“Paid to Think — A leader’s toolkit for redefining your future” by David Goldsmith with Lorrie Goldsmith (Ben Bella Books, $35).
Remember the Think n Do books of youth gone by? The Goldsmiths create the business version by showing how thinking creates doing. Regardless of your level in an organization, you can boost your effectiveness as a leader by managing your think and do time. How?
1. “Allocate time in your day for both strategic and tactical activities.” Take a look at your job. The more its basics rely on figuring out what must be done, the more time you need to spend on thinking. As you move down the organizational pyramid, job emphasis shifts from thinking to doing.
Those at the top think about what must be done. Those in the middle think about how to do it. Those in the trenches may only spend 10 percent of their time on thinking because they’re busy executing. But that 10 percent becomes critically important to an organization because they provide real-time feedback that those higher up can use to shape and tweak strategy and processes.
2. “Transfer knowledge and skills to others.” Every effective leader teaches and learns. Building your team for the long-term requires generating a constant flow of opportunity that keeps its talent energized and optimistic. That flow develops talent and builds leadership at all levels. It keeps the engines of success and succession primed.
3. “Use your wildly successful projects (WSPs) to push the organization forward. A WSP doesn’t just meet expectations; it far exceeds them. How? It starts by asking the right questions about desired outcomes. The questions start with awareness of competition, the market and an understanding of how other outside factors (e.g. technology, politics, partnerships, etc.) present challenges and opportunities. The questions end with macro and micro level tactics that deal with resource allocation and process definition.
4. “Avoid the Squirrel Effect by staying focused on your priorities.” The authors define the Squirrel Effect in terms of time spent moving from task to task, fighting fires and then wondering why results are lower than expectations. Use a priority-management system to keep your eye on what’s really important.
Quite often, it’s the boss that creates havoc with your priorities. Manage up. Learn more about his/her priorities. This opens the door to discussing shifts and their impact on you and your peers within the context of organizational goals.
As your priorities shift, don’t forget the effects on your team. Take the time to explain the what and the why. Only then can you focus on how.
5. “Point to you first (P2UF).” When results lag behind expectations, it’s easier fixing blame than finding causes. As a leader, what you did or didn’t do at the outset and during the process affects the outcome. Incomplete plans (i.e. fill in the blanks as we go), limited guidance, not encouraging and listening to feedback and resources not matched to the task affect execution and outcomes. Be honest about your role in the results.
Also remember: “People don’t show up to work to screw up.” They want to succeed. In the case of underperformers, they may not be in the right job. They may not know how to do the job well. There may be too much job to do and too many fires to fight. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to figure out why, and address the situation.
The authors also believe there is an “I” in team. That “I” deals with “personal responsibility for their contributions to the whole”. When the “I” of the team members mesh, results rule.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
