3 Things Successful Leaders Do on Wednesday

It's the middle of the week, and you can hardly wait for the back-end of the week. You had the usual issues on Monday, and put out some fires on Tuesday. Thursday is right around the corner, and you are ready to put it on cruise control.

The successful leaders think a little different. Each day of the week is important, and gliding into the weekend is not an option. When they are not executing the plan, they are making sure that problems are addressed quickly. In essence, they understand the importance of taking corrective action when a misalignment takes place.

Wednesday is an important day for proactive leaders. At this point in the week, they still have time to get the critical work done. You will not hear the following from a go-getter: "Let's do the best we can. We can always push it to next week." That is a no-no for successful leaders. If the work is due this week, they will do whatever possible to deliver on what is promised.

You will find top-notch leaders doing the following on any given Wednesday:

#1: Review the plan created on Monday to ensure they are on track.

In project management, we call the initial plan a baseline. In other words, we want to know what we are expected to deliver during the week. If the goal is to conduct 20 interviews with key customers regarding their perceptions of the quality of tech support provided, these leaders will make sure the work is on track.

The proactive leader will meet with the core team to identify the progress. By becoming engaged in the process, the leader collects valuable information to provide ample time to take corrective action when necessary. Waiting even just one day to gather this time-sensitive feedback may result in problems that escalate beyond the leader's department, and thereby causing harm to the entire organization.

#2: Interact with team members to provide support where necessary.

In MBA school, students learn an important leadership concept called Management by Wandering Around. A successful leader is on the floor as much as possible. It's important to know that this person is not rolling up their sleeves and doing the actual work. Instead, the leader is interested in learning about the obstacles that are preventing milestones from being met.

I know of many so-called leaders that sit in their comfy offices looking at report-after-report. This is akin to reviewing one's bank account throughout the day hoping unexpected deposits are made. It's not going to happen. It's much better to take action instead of staring blindly at one's computer screen.

#3: Keep a moving forward approach.

The recommendation here is to move forward, and to avoid costing, even worse, sliding downhill. The excellent leader is constantly looking for potential risks, and is prepared to exploit opportunities. For example, he might learn that an important resource has available time to work on a key task. Understanding the importance of this development, the leader will contact this person's line manager to request assistance.

By staying focused on the key deliverables, we get more done. Let's avoid pursuing the Big Bang approach where we are mostly concerned about impressing others. Successful leaders treat Wednesday as another important day where the plan is executed, and just as much attention is assigned to quality control. In short, the benefits are realized incrementally.

This is not a flashy approach, but it is effective.

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Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Hey! "Keep Your Eye on The Ball"!

How any times have you heard that expression? Was it as a kid at bat for the first time? It could have been any sport really where one needs to focus "on the ball". Or, maybe you've shouted it out to your child during their little league baseball or softball game. Regardless of whether you heard it or said, it is probably the universal call to pay attention, focus and avoid distractions.

So, what does this have to do with you and your business or career? Heck, nobody is perfect 100% of the time. However, I want to talk about those times where you wasted an opportunity that should have been yours because you took your eye of the ball - i.e. you allowed yourself to get distracted and lost your focus.

From my experience, people take "their eye off of the ball" for several reasons:

•           They either did not have a plan or the one they did have was poorly constructed; lacking clarity on what was supposed to get done; by when; by whom and where it fit in to the big picture.

•           They did not have a comprehensive vision of what they were trying to create, with measurable benchmarks to be achieved over a specific timeframe.

•           They thought that they could wing it. You know make it up as they go. Winging it is not a strategy or even a realistic tactic. The answer is to plan; have goals and practice your craft until you can execute it flawlessly on a consistent basis under all types of conditions.

•           They don't take the time to learn from their mistakes when they took their eye of the ball previously. Failure to learn from your experiences condemns you to a life of re-living your mistakes. Geez! Is that what you really want?

•           Finally, a lack of self discipline is probably the single greatest cause for someone not keeping their eye on the ball. They simply have not formed a strong enough habit to do the things they need to do consistently, persistently and systematically.

Keeping your eye on the ball and developing your ability to focus effectively, is critical to your success. You can dramatically increase your chances of "keeping your eye on the ball" by having a clear vision of where you want to go; reflected in an accurate plan with realistic goals supported by a disciplined approach to execute the plan.

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3 Ways To Reclaim 30 Minutes Of Your Time Everyday

I believe that it is fair to say that most people are striving to achieve some type of success, whether it is success in their personal or professional life or both. In their quest to become a leader in their own right, many people keep going and going like the energizer bunny.

Unfortunately there is one thing that far too many people have in common, and that is that they believe that there is not enough hours in the day. Many describe it as feeling like they are in a rat race that never ends. The days seem fused together; they are always on the go and feel like they never get a chance to slow down.

The reality is that you will never slow down if you do not make an intentional effort to do so. You have to make the time and reclaim some time in your day for you, and you only. Here are 3 steps to help you find and reclaim that time.

Step 1

Start with identifying what you time really looks like, through "your" lens. I want you to identify what you time includes. If you had a full day to yourself, with no responsibilities whatsoever, what would you do? I mean what really relaxes you? I want you to make an exhaustive list. Now, out of your list, which one thing can you tailor down and realistically do everyday? I mean an express version, where you can still get similar relaxation benefits in about 30 minutes?

Step 2

Break your day into 4 quadrants. Morning, early afternoon, late afternoon and evening. Morning is from when you wake up in the morning to 12 noon, early afternoon is 12noon to about 3pm, late afternoon is 3pm - 6pm and evening is 6pm until you shut your eyes and go to bed. I want you to identify what time of day you are most relaxed and least relaxed. Now, write down what makes that certain time of day very relaxing. Is it something about you personally, your energy level, your focus, the setting, the people around you? Make a list of the characteristics of this special time. Identify it and strategically use it to your advantage.

Step 3

The time of day that you have identified as being least relaxed is where I want you to reclaim 30 minutes of you time. Using the list you developed in step 1, and the characteristics you listed in step 2, I want you to re-create and reclaim you time and commit to doing this for 30 minutes everyday. The key is that you have to make a conscious choice and commitment to taking time out for you.

Always remember that what you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while. Take ownership of your time and take care of you.

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Muhammad Yunus, The Founder of Microcredit

Have you ever wondered if you followed through with a great idea where it might go? Well, let me tell you about one of my friends who did just that.

Muhammad Yunus was an economics teacher in Bangaladesh. There had been a great flood up north and, day after day, he found people dying on his front porch. After a couple of days, he went to a small group of people close by and asked them how much money these 42 people would need to survive for one month. 

They figured it would be $26.00. He took the money out of his own pocket. He thought to himself, "Why am I teaching economics when so many people don't have any money?"

The next day, he went to a couple of banks and their responses were all the same: "We only work with people who have money, not those who don't have any." They would not make any loans. This man began to wonder if those who do not have any money could start with a tiny, tiny loan. They could pay the loan back and get a larger loan. Of course, the banks thought this was a crazy idea. So, he started the Grameen Bank. 

His idea turned into the microcredit system and today millions of women and their families are out of poverty. 

Their children can now afford to go to school.

I asked him, "But, weren't you afraid that the women who received the microcredit would not pay back their loans?" He smiled and said that 98% of all the loans have been paid back. Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his work.

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Developing A Home Business

Life is popular for giving sucker punches that can actually knock the wind flow out of you. Soon after as a dedicated worker for several years, suddenly, via no-fault of your very own, you might be kicked out and hurled into icy skepticism. Has doing work in the home been popular with you? There are actually recommendations in this particular bit that will direct you for the reason that direction.

When beginning a house organization you need to aspect in simply how much available money you have for start up expenses. Home companies are less costly to operate than kinds run with an place of work, but you have to have investment capital. Identifying how much it is going to expense to operate your small business will help you steer clear of shedding cash within the long-term.

Generally physical exercise persistence. A home-structured industry is not likely to blossom right away. A residence organization will require the two time and energy and you will definitely see expansion when you acquire expertise. Becoming steady and affected individual are two qualities to concentrate on from the life of your small business.

Decrease your company costs if you take all tax reductions available for your needs. Declaring all the deductibles you may could save you a considerable amount of dollars.

Your organization objective is a brief outline relating to your enterprise, usually 2-3 phrases. Consider the reason why you made this business and what you wish to obtain. With this paragraph, consist of exactly what makes your business stay ahead of your competition and whatever you want to accomplish.

Incorporate a banner club for the internet site. Doing this, you may have a banner ad swap plan with joined enterprises. It is really an good way to boost your rankings searching motors and get customers to see your site, which will assist you to offer your merchandise easily.

Try commencing an enterprise, such as daycare or even a support in which you do errands. Get artistic, and look for methods to help out all those close to you.

Home business managers have a tendency to congregate on the web. Attempt studying discussion boards which are the two devoted to your target market and also these outside of it. Tune in to everyone's suggestions in relation to home based business, one never knows when it can be beneficial facts.

When looking over this report, hopefully you were inspired to consider your life in your very own fingers. You had been presented a great deal of advice on beginning a property organization, and the time has come to get the bull through the horns and go for it! You can preserve this post for reference to read through whenever you are certainly not certain what the next step you should be consuming is.

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