13 Jan The Best Ever Leadership Tip
Are you feeling guilty about your New Year Resolution?
I know that you want 2017 to be full of successes but you’re already busy and have lost focus with those great goals you set two weeks ago.
I understand just how you feel. Years ago I was lucky enough to meet Art Costa, the creator of Habits on Mind, and he stressed the importance of constantly asking ourselves, “What’s the most intelligent thing I can do right now?”
I think it’s the best leadership tip ever! I use it all the time, so let’s try it now.
Here are some suggestions for the most intelligent things you can do right now to make 2017 your best year yet.
- Stop and take five minutes to schedule a time over the next week or two and give yourself 1-2 hours to make a plan. Sunday mornings are a great time to do this.
- Make the decision to live in the now until that time. Enjoy life and use the Habit of Mind: Responding with Wonderment and Awe to appreciate all that is amazing in our world.
- Buy yourself a special new journal and pen.
- When your scheduled day arrives find a quiet, comfortable place on your own, grab your journal, a coffee or glass of wine and answer these questions
What went well for you in 2016?
What do you really like doing?
What wastes your time?
What would you like to be doing in 3-5 years?
Where do you want to be in 3-5 years?
- Now start two lists. Call one your Personal Plan and one your Professional Plan.
- Divide your Personal Plan into eight sections. Create headings for Health and Fitness, Emotional Well-being, Relationships & Family, Financial Security, Career, Adventures, Learning and Legacy. These are actually the eight forms of wealth that we all seek.
- Re-read your answers to #4 and ask yourself what you need to start doing to achieve your 3-5-year dreams. Fill your Personal Plan sections with the actions you need to take and include dates of when you will achieve them.
- Think strategically about your Professional Plan. Find your organization’s Strategic Plan, Business Plan, Mission Statement or Project Management Priorities. Map out the professional goals you would like to achieve for the coming year that are linked to your organisation’s vision. Prioritize the most important. Choose five to focus on for the year. Now go off and enjoy your Sunday.
- Over the coming weeks, use your journal to reflect on what you achieved each day before going to bed. This is inspirational and it really helps you sleep better. Aim to do this 80+% of the time. Remember, we are all human and things happen to take us off track. Just make sure you get back on track.
- Regularly use the Habits of Mind to help you focus, stay on track, strengthen your willpower, deal with tough times and tough decisions, enjoy magic moments, have fun and appreciate your life and those in your life.
- Schedule weekly reviews of your plans in your journal and make a commitment to yourself to check them each Sunday morning. Rewrite new goals for the coming week to keep moving towards your 3- 5-year dreams.
- Build in celebrations and rewards. Champagne, dinner out with friends or family, a picnic, a massage, a movie, a ski trip, shopping, volunteering, helping others whatever makes you happy.
- Every 90 days write a list of all that you have achieved, reschedule those not achieved for the next 90 days and then formulate a new set of goals based on your 3-5-year dreams.
- Remember to frequently ask yourself, “What’s the most intelligent thing I can do right now?” It really does help move you from where you are to where you want to be AND you’ll smash 2017!
Actually, I’ve got many more leadership tips to share with you at my next Leadership for the 21st Century Workshop at NIST International School, Bangkok in March. Why don’t you come along? It’s amazing! Really! That’s what participants say. If you can’t make it why not sign up to my new self-paced, personalized, online leadership course. You can do it anytime and anywhere.
Looking forward to hearing how you make 2017 your best year yet!
