Every Thursday, I’m sharing a new Personal Productivity Tip to help you get more done. Each Productivity Tip is a remarkably simple tool or concept that can be quickly implemented to make a real difference in your personal productivity. When you apply many of them together, they’ll make a big difference in improving productivity, achieving accountability and staying focused on the things that matter the most in your life.
You may want to check out some of the posts in this Productivity series, including the the value of checklists; the importance of getting rid of the crappy stuff; the nightmare of the cluttered mind; and the 4 Do-or-Die Principles to Drive your Personal Productivity System.
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Last week, we dusted off the S.M.A.R.T acronym as a reminder that we need to create Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic and Trackable objectives if we want to create a business culture with accountability as its centerpiece. There is simply no shortcut or substitute for the genuine productivity that results when we SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS.
Today, we’re going to dust off another “oldie but goodie” but one that many of you may have never encountered. I learned it from some old consulting hands and while it’s often used in a formal chart of “who’s supposed to be doing what,” it’s a valuable accountability tool to evaluate the roles and responsibilities of individuals involved in any kind of team effort or project.
In short, it qualifies team members based on their expected level of contribution to a project. Different parties play different roles to get things done, and this tool provides a simple, effective and consistent way to achieve project accountability by evaluating who’s doing what.
By spending just a little time to establish these roles, you will once again, SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS. It will also help your team members understand their roles and what’s expected of them in a particular project. Read on to learn about each of these four roles.
In short, the buck stops here. This team member has ultimate accountability for accomplishing the objective. Since “if you have two bosses, you have none”,
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Over 7 Wednesdays in January and February, we’ve described 7 remarkably simple components of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that you can apply to your everyday conduct. The ability to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a critical Leadership requirement … and we have absolute control over the actions we take to earn it. It’s also the “centerpiece of accountability“, a concept that vexes even the most astute business leaders. Since it’s impossible to be an effective leader without gaining respect, let’s devote some time and energy to learn how to give it … to get it. Are you with me?
So far in our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series, we’ve discussed the “R”: Right on Time, Every Time, the “E“: Every call returned in 24 hours and “S“:say something nice like Mom taught us. We’ve also covered “P” = Praise more and blame less, and “E” = Easy work with. Last week we discussed “C” = Compassion. This week concludes our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series.
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Are you sharing or hoarding information?When I began my business career in the 1970s, the word “transparency” was not in the business lexicon. You knew what you were told … and you were told what someone thought you needed to know … but it was unlikely that you’d hear much about where the company was going or your role in it. Prior to starting my own company in the early 1980′s, I can’t recall a single company-wide meeting at any of the companies where I worked … or any general discussion of the company’s performance or strategy.
What exactly is Transparency, the last letter … “T” = Transparency … in our 7 part R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series?
It doesn’t necessarily mean opening the kimono or letting everyone ramble around backstage. It doesn’t mean
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Every Thursday, I’m sharing a new Personal Productivity Tip to help you get more done. There are some remarkably simple tools and concepts that can be quickly implemented to make a real difference in your personal productivity. In combination, they can really help you stay focused on the things that matter the most in your life.
You may want to check out some of the posts in this Productivity series, including the the value of checklists; the importance of getting rid of the crappy stuff; the nightmare of the cluttered mind; and the 4 Do-or-Die Principles to Drive your Personal Productivity System.
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When I talk to executives every day, there’s hardly a conversation that doesn’t include the same 2 things: “Why aren’t I getting more done?” … and “Why aren’t my people getting more done”?
There are several simple and proven leadership tools that can save your bacon many times over. This one is kind of an “oldie but goody” so you’ve probably seen it around. If you’re saying, “that old thing again”, I’ll give you 5-1 if you can come up with something better for setting goals and objectives.
The question is … have you really used it?
As with the common cold, there’s probably no cure … but there are some things we can do to manage the symptoms.
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Over 7 Wednesdays in January and February, I’ll describe 7 remarkably simple components of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that you can apply to your everyday conduct. The ability to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a critical Leadership requirement … and we have absolute control over the actions we take to earn it. It’s also the “centerpiece of accountability“, a concept that vexes even the most astute business leaders. Since it’s impossible to be an effective leader without gaining respect, let’s devote some time and energy to learn how to give it … to get it. Are you with me?
So far in our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series, we’ve discussed the “R”: Right on Time, Every Time; the “E“: Every call returned in 24 hours; “S“:say something nice like Mom taught us; and “P” = Praise more and blame less. Last week we talked about how important it is to be “E” = Easy to work with.
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Are you a compassionate leader?Compassion has a lot of definitions, depending on who you ask. Dictionaries refer to feelings of sympathy and sorrow. Others call it an awareness of someone else’s plight. But virtually all definitions add another dimension … the desire to alleviate the distress.
For too many executives … I’ll include myself in more prehistoric days … compassion is limited by what works best for the business. But that’s not compassion … it’s expedience. We’ve talked about lessons that Mom taught us … and we’ve always known that acting with compassion, politeness or kindness is easier when there is no “cost” or inconvenience.
Compassion is embedded in your character … not an instrument to pull from the tool kit when it’s convenient. All of us know compassion when we see it …
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‘Always ask why. Dig deeper. Get the facts.’ Avoid crowd mentality“Ask Why” was their motto. “Wheel Out,” “Fat Boy” “Death Star” and “Get Shorty” were some of the nicknames applied to their strategies. Confirmation letters of successful trades were addressed to names like “Mr. M. Yass and “Mr. M. Smart” … and I think you can parse the underlying contempt. “Rank & Yank” described their people performance system, “Pump and Dump” their trading strategy. About $70 billion of market value was destroyed, more than 20,000 employees lost their jobs and pension funds worth $3.2 billion were destroyed, more than two thirds of which belonged to retirees with little chance to rebuild.
I had always intended to watch “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” the 2005 movie based on a book by the same name from co-authors Peter Elking and Bethany McLean, but it got lost in the shuffle until last week. It chronicles the Enron cataclysm, whose meteoric ascent was violently terminated with its bankruptcy on Dec. 3, 2001.
It’s hard to believe this happened almost 10 years ago since to be “like Enron” still reverberates as an ignominious curse. It’s really more like a viral infection, though, because so many of the forces that drove its destruction have cleaved similar fissures in scandals from
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Over 7 Wednesdays in January and February, I’ll describe 7 remarkably simple components of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that you can apply to your everyday conduct. The ability to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a critical Leadership requirement … and we have absolute control over the actions we take to earn it. It’s also the “centerpiece of accountability“, a concept that vexes even the most astute business leaders. Since it’s impossible to be an effective leader without gaining respect, let’s devote some time and energy to learn how to give it … to get it. Are you with me?
So far in our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series, we’ve discussed the “R”: Right on Time, Every Time, the “E“: Every call returned in 24 hours and “S“:say something nice like Mom taught us. Last week we talked about giving more “P” = Praise more and blame less.
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I’d sure like to think so, wouldn’t you? As leaders, we each think that we ARE easy to get along with … it’s just the other guy who’s such a pain in the ass. If he’d just agree with me more … not expect so much from me … not be so demanding and always wanting to hold me accountable for everything … he’d see that I’m very easy to get along with.
If only that were all true, huh? Sadly, a lot of us are in the same boat. We think we’re very agreeable, full of bonhomie and good cheer for our fellow man … eager to help, eager to please (well, maybe not this last one quite as much) but certainly ready to do our part.
If you want to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T, you’ve got to be “E” = “Easy to Work With”.
But not everyone agrees with our assessment. In a recent leadership meeting, one of my colleagues called me “Mr. Meany-Pants” because I wasn’t very considerate in accepting a few well-intended comments. (This was an especially mild rebuke as she’s trying to quit swearing so much. Normally, it would have been much worse.)
What does it mean to be “easy to work with”? There’s not always a bright line between them … but here are the 4 Big Reasons that You’re a Pain in the Ass to work with:
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Over 7 Wednesdays in January and February, I’ll describe 7 remarkably simple components of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. that you can apply to your everyday conduct. The ability to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a critical Leadership requirement … and we have absolute control over the actions we take to earn it. It’s also the “centerpiece of accountability“, a concept that vexes the most astute business leaders. Since it’s impossible to be an effective leader without gaining respect, let’s devote some time and energy to learn how to give it to get it. Are you with me?
For the last several weeks, we’ve focused on our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. series. We’ve discussed the “R”: Right on Time, Every Time, then “E“: Every call returned in 24 hours and “S“:say something nice like Mom taught us.
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Why is everything Blameworthy … nothing Praiseworthy?How many times have we seen something go wrong, something undone, something overlooked … and couldn’t refrain from pointing out the error … to an employee, our partner … maybe our spouse more than anyone? I’ll bet that you, like me, have wished a million times that you’d be better at praising people when they do something right … instead of only finding fault when something goes wrong?
It’s an aberration of human nature that we’re capable of finding fault so easily. In a restaurant, we probably feel like we’re paying for something we’re not getting … the toast not quite toasted enough, the eggs too runny, they’re out of my favorite jelly, “where’s the orange juice I ordered” … so we rationalize our annoyance in those instances … and reinforce similar behavior in other aspects of our life.
It sure is easier to spot what went wrong, isn’t it? We’re damn good at spotting the flaws in others, aren’t we?
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“There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.” —David MahoneyOne of the most pervasive challenges that arises in my coaching sessions with CEOs and other business executives is the struggle to make the tough decisions. This is a deadly disease that cripples personal productivity. Usually, it’s a decision that’s already been resolved — silently, often deep in the psyche — but we don’t announce it, we don’t execute it and no one really knows the decision has been made at all.
This is a high stress point for executives. These delayed decisions constantly beg for attention, but as we drop these pebbles of indecision in our backpack, it gets heavier with each step. Carrying around the burden of these unexecuted decisions is a malignant tumor that can be fatal to both executive effectiveness, productivity and health. Jack Welch said it best: “you gain nothing by showing uncertainty and indecision”.
These agonizing delays also hijack valuable time from the organization. As indecision becomes increasingly obvious, say when an employee is not really cutting it, people throughout the organization usually see it first. For every day you delay, they wonder why you’re not making an obvious decision.
There’s a giant billboard that says it all about why it’s worth killing procrastination in the decision-making process: The exhilarating and intoxicating relief that every executive experiences when they finally make and publicize a difficult decision. If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.
I’ve identified five warning signs that procrastination has supplanted decisiveness.
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~ Thomas Carlyle
A lady walked into a neighborhood market one day and spoke loudly over the counter to the head butcher.
“Your prices these days are atrocious, Sal. Joe’s Deli across the street is selling your $10 chuck roast for only $5!”
“I know, Mrs. Haggle. I saw the sign. The thing is . . . Joe doesn’t have any chuck roast.”
So, the law of supply and demand rears its head again, some days a beautiful vision, other days an ugly hag. We’re surrounded by her mystique everywhere we go. Traffic is tied up because there are more cars than highway space. Starbuck’s is backed up because people want coffee faster than it can be made. There are no paper clips in the supply room but there’s plenty of fruitcake left in the kitchen.
Supply and demand drove markets long before economists appeared … and its jarring prevalence is unavoidable. One of my favorite examples is
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Welcome to Exkalibur. I’m Lary Kirchenbauer, President of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc. Please take advantage of our resources to help you build your business ... and let me know what more we can do to serve you.
Read my latest column from the NY Times affiliate, the North Bay Business Journal.
We have a great management team that has built a very successful company. At an important crossroads, we needed more expertise on an expanded list of financial issues than we could provide ourselves. Lary brought that expertise, providing the depth of knowledge and experience that helped us develop and implement a practical solution.
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