Leadership – Page 23 – Mark S. Brown

Are You Negatively Affecting Others?

When I feel overwhelmed and overworked, I recognize that my attitude is affecting everyone that I encounter. Hiding a negative attitude is difficult.

I tell myself that being frustrated is selfish, and I try to let go of my frustration as quickly as possible. But there are times that I get overwhelmed with my commitments for day or the week. My attitude becomes negative.

For me, I think the worst days are when I struggle giving my time to others. Some days I need to give my full attention to my deadlines. Then when things don’t go according to plan, my attitude really begins to suffer.

I guess we all have days like that. Here are some thoughts on how to fix those days.

1. Talk with someone. Sharing my burdens helps me get things in perspective. My self-imposed deadlines are usually not as important as I thought. Sharing frustrations is a great method to clear your mind and move forward.

2. Share your calendar and to-do list. Sharing schedules and tasks with your team, your co-workers, and your family can open the door for shared responsibilities. On days when you have time, you can help others with their schedule and tasks. On days when you need help, maybe others will come to your rescue. Creating and sharing goals creates this opportunity. It can work great in all facets of life… work, home, community.

3. Find help. Find your needed resources and enlist their help. This is best as a long term solution. It is difficult to recruit help when you have no time. But if you can strategically develop resources that can help you at critical times, this approach can pay dividends for a long time.

4. Find a win to celebrate. Celebrating a small win is just what you need to alter your attitude from negative to positive. Sometimes all you need is a small push to overcome those negative feelings. I find that I have to seek these opportunities.

Next time you are frustrated and overwhelmed, put a smile on your face, and give these ideas a try.

Does Your Team Lack Urgency?

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a small team, and I found myself lacking engagement. The leader was complaining that we needed to get to work. We were accused of having no sense of urgency. It was true.

Upon reflection, I realized my lack of urgency was due to the fact that I felt no responsibility towards achieving our goals. I was just working, following instructions, but didn’t feel like my effort mattered.

If your team needs a boost of urgency, here are a few things to consider:

1. Empowerment. Have you enabled the team to achieve the results in a manner that lets them fully utilize their talents? Are you willing to stop managing the effort, and focus on leadership? They are different. Recognize where you are, and adjust your style to match the situation.

2. Vision. Does your team know, understand, and share your vision of the result? How do you know? How often are you trying to paint the picture for them? What part do they play in the final result? Why is it important?

3. Recognition. People need recognition for their effort. The level of recognition varies by individual. Some people need public recognition. Others just need a quiet word of thanks. How well do you know the needs for the people on your team? Are you effectively keeping them engaged through your recognition efforts?

Several years ago, I led a team that thrived. We achieved our goals nearly every week. One of the highlights was a shared breakfast on Friday mornings. If we hit our targets for the week, we had breakfast delivered. It was a simple way to say thank you, and to motivate the team. The weekly attainment of goals along with our shared breakfast became a habit we all enjoyed.

It was simple. It worked. You don’t need to over complicate recognition. I find that authentic, heartfelt, appreciation works best.

Are You Preparing for an Opportunity?

Last week I wrote about how we need to always be looking for opportunities. This week, I reflected on the second part of that process. We need to always be preparing for the opportunities that we want. This will increase our level of success in taking advantage of the opportunity.

If you are like me, this is very hard to do. I find working towards a goal when when the benefit is not clearly identified very difficult. There is so much resistance facing us every day.

Here are some things I consider for staying motivated and focused:

Know What You Want. I try to prepare for the future which I want to achieve. I stay motivated by continually renewing and reviewing my vision. Keeping the goal in sharp focus can help me stay on track.
Find Resources. Resources can come in the form of people, mentors, organizations, associations, classes, workshops, magazines, and books. I find staying motivated is easier if I don’t rely on just one type of resource.
Find a Way to Practice. I love to read. I learn so much from books. But if I don’t use new found knowledge, then over time it will fade. If I want to really learn something, I have to find a way to practice.
Expand Out of Your Comfort Zone. For me like most people, this is challenging. We like to do what we know. Unfortunately, most breakthroughs occur when you get out of those routines.
Do the Work. Following through requires a commitment of time, money, and effort. If I can find some time every day to work on preparation, it helps me build momentum over a long period of time. It creates a habit of growth.

I have learned that the more I prepare, the easier it becomes to see opportunities. It is almost like one creates the other. I hope you are finding time every day to prepare for your future.

What Opportunities Do You See?

Where do you find your opportunities? Some people see opportunity where others see closed doors. Some people search for and discover opportunity while others just wait for it to appear.

I have reflected on all the major turning points in my career. In each case, I saw and took an opportunity that others did not. In some cases, maybe several people saw the opportunity, but I was prepared to take action.

It is interesting that we can often be surprised by the unexpected opportunities we discover. If you examine your life, I am sure you will agree that things don’t turn out as planned. We must adjust continuously as we go.

Being prepared for opportunities, and seeking opportunities are keys to building success over a lifetime. Here are some questions that can help us explore this idea.

1. Are you waiting for someone to bring you an opportunity? Stop waiting. If we are waiting for the perfect opportunity, we will be waiting for a long time. Most of our opportunities come in a different form than we expect. Sometimes we have to take an opportunity that is available, and then it may lead to a bigger and better opportunity.

2. Are you actively seeking opportunity? If not, start looking. Opportunities appear every day. We may not see them if we are not looking. A year ago, I would never have predicted that I would be certified to provide temperament assessments, or that I would learn how to trade stock options. I saw opportunities, and I took them. Some of our opportunities will occur in areas in which we are not even aware.

3. How well do you know the opportunity you desire? Some opportunities appear as a next logical step. Some opportunities appear because you see the potential outcome. When you are aware of what you want to achieve, you will begin to see links between these opportunities. Some will reveal how, and some will reveal why.

4. Where do you seek for opportunity? My first thought was that you need to look where your interests lie, but the truth is you need to look everywhere. You have to decide if events in your life are coincidences or if they are relevant. Some people would say everything is relevant. If we treat it as such, then we will see more opportunities.

If you want opportunity, you have to participate. There are a lot of opportunities that I did not act upon. More than I can recall. These missed opportunities did not shape my life. The opportunities that I took are what changed my life. Overcoming the fear of an opportunity may be the most difficult step.