Running with Scissors

My friend MJ occasionally asks, "Are we running with scissors or an Olympic torch?"

It makes me smile and then makes me think.

We're a few weeks into our new year.  Far enough along to relate this distinction to how we're using our time.
 
"Running with scissors" means using your time recklessly:  filling your days with meetings, conversations and work that keep you busy but blunts your impact.

This habit can hurt you.

Time is currency. Use it strategically and you create the kind of impact you want, squander it away and you don't.

Where can you find opportunities to pare away meetings and activities with a questionable or lower return on your time?

"Running with an Olympic torch" means consciously investing your time in activities that uphold the kind of value you want to provide.

You can do more of this by regularly returning to questions like:
Who do I want to matter to most?
What am I doing now that they value most?
What do I need to be doing now so I'll matter in the ways I want to going forward?

The more time you invest in activities that support your answers to these questions, the brighter your path becomes.

Regifting for Leaders

Regifting is an enduring leadership practice that resonates as the holidays approach.  It involves two simple steps:

    

• Recognize when someone does something that inspires you do do your best.
• Find a way to apply that approach with someone else.

The interesting thing about this practice is that it benefits you as much as others.

• Recognizing when someone treats you in a way that brings out your best means that you're paying attention to leadership style - therefore increasing the odds that you continuously develop yours.
• Finding ways to apply that positive approach with someone else increases your track record of, and reputation for, positive leadership practices.

If you like this form of regifting, you can also apply it on an annual basis:

  

• Each December, make a point of recalling high-points from the prior eleven months, and who helped to make them happen.
• Share these recollections with those that come to mind, and thank them.  

This appreciative tradition extends the impact of the high-points, creating a positive ripple effect. 

Speaking of high points, thank you continuing to find ways to be a more innovative and effective leader throughout 2013 -


Here's to all you'll do and be in 2014!

Straight Talk from Singular Stars

Working as a coach at a conference on "Mentors, Sponsors and Breaking the Glass Ceiling Through Our Allies," I met a lively group of smart trailblazers.  

  

Reginald Van Lee, EVP at Booz Allen Hamilton, was a memorable one.  Warm and witty in person, he accomplished what many struggle with once they reach the podium:  making his points in a concise, consumable way. 

  

He recommended that ground breaking leaders of all types cultivate their 

"4 Cs":

COURAGE:  to excel, to be different.

  

COMPETENCE:  you need to be exceptionally competent when you're trying to accomplish what few that look, act or think like you do.  Accept this and press on.

  

CONFIDENCE:  to attend excellent schools, vie for new roles, pursue powerful relationships.  Don't wait for permission - show up and lead.

  

COLLABORATION:  you can't do it alone - consciously create alliances.  Talk to someone new often.  Your network expands your value.

  

Paula Madison, CEO of the Los Angeles Sparks, was equally forthright and compelling.  Some of her comments echoed similar themes:

• Be bold.  "Courage and comfort are not in the same room." 
• Be an expert, and claim your accomplishments. "I'm proud to be a different kind of leader, a different kind of woman."
• Advocate for yourself.  No one will care more about your career than you do - you can't expect others to do more for you than you do for yourself. 
• Attend carefully to feedback.  Feedback tells you how you're showing up.

The audience was energized by these kinds of unvarnished, hard-earned perspectives. If you were to give your own "straight talk" on pointers for pioneering leaders, what would you include?

How to Resist Distractions and Temptation

Your phone buzzes as you pull onto the highway.  Are you more likely to think,

"I can't read texts while I'm driving." 

 or 

"I don't read texts while I'm driving."

Several interesting studies coming out of Boston College and the University of Houston revealed the impact of using "I can't" versus "I don't."  

In one study of 30 adults with health and fitness goals:

• 10 participants were not given a strategy.
• 10 were told to use "I can't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I can't skip work-outs.")
• 10 were told to use "I don't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I don't skip work-outs.") 

After 10 days

• In the group that wasn't given a strategy, three of the 10 were still working on their goals.
• In the "I can't" group, only one of the 10 was still working on her goal.
• In the "I don't" group, eight of the 10 participants were still working on their goals.

The study participants then received daily emails asking how well they were doing with their goals. 

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University explains:  

"I don't" is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It's an affirmation of your determination and willpower. "I can't" isn't a choice. It's a restriction, it's being imposed upon you. So thinking "I can't" undermines your sense of power and personal agency."

Want to resist distractions and temptation?  Working on an important goal?  Whenever you catch yourself veering off course, try reminding yourself that "I don't...."  It's a small strategy that can make a big difference.

Step It Up By Stepping Back

I have a great feeling about this particular team.  The demands of working for the second largest bank in the world can be relentless, but they leverage strengths like:  

-  working with very bright people

-  a palpable commitment to high quality work

-  deep technical expertise

-  and being extremely capable of delivering.

  

They also face challenges faced by many executive teams in large companies, like: 

-  sustaining a shared clarity about the big picture

-  culling myopic or reactive execution practices

-  navigating the growing size and complexity of their organization

-  and working smarter rather than harder.

So why am I so optimistic about their ability to excel? 

Because in the midst of yet another hard charging week, they exercised a discipline that helps Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and other business notables out-lead, out-innovate and out-sustain the competition.  They took time out to think together.  

As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, wrote:  "...if you don't take the time to think proactively you will increasingly find yourself reacting to your environment rather than influencing it. The resulting situation will inevitably require far more time (and meetings) than thinking strategically would have to begin with."

Regularly carving out time to think is an essential but often elusive practice.  So how can you turn this good intention into a sustainable habit?  

Here are three approaches to consider:

Recognize the stigma of the alternative

"Uber-busy" used to infer "uber-important."  Increasingly, too busy is viewed as the new lazy.  Double parking appointments and running flat out through limitless days can make others question your commitment to high quality work.  As one 360 feedback source asked, "If he can't manage his schedule, how is he managing our function?"  

Curate your commitments

In other words, find ways to say no so that you can say yes.  What is it time for you to let go of, so that you have the bandwidth to do something better? Spending more of your day doing what only you can do increases the odds that you're utilizing your teams well. 

Design your time

Think about what doing your best work looks like.  Then find ways to link elements of the approach in this video to creating a habit of working that way: