Every journey has a beginning. Although many of you have been on your leadership march for a long time, others are fresh on the trail. Regardless of where you are on your timeline, there are four arenas which require your attention and ultimately your mastery if you want maximum influence and opportunity.
The fourth quarter every year is always challenging for me. Not because of year-end deadlines or goals I’m striving to nail before the annual clock strikes midnight – the challenge is preparing for the upcoming year.
Every great leader is on a journey – a long, never-ending quest to serve and grow. Have you ever given much thought to yours? If you have, and you are like most of us, you realize your path has been challenging, exhilarating and even frustrating at times, but it has certainly not been a straight line.
How good is your organization at creating remarkable experiences for your customers? Recently, I had the privilege of hanging out with Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore. These are the guys who coined the term Experience Economy. Shortly after my time with them, I had my own experience economy moment…
People do not follow leaders they do not trust. If you and I are trustworthy, we’ve jumped a significant hurdle on the path to effective leadership. It we are not seen as trustworthy, no amount of skill will suffice. If your heart is not right, no one cares about your skills. Today’s Challenge question is… How do you build trust?
We don’t control outcomes or opportunities – we do control our readiness for the challenges and opportunities we encounter. This core belief creates a passion in leaders to learn and grow. The New Year is a perfect reset moment. Our process of preparation can have a huge impact on our readiness and our success.
Only 60 days until Christmas – only 67 days until the New Year. Are you ready? If you’re like me, you aren’t ready for either, but we can be! Ready or not, we all have a fresh start waiting for us as we begin 2016. What are you doing NOW to ensure next year will be the best year of your life as a leader?
Not every bet is a winner – that’s why true bets are never a “Sure Thing.” This is a principle leaders understand and embrace. We are called to place countless bets over the course of our career. We make bets on strategy, products, systems, the use of our time, people and more. We place no bigger bet than the ones we place on other leaders. Today’s Challenge question comes in two parts: Have you ever bet on a leader and lost? And, what do you do then?
“Finish the drill” is a phrase many athletic coaches have adopted to remind their team: victory lies at the end of the activity. This mantra not only helps sports teams, it can help me and you have a more fulfilling and productive life. Today’s Challenge question comes from a leader who asks: How do I follow-through (finish) on my goals?
What do you talk about at work? Recently, I’ve come to appreciate how many conversations I have every week about leadership issues… dozens, scores – probably thousands of these discussions over the past decade. This week, I’ve been in four conversations about the value and imperative of a leadership pipeline – and it is only Tuesday!