PREPARATION FOR TOMORROW BEGINS TODAY

Recently, a few friends and I were privileged to have dinner with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and his wife, Judith, in Orlando after a speaking engagement. I found the mayor to be a very warm and personable man who was an easy conversationalist. During our conversation, I of course asked him about his experience during 9/11. He talked about his impressions from that day and how the event impacted him as a leader. He said that leaders need to be ready for anything. They need to study, acquire skills, and plan for every kind of situation.

“Your success will be determined by your ability to prepare,” he said. He went on to explain that when a situation like that on September 11 occurs – for which there was no plan in place – leaders must take action and rely on whatever preparation had taken place. In his case, it was the emergency drills they had followed. Both helped during the crisis.

Preparation doesn’t begin with what you do. It begins with what you believe. If you believe that your success tomorrow depends on what you do today, then you will treat today differently. What you receive tomorrow depends on what you believe today. If you are preparing today, chances are, you will not be “repairing” tomorrow.

Focus on preparing today so that you can experience success tomorrow.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

SET GOALS FOR GROWTH

The greatest achievers in life are people who set goals for themselves and then work hard to reach them. What they get by reaching the goals is not nearly as important as what they become by reaching them. When you help people set goals, use the following guidelines:

Make the goals appropriate. Always keep in mind the job you want the people to do and the desired result: the development of your people into effective leaders: Identify goals that will contribute to the larger goal.

Make the goals attainable. Ian MacGregor, former AMAX Corporation chairman of the board, said, “I work on the same principle as people who train horses. You start with low fences, easily achieved goals, and work up.”

Make the goals measurable. Your potential leaders will never know when they have achieved their goals if they aren’t measurable. When they are measurable, the knowledge that they have been attained will give them a sense of accomplishment.

Clearly state the goals. When goals have no clear focus, neither will the actions of the people trying to achieve them.

Make the goals require a “stretch.” As I mentioned before, goals have to be achievable. On the other hand, when goals do not require a stretch, the people achieving them won’t grow.

Put the goals in writing. When people write down their goals, it makes them more accountable for those goals.

It is important to encourage your potential leaders to review their goals and progress. Ben Franklin set aside time every day to review two questions. In the morning he asked himself, “What good shall I do today?” In the evening he asked, “What good have I done today?”

Help someone on your team to set goals today.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

BE WILLING TO DO WHAT OTHERS WON’T

It’s said that an aid group in South Africa once wrote to missionary and explorer David Livingstone, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.”

Livingstone replied, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.” That’s what  top leaders want from the people working for them: they want individuals who are willing to do what others won’t.

Few things gain the appreciation of a top leader more quickly than an employee with a whatever-it-takes attitude. They must be willing and able to think outside of their job description, to be willing to tackle the kinds of jobs that others are too proud or too frightened to take on.

Few things are more frustrating for a leader than having someone refuse to do a task because it is “not his job.” (In moments like those, most of the top leaders I know are tempted to invite such people to be without a job altogether!) Good leaders don’t think in those terms. They understand the Law of the Big Picture from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: “The goals is more important than the role.”

A 360-Degree Leader’s goal is to get the job done, to fulfill the vision of the organization and its leader. That often means doing whatever it takes. As a leader “moves up,” that more often takes the form of hiring someone to get it done, but leaders in the middle often don’t have that option. So instead, they jump in and get it done themselves.

Cultivate a whatever-it-takes attitude.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

BEING MISSION-CONSCIOUS

Do you and your teammates keep the big picture in mind? Or do you tend to get so bogged down in the details of your responsibilities that you lose sight of the big picture? If you in any way hinder the bigger team – your organization – because of your desire to achieve personal success or even the success of your department, then you may need to take steps to improve your ability to keep the team’s mission in mind.

Check to see if your team focuses on its mission. Start by measuring the clarity of the mission. Does your team or organization have a mission statement? If not, work to get the team to create one. If it does, then examine whether the goals of the team match its mission. If the values, mission, goals, and practices of a team don’t match up, you’re going to have a tough time as a team player.

Find ways to keep the mission in mind. If you’re a strong achiever, the type of person who is used to working alone, or you tend to focus on the immediate rather than the big picture, you may need extra help being reminded of the mission of the team. Write down the mission and place it somewhere you can see it. Keep it in front of you so that you are always conscious of the team’s mission.

Contribute your best as a team member. Once you’re sure of the team’s mission and direction, determine to contribute your best in the context of the team, not as an individual. That may mean taking a behind-the-scenes role for a while. Or it may mean focusing your inner circle in a way that contributes more to the organization, even if it gives you and your people less recognition.

Avoid getting bogged down in details and keep the big picture in mind today.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

THE PAST IMPACTS THE PRESENT

A few years ago, I heard my friend Chuck Swindoll tell the story of Chippie the parakeet. He said the bird’s problem began when the woman who owned him decided to clean up the seeds and loose feathers from the bottom of his cage using a vacuum. When the phone rang, the owner turned to pick it up, and – you guessed it – with a thud and a whoosh, Chippie was gone.

The owner quickly turned off the vacuum and unzipped the bag. There was Chippie. He was stunned but breathing.

Seeing that he was covered with black dust, his owner rushed Chippie to the bathtub, where she turned on the faucet full blast and held the bird under the icy water.

At that point she realized that she’d done even more damage, and she quickly cranked up her blow dryer and gave the wet, shivering little parakeet a blast. Chuck finished the story by saying, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore…”

People who are unable to overcome the past are a little like Chippie. They allow their negative experiences to color the way they live.

It may sound as if I’m making light of what may have happened to you in the past. I’m not. I know that people suffer genuine tragedies in this imperfect world. They lose children, spouses, parents and friends – sometimes under horrible circumstances. People contract cancer, multiple sclerosis, infectious and other debilitating diseases. They suffer unspeakable abuses at the hands of others. But tragedies don’t have to stop a person from possessing a positive outlook, being productive, and living life to the fullest. No matter how dark a person’s past is, it need not color his present permanently.

In what way is your past coloring your present?

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

IMPROVING YOUR PREPAREDNESS

Are you used to winging it? Do you try to fake it ‘til you make it? Or is solid preparation part of your regular routine? If you continually let your teammates down, you’re probably playing in the wrong position or not spending enough time and energy preparing to meet challenges. To improve your preparedness…

Become a process thinker. Getting ready requires thinking ahead so that you recognize now what you will need later. Create a system or list for yourself that will help you mentally walk through any process ahead of time, breaking tasks down into steps. Then determine what preparation will be required to complete each step.

Do more research. People in just about every profession utilize some kind of research to improve themselves. Become more familiar with the research tools of your trade and made yourself an expert at using them.

Learn from your mistakes. The greatest preparation tool can often be a person’s own experience. Think about the mistakes you recently made while completing a project or executing a challenge. Write them down, study them, and determine what you can do differently the next time you face a similar situation.

Focus on solid preparation today.

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.

DEVELOP AND FOLLOW YOUR PRIORITIES

There’s an old saying that if you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Unfortunately that is what many people seem to do. They don’t focus their attention, and as a result, they become ineffective. Perhaps the reason is that people in our culture have too many choices – nearly unlimited options. Management expert Peter Drucker recognized this phenomenon. He said, “Concentration is the key to economic results. No other principle of effectiveness is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration… Our motto seems to be, “Let’s do a little bit of everything.”

If you want to develop your talent, you need to focus. If you’re going to focus, you need to work on knowing what your true priorities are and then following them. This is something I have learned to do over time. I love options. I like to have the freedom to pursue the best course of action at any given moment. When I was in my twenties, I spent a lot of time doing things that had little return. In my thirties, I did better, but I still wasn’t as focused as I should have been. It wasn’t until I reached forty that I started to become highly selective about where I spent my time and energy. Today I filter just about everything I do through my top priority: Am I adding value to people? For me, it all comes down to that.

What is your top priority?

Reference:

Maxwell, J. C. (2007). Maximize your day: 365 days of insights to develop the leader within you and influence those around you. Manila, Philippines: OMF Literature Inc.