Morning Motivator - What Are You Keeping?

"All successful leaders place a premium on keeping their promises and commitments."
-Steve Ventura

This morning I enjoyed a WONDERFUL discussion with a new friend and Nashville leader, Kerry Graham. He is one of the most INTERESTING and INSIGHTFUL new people I have met recently. We SHARED thoughts around the challenges of LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT. Interestingly, from this I came away with a SIMPLE reassurance - KEEP your focus, your word and your options open!

Truth be told, we are all "BUSY." Maybe not PRODUCTIVE, but we are busy... What does this mean to our daily lives? It means CHALLENGES in managing commitments, expectations, relationships and growth. We are CONSTANTLY challenged to keep our "best practices" in action and deter ourselves from the work that feels "busy" yet achieves nothing. EASILY, we can be sucked into the least beneficial activities- emails, irrelevant discussions, FaceBook, etc... All of which PULL us from keeping our commitments and promises.

What makes the BEST leaders so great? Is it that they do not participate in the same behaviors as the "normal person?" Not at all... have they just known WHEN to do it. They have an UNDERSTANDING of what needs to be done, when and how to do it, while managing to KEEP their commitments along the way. They LEVERAGE their resources in ways that allow others to take OWNERSHIP of projects (with given timelines and clear action steps). They also make sure that any "pleasure" activity has an ability to parlay into PRODUCTIVE activity. Just think about the best leaders you know... they seem to LIVE their work and barely "work" at all, right?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
What can we do to focus on KEEPING what is most important in front of us? Simple. Try TIME BLOCKING and PRODUCTIVITY ANALYSIS.

Time blocking is the behavior of SCHEDULING time for most important activities at the most appropriate times in the day. Example: In sales, you are best able to reach critical contacts before 8:30am, thus scheduling daily cold calls from 7-8:30am will yield a much higher RETURN on time investment than calling from 8:30a - 12p.

Consider this management regarding: reading/educational development, exercise and professional activities.

Productivity analysis is alluded to above as an UNDERSTANDING of your most productive hours of execution. By understanding WHEN you are at your best in certain facets, you are able to better manage your day according to STRENGTHS. Work at your best when at your best... you will do more with less!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

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Executive Team:
Zachary Barker, Publisher
Nancy Dubuisson, Editor