Our world has morphed into one where the need for speed has overtaken much of our lives. So many activities are rushed and sometimes it feels like we’ll in a whirlwind.
Unfortunately, one of the casualties of this pace is taking time to think. Thinking has been all but dropped from our rosters and has been replaced by cramming as much as we can in the shortest period.
Top performers strive for the next accomplishment, soak up new information, and embrace the opportunity to challenge the status quo. They are eager to learn and stretch their minds.
I enjoy asking what people read, because it reveals interesting insights. When I ask the question and receive several interesting selections in response, it’s a data point that suggests curiosity and openness.
Even if you don’t see yourself as detail oriented, paying attention to details can make a difference between average and outstanding communication. The expression, “it’s all in the details” takes on fresh meaning in these situations. Consider these examples:
The executive who isn’t clear in his instructions but expects his assistant to know precisely what he has in mind. The assistant books his travel and the exec yells at her because it wasn’t the exact schedule that he wanted (which he, of course, never mentioned).
Do you know people who have rigid views about just about everything? Conversations with people like this either turn into spirited debates or one-sided monosyllabic dead ends.
Even if you have a firm perspective on a given topic, when you open your mind and hear a different perspective, it can enhance and expand your thinking.
In the past few weeks, several clients shared stories of gaffes that occurred when they made important presentations. The stories had different types of audiences: one was a speech at an industry meeting, another was a board presentation, and the third was a sales presentation to a prospective client.
All these people are experienced professionals. In each case, though, too much was left to chance. Simply put, they weren’t prepared.
I had a challenging series of conversations with tech support representatives over a problem that was enormously frustrating. At one point, a supervisor kept repeating the same instruction to me despite my telling her that I didn’t understand what she was saying.
Her solution was to say it again in a louder voice.
Today is Independence Day in the United States, offering a moment to reflect on freedom and food. If you hadn’t thought of pairing those two topics together, it’s a natural given the holiday.
Any time I hear people say that they’re trapped in their lives, they’re implicitly saying that they don’t feel free. But it also infers that they are holding themselves as victims to their circumstances. Victims are not free; they are captive to their conditions.
Sometimes when you focus on improving skills to get better at your job, you neglect thinking about whether there is something that you ought to eliminate.
This is especially important as a leader, since your behavior is being observed by your employees and may be adopted as their own.
Team members rely on each other. When everyone does what they commit to doing, the results can be fabulous. On the other hand, if one person neglects to hold up his or her end of the bargain, it can create a domino effect where the house of cards tumbles down.
If your organizational structure is built around teams, as the leader, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the teams function to their best advantage. There isn’t room for prima donnas, lone rangers, or slackers. They need to understand that no matter how talented they are, they will drag down the team if they behave in such fashion.
Everyone believes that they create value for their clients, and if you focus on value creation on some kind of regular basis, you probably are providing it.
It’s important, though, to take time periodically to determine whether your assessment of value is the same as the perception in the eyes of the beholder.