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In 100 Words: Too Satisfied?

Friday, September 13th, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

We extol the virtues of satisfaction, and rightly so.  Satisfied employees and customers are key to our organization’s success.  Is there such a thing as being too satisfied?  Yes, in ourselves, and our organizations, it is known as complacency.  Ouch!

We like to be comfortable.  It’s not easy to push ourselves to keep learning, growing and improving.  Dissatisfaction seems to have a negative connotation, yet it can be highly productive – exciting people to right injustices or simply improve situations that are less than great.

Where have you become too satisfied and comfortable in your own life, work, habits and thinking?

“Don’t let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth – don’t let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.”      (Aesop)

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In 100 Words: Debrief Discipline

Friday, August 2nd, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

Leaders should step back to analyze success or failure at the end of a project or goal period.  “Did we achieve the objective?”  “Have we identified root causes?”  “What role, if any, did fortune play in the final results?”  The simple rigor of capturing lessons learned improves future decisions and actions.  Debriefs often prove to be our most fertile ground for adaptive learning.

We neglect debriefs because we are:

  • Forgetful… sad, but true.
  • Too Busy… we think.
  • Too Excited… by whatever new objective lies ahead.
  • Avoiding Reality… it’s difficult acknowledging failures.

Instead, nurture a debrief discipline for your future benefit.

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.”  (Benjamin Franklin)

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In 100 Words: Three Forces to Master

Friday, June 14th, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

Effective self-management requires leaders to master a triad of distinct, yet complementary, forces:  time, energy and focus.  Time management practices alone are insufficient.  Research clearly shows our final work output improves when we align the long-known practices of personal time organization with our best available power (mental and physical energy) and concentrated attention (focus).

Simply put, as we prioritize our time on our first and best work, we must also plan how we will apply our peak energy in a focused manner.  We must learn our individual tendencies with each force and then consciously manage them in a coordinated effort.

“Excellence is achieved by the mastery of fundamentals.”  (Vince Lombardi)

 

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In 100 Words: Eliminate Blind Spots

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

How honest is your view of your current situation?

Individuals, and thus the organizations they lead, fight the tendency to slip into a mindset of seeing what they want to believe.  It is far too easy to avoid tough conversations about data that contradicts our existing assumptions.  In turn, we over-emphasize upside conclusions drawn from ambiguous information.  We are masters at creating our own blind spots.

Here are four simple ways to eliminate self-created blind spots

  • Discount external praise.
  • Don’t drown out negative data.
  • Extend your normal scope of information inputs.
  • Ask others to challenge the “honesty” of your viewpoint.

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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In 100 Words: Repeat Yourself

Friday, March 15th, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

I often recite Samuel Johnson’s quote: “Men more frequently require to be reminded than informed.”

CEOs and executive teams generally have a good idea of sound business fundamentals.  Very little “new” knowledge is new at all.  However, good principles and disciplines still get lost in the shuffle of daily executive decisions and routines.

Do not be afraid to repeat yourself or to have your team reread certain material.  Part of your job is to repeat yourself on a regular basis.  If what you are saying is important for the future of your organization, you can’t say it enough.

Remind on!

“Repetition is the mother of learning.” (Thomas Acquinas)

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In 100 Words: The Influence of Peter Drucker

Friday, February 1st, 2013 by AdvisorCatalyst

Amidst the plethora of new business writing published each year, it’s easy to lose sight of Peter Drucker’s significant influence.  Jim Collins said in a May 2006 speech that Drucker had a formative influence on every company he and Jerry Porras profiled in Built to Last.  In the introduction to his book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work, Marcus Buckingham notes that many people trace the “strengths movement” back to Drucker, who for years encouraged both individuals and organizations to focus on areas of strength.

Business advisors benefit greatly from a liberal sprinkling of Drucker’s writing in their reading regimen.

“I regard it as a compliment when some people call me the Father of Marketing.  I tell them that if this is the case, then Peter Drucker is the Grandfather of Marketing.”  (Philip Kotler)

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In 100 Words: Live “Beyond Yourself”

Friday, December 14th, 2012 by AdvisorCatalyst

Scott McNealy, cofounder and former CEO of Sun Microsystems, once commented that those in highly visible leadership roles must live beyond themselves.  In other words, leaders must demonstrate a clear willingness to set aside individual desires, motives, and preferences, consistently acting in a manner of transparent character and integrity – not just at work, not just in front of employees, but every moment of every day, in public and in private.

These are intense expectations, but employees are more likely to be disciplined in their work when they see discipline modeled by their leaders.  Are you willing to live “beyond yourself?”

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”  (Aristotle)

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In 100 Words: Do You Know Your Team?

Thursday, November 1st, 2012 by AdvisorCatalyst

You work with your team every day, but how well do you know them as people?

Author Patrick Lencioni encourages the sharing of personal histories as a safe way to build trust among team members.  Have everyone share simple information about their past.  Where were you born?  How many siblings did you have?  Where did you fall in the birth order?  What was your first job?  Worst job?  Name a particular challenge in growing up.  Who was/is your role model?

Most people enjoy sharing stories from their lives, and as a result, team members learn to better understand each other.

“Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.” (Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield)

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In 100 Words: Team Book Assignments

Friday, September 14th, 2012 by AdvisorCatalyst

One effective way to improve the performance and bonding of your team is something you may not have done since high school: book assignments.

Team book assignments are a great way to prompt conversations on outside ideas that could impact the business (an emerging trend, a different process, an idea from a different industry, etc.).  Everyone has an opportunity to offer input, and teams often find that the planned discussion of new ideas quickly leads to practical implementation and growth in their organizations.

Click here for a list of suggestions to start.  Feel free to contact me for additional ideas.

“Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.” (Thomas Jefferson)

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In 100 Words: 3 Ways to Increase Time Efficiency

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 by AdvisorCatalyst

3 Ways to Increase Time Efficiency*:

  1. Log your actual time to the nearest quarter hour.  I guarantee your time efficiency will be lower than what you think it is.
  2. Begin each day by jotting your 3-5 most important priorities for that day on a note card.  Carry that card with you all day.  It will free your mind from less important to-dos and keep you focused on driving the most pertinent organizational goals.
  3. Each week, look at your time log and identify one activity that should be delegated to someone else.  You might even ask your team what you should not be doing.

*These tips are pulled from “Leveraging Leadership” by Ben Anderson-Ray.

“Management is doing things right.  Leadership is doing the right things.”  (Peter Drucker)

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