Fast. Faster. Fastest. We live in a world where speed is valued highly. If you’re not going fast enough, how can you stay in the race?
I’m all for speed; in fact, if you don’t pay attention to it, you can be left behind in a heartbeat. I also know that you need to manage speed, because if you whiz along constantly at high speed without taking a breath, someone else or something else will slow you down.
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 Thinking has been all but dropped from our rosters and has been replaced by cramming as much as we can in the shortest period.
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.
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.
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.
I’m sure this isn’t so hard to do but imagine yourself staring at a mountain of tasks. You know you need to climb this mountain but taking that first step feels overwhelming. This mental hurdle is like the concept of activation energy in chemistry – the initial energy needed to start a reaction. In our daily lives, activation energy applies to getting started on tasks, especially those we find daunting.
For executives, this can be particularly true. Big decisions, complex projects, and endless to-do lists can create a high activation energy, making it difficult to even begin. This is where understanding activation energy becomes a powerful tool for time management.
Let’s be honest: have you ever repeatedly pushed an elevator button magically expecting that the elevator will arrive faster?
All of us have done this. This week I observed several examples of this that reminded me how often people get stressed over things they have no control over. One happened on the subway platform when a passenger got extremely upset when the oncoming train wasn’t his line.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”
– Walt Disney
The first quarter of 2024 is coming to an end and after you get your breath, it’s worthwhile to look back and review the past three months. Here is a brief checklist to use as a guide and to set yourself up for a strong year
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 feel like you’re getting old as you wait to hear back?
Now, in fairness, no one is perfect and certainly there have 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.
During the last few weeks, people have seemed busier. New business opportunities are cropping up and people are responding with appropriate enthusiasm. One of my colleagues commented that work is flowing her way and she’s delighted with the influx.
Although leaders are thrilled with the inflow, the challenging aspect is managing it. This obviously flows downstream in the organization. Managers are complaining about their grouchy team members who are balking at the increase in work.