You know the cliché: you can’t see the forest through the trees. One manifestation of this in the workplace is that when people are severely overworked, they can get distracted by minutia and miss the important things.
One of the best antidotes to the forest-trees issue is to keep your important goals at the top of your mind. If you are feeling sidetracked and are struggling making decisions, you can ask, “How does doing this help me achieve my goals?”
Famous last words. How many times has someone said that they would get back to you, complete a task, follow up on a lead, or get some information to you. . . and you get old waiting to hear something?
Now, in fairness, there have certainly been times when you’ve not followed up on things, so before you start ranting about everyone else, you might want to look in the mirror.
Did that title get your attention? Alas, I’m not talking about romantic encounters, rather, this is about appreciation. This being the “love month” – highlighted by Valentine’s Day on Saturday – makes this topic worth elevating.
Be generous in expressing appreciation to colleagues, team members, and clients – and anyone who provides service that you value. This can be as simple as “thank you.”
Many leaders practice leadership by achieving consensus. They are challenged by the actual process of achieving consensus and feel satisfied when the various parties come to agreement.
Consensus is a worthy approach in many, but not all, cases. The process breaks down when the various stakeholders begin to venture down that well-travelled road, WIIFM (what’s in it for me).