5 Steps to Leadership Focus - The Leadership Clarity Cycle
As a leader, our turbulent times demand that you focus on what is truly important.
At the same time, the frantically changing environment pushes your organization and you to react.
It is difficult to distinguish between important matters and urgent matters.
You can use these five steps to focus your leadership and ensure that you accomplish what is most important.
Step 1 - Realize you can't create time.
How often have you said something like this, "I just can't seem to make time to do this" or "I'll have to make time to do this?" No one can make time.
Time is a gift.
If you live a full day, you have received a gift of 24 hours not a minute more and not a minute less.
You cannot make time, but you can use your time to create steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Step 2 - Create inner clarity.
Use your time to ask yourself three questions: (a) who do I want to be? (b) what do I want do? and (c) what am I willing invest toward these ends.
? To evaluate the quality of your responses ask, "Are my answers self-serving or will their accomplishment serve the well-being of others?" Inner clarity helps identify your life priorities and prepares you for steps 3 and 4.
Step 3 - Create priority clarity.
Pareto's Principle states that 80% of the value lies in the top 20% of your priorities.
For example, if you have a To Do List with 10 items ranked in order of importance with 1 being the most important and 10 being the least important, items 1 and 2 would contain 80% of the value of the priorities you plan to accomplish.
What are the top 20% of your priorities in the major categories of your life: personal, family, work, and community? Step 4 - Create execution clarity.
When you identify your top 20% of priorities be relentless in your pursuit of them - these are the truly important issues.
Of course, the urgent will continue to emerge.
When the urgent comes, quickly deal with these matters.
Then return to the relentless pursuit of your top 20% priorities.
Step 5 - Create reflective clarity.
You've accepted that time is a gift and you've used it to create inner clarity, priority clarity, and execution clarity.
The final step is to teach yourself what you have learned in the process.
Ask yourself, "What happened as I created clarity in my life?" "Why did it happen?" "What does this mean for using my next gift of 24 hours?" Repeat Steps 1 - 5 as often as necessary to maintain your leadership focus.
Congratulations, you've completed the Leadership Clarity Cycle.
Realize that time is a gift, use it to create inner clarity, priority clarity, execution clarity, and reflective clarity.
When you do this, you can be a focused leader accomplishing your most important priorities.
Copyright (c) 2009 Jeff R.
Hale
At the same time, the frantically changing environment pushes your organization and you to react.
It is difficult to distinguish between important matters and urgent matters.
You can use these five steps to focus your leadership and ensure that you accomplish what is most important.
Step 1 - Realize you can't create time.
How often have you said something like this, "I just can't seem to make time to do this" or "I'll have to make time to do this?" No one can make time.
Time is a gift.
If you live a full day, you have received a gift of 24 hours not a minute more and not a minute less.
You cannot make time, but you can use your time to create steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Step 2 - Create inner clarity.
Use your time to ask yourself three questions: (a) who do I want to be? (b) what do I want do? and (c) what am I willing invest toward these ends.
? To evaluate the quality of your responses ask, "Are my answers self-serving or will their accomplishment serve the well-being of others?" Inner clarity helps identify your life priorities and prepares you for steps 3 and 4.
Step 3 - Create priority clarity.
Pareto's Principle states that 80% of the value lies in the top 20% of your priorities.
For example, if you have a To Do List with 10 items ranked in order of importance with 1 being the most important and 10 being the least important, items 1 and 2 would contain 80% of the value of the priorities you plan to accomplish.
What are the top 20% of your priorities in the major categories of your life: personal, family, work, and community? Step 4 - Create execution clarity.
When you identify your top 20% of priorities be relentless in your pursuit of them - these are the truly important issues.
Of course, the urgent will continue to emerge.
When the urgent comes, quickly deal with these matters.
Then return to the relentless pursuit of your top 20% priorities.
Step 5 - Create reflective clarity.
You've accepted that time is a gift and you've used it to create inner clarity, priority clarity, and execution clarity.
The final step is to teach yourself what you have learned in the process.
Ask yourself, "What happened as I created clarity in my life?" "Why did it happen?" "What does this mean for using my next gift of 24 hours?" Repeat Steps 1 - 5 as often as necessary to maintain your leadership focus.
Congratulations, you've completed the Leadership Clarity Cycle.
Realize that time is a gift, use it to create inner clarity, priority clarity, execution clarity, and reflective clarity.
When you do this, you can be a focused leader accomplishing your most important priorities.
Copyright (c) 2009 Jeff R.
Hale