Crushing 5 Urgent Leadership Challenges
#1 Productivity:
- The difference between success and failure is doing things others put off.
- Protect time with priorities. Some things feel urgent but they don’t matter. Urgencies control weak leaders. Courageous leaders bird-dog priorities.
- Mission and vision are the purpose behind productivity. What are you really getting done?
- Daily persistence is the secret to long-term success.
- Set deadlines. Today’s most important deadline is the one that achieves tomorrow’s goal.
Drama distracts unless priorities prevail.
#2 People:
- People are leadership’s priority. They produce results.
- You are the most important person. Understand and develop yourself so you can serve others. This is effectiveness not self-indulgence.
- Understand others before asking them to understand you. Value them by understanding their values. Passion expresses values. Tapping into their values generates passion.
- Diversity creates richness. Hire people who aren’t like you.
You can’t lead people until
you know what’s important to them.
#3 Pessimism:
- Reject blaming. Optimism isn’t blindness, it’s believing we can make things better.
- Worry about things you can do; fret less about what you can’t.
- Persistent problems drag down apart from countermeasures.
- Perfectionism paralyzes. Pursue better.
#4 Pace:
- You can’t slow down… so do more of what matters now. Choose what must be done today and do it.
- Sprints get more done that full-tilt all the time. Go all out for sixty to ninety minutes and take a break. Rest increases speed.
- Slow enables fast. Reflect on God, yourself, and your day before it begins.
#5 Persuasion:
- Persuasion is helping people convince themselves. People don’t stay convinced when you convince them. Meaningful goals, trustworthy leadership, and supportive environments are tools of persuasion.
- The secret to persuasion is making people feel understood.
- Align personal goals with organizational goals.
- Leadership confidence enhances persuasion.
What are the top daily challenges leaders face?
What tips can you offer to address the top challenges of leadership?
“People don’t stay convinced when you convince them.” How very true! I just had an epiphany! Or sort of. Lol. Hey, Dan, how do we know this one was 300 words or not? Gonna start double checking that! Kidding.
Let me convince you of the 300 word thing… I get a word count in the manager’s screen. And by the way… I don’t count the questions or stuff at the bottom of the post… just the post itself. 🙂
lol i’m not convincing myself! haha:)
🙂
These statements really motivates thanks but I have one doubt on one of them “You can’t lead people until you know what’s important to them.”
How to know in this competitive world where you will be facing challenges from peers as well reportees who tries to over power or over come considering their growth. How to have a healthy competition where mutual growth is involved?
Great questions…my gut response is always doing what’s best for the organization is a balancing aspect to competition.
However, there are people who will stab you in the back and enjoy doing it. Understanding them is just as important as understanding everyone else.
I’m not suggesting you stab them back…you might find this post useful: http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/a-campbells-soup-ceo-on-office-politics/ … Best wishes
Great post!
I think the toughest daily challenges I have as a leader are prioritizing and keeping myself motivated. We talk a lot about providing these tools to others that we often forget to provide them to ourselves. Your advice of sprinting and then recharging helps to address both of these issues for me. I use the recharge time to reflect and This helps me to both prioritize and motivate myself.
Thanks, Dan!
I agree Anthony… along with prioritizing is staying on target…I find it incredibly easy to chase irrelevant urgencies… some of us actually feel important while we are doing so..
Cheers
Hello Dan, I’d like to suggest a #5 under people.
5. Hiring for talent is the key to hiring successful employees. Most employers don’t measure talent so they can’t hire for talent even if they do hire the best and the brightest.
Great add Bob… along with talent … attitude, passion, and team fit might be included…. Thanks for sharing your insights
Good morning Dan and everyone,
You often stress prioritizing what matters and ignoring what doesn’t – and I always need to hear it, thank you! I am challenging myself to end the day by reflecting back on what I did to advance our goals for tomorrow and next week and the long term, too and what urgencies I resisted to do so. ‘bird-dog priorities’ is a great turn of phrase.
cheers!
Catie, Thanks for sharing your story. I’ve been very encouraged and challenged by high profile leaders who believe in a practice reflection… How else can we escape the tyranny of the urgent. 🙂 Best wishes on the journey
Well first attempt computer re-set! Darn technology! Erased my stuff!!!!!! Dang!
P word for the day Palaeosophy, means ancient learning or thought!
Question, is your Leadership Universe an epic study of Palaeosophy?
Success to me is discovering what works and repeating over and over and over, 123 123 123 till I drop! Then sleep and wakey wakey, look for new cool stuff and add something new and effective then repeat over and over and over. Success is getting the clearly defined desired results. Then repeating adnauseum!
Regularly checking to see if there is anything new I can use to revise my strategy.
Failure for me is not putting off! It is repeating insanely the same ole same ole LAME stuff that I am just ahoping will give me the same results from the past. Trying to recreate those pleasurable past experiences. Failure in not putting off, which is actually better than repeating over and over what does not work anymore. Right? Failure is repeating what won’t work anymore. Right?
If you wanted to make a call today, use a cell phone or go outside and Holla???? LOL
There is new and better stuff available everyday, you committed to finding it and incorporating into your grey matter?
I get sick, I want the most cutting edge most effective treatment, you?
So is your Leadership a study in Palaeosophy or you acquiring new and better everyday, all the time?
Have you watched Bob Chapmans Defining Moments video? Why? It is free and you might learn something that will be more useful to you than you ever imagined. You will never know till you watch. Imagine if it helps you?
Or are you working on a Degree on Palaeosophy?
Cool new video I found yesterday on Ted! On Youtube! Called How to Spot a Liar…….course my test is if the person can fog a mirror! LOL
Hey I am not being too critical, I do it too! hehe this fish I caught just keeps getting bigger and bigger each time I tell the story!
According to Pamela Meyer I am actually right, BUT WHY is it important to Leadership?
She says we lie in our attempt to connect our wishes and our fantasies of who we want to be, to you and to ourselves, as opposed to who we really think we are, you know in the dark where no one is listening to us but us!
Last year deception in the workplace cost 997 Billion dollars to the US Businesses. The average person tells somewhere between 10 and 200 lies. Isn’t that important to us as Leaders?
What you talking about Willis?????
Interesting video!
Anyway, hope you commit to finding what is cool and what is next! Not regurgitating what was. So 80’s!
I Concur!
Really liked what I wrote the first time better but , Oh well!
Shifterp OUT to discover what is new, exciting and works better! You?
I absolutely love it when I lose work due to technology failure… (#1 lie of my morning… 99 more to go)
Love your “P” word…. modern isn’t always wisest… cheers
Thanks D, what still gets to me is thumbs down with no explanation!!!!!!!!!!! One day I will figure out WHY and maybe then it won’t bother me!
Just can’t stand IGNORANCE and if I do not know what is irritating a person I don’t know! Being the curious fella I am I can’t stand not knowing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe
I like MOST effective, not wiser, less likely to bring emotional response which tends to be an excuse for people to shut down. People tend to be more open to less than optimal effectiveness than if feel they are being called unwise.
What is it that caused the angst? Bring your displeasure out into the open, Might help me, might help you.
It is not me that says people lie 10 to 200 times a day, it is Pamela Meyer! Go to YouTube and give her TedTalk a thumbs down on YouTube if you don’t like what she says!!!!!!!! LOL
I am just the little ole messenger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not like it all that much at the start of the video but the lady has factual research to back up her opinions. Plus what she says is true and makes a lot of sense IF YOU WATCH HER VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jeez, get an informed opinion already!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just wish thumb downers would GROW UP and share what their issues are! Guess that is why they have, you know, issues!
Keeping those things quiet helps NO ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does it???????
CYA D, got work to do!
SP OUT!
10 to 200 lies a day! Average person! So sorry left per day out!
SP added omitted factoid
Dear Dan,
“Worry about things you can do” really attracted my attention. It shows the person’s focus and direction. And this makes person attached to the capabilities. There are lot of things that we can do but there are things that we can do better. So, people who focus on better way of doing things with interest become leaders. Those who focus on doing many things somewhere distract their focus and unable to utilize their capabilities effectively. And I think, this is the daily challenges that leaders face. They focus on priority and needs. And between these two, priority is more important. Those who sideline priority and focus on other issues face urgency, because they are not focused.
I think the top challenges of leadership that starts from P is procrastination. Leaders avoid putting off priorities. They are pro-thinker and pro-active. They keep thinking for future keeping many perspective into account. Unfortunately, unsuccessful leaders think for future keeping present situation granted for future.
Thanks for all your insights Ajay.
Really appreciate the connection between worrying about what we can do and how that helps us focus on capabilities. Great tie in.
If we want people to feel capable help them think about what they can do.
Best
“The difference between success and failure is doing things others put off” – what a great truth. I love the encouragement to be a person of action.
Thanks Spark…lets keep moving… cheers
“Slow enables fast” has been my mantra this year. In addition to reflecting before I start (I have a tendency to jump in and then figure out what I should have done first), this has meant doing the tedious groundwork so I can move quickly when it’s “go time.” This is a great list. I think for the rest of the week I will work on 3.2: to Worry about things you can do; fret less about what you can’t.
Thanks!
I’m a jump in type too…frankly I like that approach. I could use more reflection but I fear it will halt forward movement… I bet you know what I mean.
Love the 3.2 approach to life… cheers
‘Top of the mornin Super-Fly’! #1(Productivity) My dad was a great father, teacher, leader, and a ‘Professional Caliber’ Baseball Player. The only thing that kept him from playing for the Philidephia Athletics in the early 60s was the fact the steel mill where he was employed was paying more money along with benefits. “My-o-my how times have changed”. Dad taught me at an early age that no matter what your goals or challenges in life or sports, to make it to the top you MUST BE willing to do more, be more, and you must push yourself beyond your comfort zone. That phyilosophy has served me well in life as it did in sports. I made it to the State Finals two years running with the Mifflin County Babe Ruth All-Stars, (both 2nd place), and a scholorship to play college ball at Shippensburg but opted to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. #2(People) The leader who understands that thier people are the key to personal and organizational sucsess . How well you get to know and treat your people determine the quality of your sucsess. #4(Pace) Mr. Paul K. Smeal, friend and past Superintendant would always sayto me “the most important thing to do is the most important thing to do…)regarding ones time and daily demands. Everyday brings diversions which challenge your focus. When daily distractions do this I remind myself of Pauls words. Have a great day Dan.
Hi Steve, Great reading some of your personal Story. Your passion for excellence still shines through… I see it in your commitment to learn.
“The most important thing to do is the most important thing to do.” DAng that’s good.
I pretty much agree with most of what you say, except #1 on priorities. People may put things off for various good reasons. Sometimes, tackling them quickly can do more damage. I think you need to assess the situation, and what needs to be done, before you set priorities
Thanks for adding your insights Rajiv… much appreciated. Healthy procrastination means better productivity in the long run… for me, procrastination is putting off what I must do because I don’t like doing it.
Dan, you really know how to pierce a guy right to the heart! The #1 point under your #1 category is my biggest, lifelong challenge. I think I do pretty darn well in the other categories and points.
But procrastination is my achilles heel. Your #1 point under Productivity — “The difference between success and failure is doing things others put off” — really puts it in prespective for me. It very succinctly points out the cost of procrastination and the potential reward of getting things done.
Humble thanks for your candor. I put it at the top because I feel it everyday… Go do the hard stuff, NOW…
I agree with both Dan and Anthony. Prioritizing things is the most difficult challenge leaders and all of us are facing in life. we tend to focus on trivial or minute stuffs that are easier to do rather than complex things. However, the outcomes of these complex things that we ignore have the biggest impact in our lives
Thanks Baba. What I’ve found is that the inability to set priorities isn’t so much about knowing what the priorities are…although that is a challenge.
The biggest challenge is the courage and discipline to actually stay on target… best wishes
Dear Dan,
Liked the post and its contents to the full extent. Priorities and People have remained two important areas of my focus all along. These keep me self-motivated all the time. I realized the practice that I follow of creating a good work environment and making people understood of their own roles with required support & direction is part of persuasion process. Great, I am on the right track!
I start my day with a Prayer to make my day fruitful with success & progress followed by Prediction for the Day [Horoscope for Today per Birth-sign]. I get a boost when I read positive things with optimism. Prime News take the next step [Newspaper reading & T.V. News] before starting a day at the office.
Working on Priorities make my day full with productive work. To make People Work per my expectations I Pursue till people are Pushed to honour their commitments with position of responsibility. The day ends with Peace of doing the Planned Things per Priorities set in a diary.
The alphabet ‘P’ teaches other good qualities like Perseverance, Preparedness, Pride, Progress & Prosperity. Good leaders demonstrate all these and become Professional to enjoy respect of all. Good Leaders always depend on Processes and People to get Planned Profits.
Thanks Dr. Asher.
The good work environment – organizational culture – is believed by many to be the most important thing top leaders develop. I think it is.
Wonderful list of “P’s” I particularly like preparedness.
Best
BTW Dan. ‘Kudos’ to you for allowing your faith in God to be present and relevant in your leadership blog. “Praise the Lord my friend and I pray God will remain in all you do”!
Excellent post Dan!
This blog has become a sort of daily devotion for me. The tips, challenges, and inspiration I get from this information is priceless. As a leader, which we all are, someplace or another, we should never stop learning how to become better. I’ve heard the saying, “People don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
We cannot become so busy as leaders, leading people and goal or task oriented that we forget about what really matters. Individuals. THank you for helping me to become a better version of me!
Great points. I would also add that actively listening to people and sincerely thanking them for a job well done whenever possible…builds the type of relationship where people will go the extra mile for you, your team, your company, or your family.
I also agree that having passions outside of work where you can refocus and recharge your energy is great advice.
Great points. I would also add that actively listening to people and sincerely thanking them for a job well done whenever possible…builds the type of relationship where people will go the extra mile for you, your team, your company, or your family.
I also agree that having passions outside of work where you can refocus and recharge your energy is great advice.
crap
Great post Dan! You seem to have captured the essence of leadership using just “P” words.
In case you decide to go with another “P” theme at some point, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the importance of patience in leadership and your suggestions for being more patient.
Thanks!