Tag Archives: ryan

value added

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Every environment is in need of players who bring ADDED VALUE. When an employer hires a person they begin with the expectation that an individual will integrate into the environment, learn how to work well on the team, do their job at or above a ‘B’ average. But, spoken or unspoken, what they are hoping for is a leader. What they are hoping for is someone who will bring additional value to the team & context. What they are searching for are the ‘Intangibles’ that will ultimately make you irreplaceable. Right now, EVERY average employee is replaceable. So we are faced with answering the question, “what make us IRREPLACEABLE?”

The answer = ADDED VALUE.

Benefit beyond your sticker price; that is the true definition of value.

So, what do you do for free? What will set you apart from everyone else?  Will it be your optimistic attitude? Your eye for excellence? Your nature to serve the leadership? Your ‘can-do’ approach? Can you come up with new or better or more cost effective solutions? Are you a problem solver? Do you develop and lead others?

Link: another look at the same concept.

time suckers

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I have heard just about EVERY young leader at one time or another complain that their job requires more of them than they have time to give (myself included). A few years ago, while reading Getting Things Done, I started to pay attention to “time suckers” – things that take time away from productivity in my day. Here are a few of them; my hunch is that they are affecting your work world too! My point is that you will find a TON of time inside of every day where you can be more productive, not so that you can add more work to your hours but so that you can add more hours to your life. (I don’t want to work all of the time!)

EMAIL - every single person I know if guilty of checking their email too much and then being drawn into ‘urgent’ items that they find awaiting them in the in-box rather than staying focused on items that are at hand right now or that are due sometime very soon. TURN OFF your email and block out some planned for work time. I promise that the email will still be there when you come back to it. EMAIL is not IM and it is not the phone, so stop treating it like such.

PHONE CALLS – these, along with text messages, also suck tons of high impact time out of your day. Believe it or not, there was an era where people couldn’t be reached or interupted every second of every day.

FACEBOOK, TWITTER & their posse – Mark Cuban has an interesting post on this; I agree with him. While usable networking tools, you have to admit they more often than not are a distraction to your work.

CERTAIN  INDIVIDUALS - you know who they are… when you see them come up on caller ID or walk down the hallway or send you a meeting request for an hour but you know it really means 2. Work hard to put parameters on these certain individuals so that they don’t suck your time.

MEETINGS - I know, they are unavoidable. But, going out on a limb here, I think that 50% of the meetings that exist out there in our worlds are largely ineffective, inefficient or just straight up bogus. Most people leading them haven’t even read a single article let alone a book on how to lead an effective meeting. Way too many meetings involve needless chit-chat. Please, read Death By Meeting and then start giving it out as gifts for Christmas.

less work

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Leadership demands that you grow. Leadership also demands that you grow your organization or business. Don’t be tempted to just ‘go to work’, get the job done, and then go home. Think bigger than that! Think about what COULD BE for the people that are following you. Dream ahead of the current reality. Start charting a course to an alternate future. Quite worrying about how bad things are right now and start believing in you and those around you to lead a way to a better place tomorrow.

Linked here is a post of mine as it relates to leadership in a small business; the content is good in any context.

the path you take

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there are thousands of mountain bike riders out on the trails. i can say definitively that they all have one significant thing within their control that they can use to differentiate themselves from others.

it is the same thing that can differentiate one leader from another. it offers one leader opportunities to enter into exceptional places & positions of influence at a young age while it takes years for another potential leader to come even close to sniffing at such heights. I have no desire to oversimplify such a complex equation, there are certainly obvious exceptions, but you certainly can enhance your leadership through critical decisions about

the path you take

these directional choices do much to determine where you end up in leadership. if your ride the same entry level trails over and over again, you will only hone entry level skills. you need to try new trails, with unexpected challenges around the corners. you can’t shy away from new challenging climbs and the thrilling rides that follow. you have to branch out and beyond your current reality that you have already mastered.

each day when you get up and get after it, you have significant choices to make: will you go the same tired routes that you already know, or will you branch out and try something new? will you go around hard obstacles that lay straight in your path or will you forge through, over or among the technical challenge that is right in front of you?

as in bike riding, leaders don’t get better by repeating conquests.

look for a new challenge – sign up for a new assignment outside of your current skill set – develop a new network  - expose yourself to new conversations and environments

developing a leadership team – v2

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 A few quick hits on developing a leadership team :::

 

  • define the scope (boundaries) and the purpose for the leadership team | what is ‘IN’ your mission and what is NOT? Don’t make it too complicated and don’t try to be all things to all people only to wind up accomplishing not much at all.
  • don’t develop the strategy of your mission outside of your group – this will result in a lack of buy-in |come together for the first times around strategy. develop a logical, sequential set of steps & objectives that will likely achieve the outcome you are aiming for
  • cast a wide net to for participation in strategy sessions |you might have to come back and “un-invite” some who show up & contribute poorly, but, you might just be surprised who rises to the surface when you invite people to engage in the mission & strategy of your organization.
  • outline the leadership structure | know your role and the role + expectations of others. It is essential that one person (and only one) be easily identified as the leader of the group. As the leader that would be you!
  • work hard together + have FUN together | to be sure, the right balance of this is difficult to achieve, however, deeper, more trusting relationships can be developed by accomplishing goals and enjoying each other through activities that build camaraderie.
  • develop a common vocabulary | In a million years I would have never have been able to come up with this one if I hadn’t seen first hand the trouble that different definitions can cause. EVERY TIME you use a key word or phrase that carries impact and breadth, be sure to define it as a team.
  • Identify the type of person that you are looking for | Be sure to find PASSIONATE people. Character must be an integral part your team – don’t make sacrifices here! Allow for differences, desire them, and appreciate them when they arrive.
  • don’t forsake candor | to be sure, you are going to need to lay the ground rules for open dialogue, but a team without candor is only playing games, not winning championships.
  • MISSION & TEAM trump the individual | you won’t know how hard this is until the team really needs to make a call other than the one you want.
  • be open to new ideas | easier said than done.
  • refine your team through roles that connect to the mission & strategy | parcel out the work that needs to be done. make sure that everyone has a ‘job’. Give some direction, but real leaders will figure out the nitty-gritty of what needs to be done. Give oversight, but not suffocating micro-management. Be willing to lend a hand. ++ REMEMBER ++ you are responsible, so keep a reasonably close watch not just on what is being accomplished but also how it is being accomplished.
  • don’t let anybody stay on board who isn’t willing to do some REAL work |  you can’t be a leader if you won’t do some work, otherwise you are only a consultant. hold your team accountable to delivering pieces of the objective and strategies that you lay out.
  • lead organized meetings | few things are a bigger waste of time than wanting to go somewhere, talking a good game about it and then to have no organization and action coming out of the team that is supposed to be leading. if you don’t know how to lead a good meeting, check back here, we’ll get you going soon.
  • develop WINS & a timeline that people can follow | leaders want to WIN! SO… make sure that you outline together what WINS look like. Write them down, keep them clear, put some dates and figures to them and when you do win, PARTY! Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

* these points have been practiced over time w/ the staff and servant minister teams that I have been privedledged to participate on.

** additionally, the family ministries’ team developed most of this article together.