How often do you feel in a hurry, with too much to do and too little time to get it all done?
Be honest with yourself, if you list out everything you have promised others you will do, and then consider the promises and commitments you have made to yourself, you will surely find that you have far more things to do than you can manage.
It is simply not possible to get everything done, so my message is to stop trying.
Focus on doing less to create more. Instead of pushing harder, push less. Give yourself some room to breathe, to think, to smile, and to feel grateful.
It is time to break the pattern and belief that more is always better.
Give yourself permission to take time and ask, “What really matters to me, and how am I giving the things that matter to me the space and energy they deserve?”
Enjoy your July news2use and these summer days.
Regards,
Dan
“Relevant & pragmatic ideas, tools and insights to play at your best.”
For You
Busy leaders produce mediocre results. Do Less Leaders are clear that doing less creates more.
Here are three steps to becoming a Do Less (and create more) Leader:
- Unclutter your mind. Take time to think. Block time in your calendar to rethink what you are doing and why you’re doing it.
- Examine your belief window or your personal operating beliefs. What belief do you fulfill by trying to do everything for everybody? When and why did being busy become a good thing? How can you reconstruct this to do less and create more?
- Organize yourself in a new way. Review your to do lists, create a not to do list, and work on doing less and creating more. Remember to have the appropriate conversations when this involves others.
Busy is always not better, doing less can be better. You’ll create more. And be happier. Isn’t that why we’re here in the first place?
For You & Your Team
“Things work pretty well in our team; our problems start when we have to interact with other business units who make our life difficult!”
Confronted with cross-functional confusion?
Bottlenecks and breakdowns in cross-functional collaborations derail strategy, reduce employee engagement and jeopardize customer experiences.
You and your team cannot improve cross-functional dysfunction on your own. It’s vital that you work with other business units to work out your differences.
Come together with one or more business functions that you interact with and imagine all of you are part of an improvisational theatre group, and as you discuss the issues that derail you, encourage everyone to use three core principles of improvisational theatre:
- Accept all offers.
- Respond with yes and instead of yes but.
- Do what you can do to make others look good, save blame for yourself, not others.
Still struggling to improve your cross-team, cross-function, or cross-site collaboration? Invite your collaboration partners to a meeting. After identifying the issues, switch sides and argue with the views of your counterpart in mind. That’s right, you argue your partner’s point of view and they argue yours. You only have to do this on three or four points, two to three minutes per point. You’ll be surprised how much energy is created during this “reversed parliamentary debate” and you’ll both see the futility of staying anchored in one point of view.
At the end of the day, only one point of view matters. It’s called your customer’s point of view. Move beyond functional fencing and put your customer at the center of everything you do.
For You, Your Team & Your Business
60% of executives say that trust is a real issue in their team and only one out of three executives say they feel they can challenge something in their executive team. Imagine the negative consequences this has on organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, and business results.
In this NORENBERG’s NINETY SECONDS, “Creating a Feedback Culture”, see how a leadership team calls this out and takes ownership of their feedback deficit. Creating an exceptional feedback culture doesn’t start at the bottom or the middle of the organization, it starts at the top.
People, Places & Technology
Looking for a captivating and engaging read this summer? Let me recommend “The Future of Geography” by Tim Marshall, a leading authority on foreign affairs with over 25 years of reporting. Tim explores the field of astropolitics; including the consequences of spy satellites orbiting the moon, space metals worth billions, first come first serve? and humans on Mars within our lifetime. A fascinating read for all of us that gaze at the stars and seek to make meaning from what’s beyond our atmosphere.
Thought for the Day
Consistency of performance is essential.
You do not have to be exceptional.
every week, but as a minimum
you need to be at a level
that even on a bad day
you get points
on the board.
-Sean Dyche