes to being a leader. If you have found yourself listening to someone tell you on how to do things more efficiently and take it as constructive criticism, I applaud you.

4. You are straight forward.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where someone is asking for advice and even though you know they do not want to hear it, you give it to them anyways? You don’t sugar coat it and give it to them straight to get the point across. That is a good thing, it may not seem like it to your friend at the time, but it is a great quality each leader has. Sometimes, you will have to hold meetings, give constructive feedback on an employee’s performance and occasionally, let someone go. It takes a tough person to have this trait, be proud of it.

5. You are responsible, even though you don’t want to be.

There are some of days where it just sucks to live and you want to just lay in bed. You want to stay there, eat your meals there and go back to sleep. Whatever has got you down, you push it aside and you force yourself out of bed because you have responsibilities. You have people counting on you and you have things to get done that will not finish themselves. There are some that don’t make it out of bed, and just push those tasks aside for another day, but not you. This is called being responsible. Leaders need be responsible when no one else wants to be.