Things to remember

Every now and again, I think we should remember where we truly are, what we have achieved and what we still should improve. In the daily routines of never ending news, demands and requests, we tend to forget our true situation and our endless opportunities. 

Here are 7 reminders, purposefully published around Christmas, a time to traditionally stop for a moment and reflect.

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1. Overall, we live in the best world ever. Almost all indicators for our health, wellbeing, safety, life expectancy, etc. go up constantly (see graph). This truth contradicts the flood of negative news reaching us each and every minute. I’m not denying all the tragedy that is actually happening; however, there has never been a better time in history.
2. Each of us can change a lot. Yes, we are powerful beyond belief, and today we have more means than ever to make this world a better place. You can reach millions of people in a heartbeat. Each of us in this part of the world can publish books, can speak up, can DO something. How have you made this world better this year?
3. You are a role model. Yes, each of us acts as a role model for others, whether you like it or not. Which standards do you want to demonstrate to others? It’s always your choice.
4. Productivity is a duty. I assume you want to do good things, so it’s best you do as much of them as possible. There is nothing brave in wasting time and not being as productive as possible.
5. We have access to more knowledge than ever in history. Make use of it! Each day, learn and apply. Don’t wait for somebody telling you what to learn. Go ahead and feed your brain! Each day.
6. We become what we do repeatedly. It’s best you choose habits that positively define you.
7. Our life is short and limited. It’s best you start doing something meaningful today. “Someday” equals “never”.

Thank you for being a member of my community. I wish you and your beloved ones Happy Holidays!

Your misleading map

Is your success map correct?

How far do you go with a map that is only 80 percent correct? How far if only 50% is right? The answer is obvious: you’ll arrive at your goal only by chance. Even 90 percent is not sufficient to guide you to the intended destination. 

But this is exactly what I see in most organizations, no matter which size or industry: their maps to outstanding success are only partially correct. 

What do I mean by this? Well, for any business to be more successful than the average, several components of the map need to be in place, such as distances, kinds of streets, one-way routes, topography, etc. on a route map. These essential components include more than most managers think of, e.g.: 

• mindset of the leadership team
• values and beliefs of the majority of employees
• products and services with a clear value proposition
• clearly defined customer avatars
• marketing systems with measurable success
• effective and scalable sales processes
• highly effective support processes
• clearly defined and consistent customer service
• High personal productivity of managers and administration

There might be even more components in your specific situation. My point is this: On a scale 1-10 (when 10 is the highest), how well is your organization doing on each of the components of your success map? Be honest: maybe 5, 7, or even 9? For most businesses, the average score is not above 75 percent, sometimes far below. 

If you now re-read my introductory statement, then it becomes very clear why most businesses never achieve their highest performance levels: their success map is incorrect! 

Here are three simple ideas how you can improve your map quality significantly: 

1. Work on the mindset, values, and beliefs of your leadership team and your managers. What do they all really believe in? How do they define success? What limiting beliefs are in the way of greater success? I find it amazing that most leadership teams never assess these valuable components.
2. Optimize your customer avatar and the related value proposition for your products and services. Almost all businesses that I see have an amazing challenge just answering these simple questions: “Who exactly is our ideal customer that we love to do business with and vice versa?” And: “Why should any customer buy from us, considering all other alternatives in the market place, including not buying anything at all?”
3. Raise the personal productivity of your managers by 30 percent by simply letting each of them spend 80 percent of their time on the three most valuable activities. The reality looks dramatically different for most managers: they spend 80 percent of their time in meetings and firefighting activities.

These are just three ideas of many more to substantially improve your success map.

In my mentoring, I’ll work with you systematically on these and many more components.

>>> Click here to learn more. <<<

The Power of No

The start of the year is the perfect time to change behaviors that harm your productivity. Learning to focus only on important tasks and, consequently, saying NO more often is one of the critical changes. This is a continuous effort: even the most productive people never stop getting better at it.

Watch this short video to learn about seven things in your daily life you could be saying NO to more often.

Your assignment:

1. Watch the video and take notes.
2. Decide which items you will say NO to more often.
3. Start with your first NO TODAY.

Let me know how it worked.

Three ways to regain control

Many people are always busy. Nothing is wrong with this. Being busy doesn’t mean being stressed. What causes stress is a lack of control. Lack of control means fear, and fear is a code word for stress.

Consequently, the question is not: “Am I too busy?” but “Am I in control?”

The results are obvious: people (and organizations) who are in control of their present and their future are more successful, more profitable, more efficient, and definitely happier. Lack of control is a huge productivity killer!

Three conditions must be in place for a person to feel fully in control:

1. A clear purpose. Why do you do what you do? Why are you chasing this goal right now? You simply cannot be in control of anything that has no meaning to you.
2. Clear goals. What do you want to achieve, and when? The less clear the goals, the less you can be in control.
3. Mastery. Sure, you also need to master your topic. Most would agree, however, that this is only one of three dimensions of control.

You as a leader have responsibility not only for your own stress level, but also for those of your staff members. 

Quite often, I see organizations that appear stressed for no obvious reason.

Answer these questions honestly when you sense high stress levels in your employees:

1. Does everyone fully understand WHY they are doing this job? Do I need to help them clarify the purpose?
2. Do they have clear and meaningful goals? Should I be more clear and specific about my expectations as a leader?
3. Do they master their topics? How can I help them master what they need to get the best results?

Note: It is important to get honest answers to all three questions, not just one. The key issue in most organizations lies in numbers 1 or 2, not in number 3. Think about it.

This blog entry is from our Friday Noon Memo, the weekly memo for high-performing leaders and organizations. Click here to subscribe.

Where Productivity Gets Lost

Is this productive?

How much of your work time are you really productive? 80 percent? 50? 20? When looking into organizations of any industry or size, I argue that productivity is often much lower than people think. Why is this?

The answer starts with the wrong definition. Most people define productivity as the time during which they are busy executing tasks that are related to their business. This might be answering phone calls, working on a presentation or creating reports, for example.

The problem with this is that most of these tasks do not relate to business outcomes in terms of providing a true value to any customer or shareholder. Only value-adding activities are truly productive. If you ponder this fact honestly, you will find that very few people spend more than half of their time on any productive activity.

A few simple techniques can help you to dramatically increase your productivity, which is defined by the ability to create value for customers or shareholders:

• Always ask for the true value of given tasks. Do not accept tasks from anybody, even customers, before having a clear value statement.
• Stop perfectionizing. Too many people spend far too much time making the presentation file perfect, finding answers to never-asked questions or adding features for which nobody asked.
• Finally, apply the most simple techniques for facilitating effective meetings and mailbox handling. An amazing amount of time is lost in these two areas because they do not yield valuable outcomes.

It is your responsibility as a leader to create an environment in which people understand how they personally contribute to value creation for customers or shareholders. The fact is that many mangers cannot even answer these questions honestly for themselves.

This blog entry is from our Friday Noon Memo, the weekly memo for high-performing leaders and organizations. Click here to subscribe.