Jay Wren – Page 39 – Be in the Top 1% in Mindset – Leadership

Measured Steps: Overcoming Procrastination and Achieving Success

The simple way to overcome procrastination and complete large tasks is to complete a set of measured steps every day.
Jay Wren

Measured Steps: Some projects require months, even years to complete. How do successful people set deadlines and achieve success throughout the year?

Project Management

Large organizations have people who specialize in project management. Many of these people have years of experience. Additionally, project managers often have certifications that qualify them to manage large projects.

But what about the people who don’t have the capacity to hire project managers? How do sole proprietors and small start-ups keep projects moving ahead on time?

Procrastination

Anyone can suffer from procrastination. Especially, large projects can discourage people from even starting to work on them.

The easiest way to overcome procrastination is to take one simple action. If you need to go for a run, first just lace your shoes.

Simple, Identical, Daily Reminders Are Useless

For large projects, a simple, daily, identical reminder to work on routine daily tasks is pointless. Why do you even create daily general reminders for something that you do every day?
Here are some examples routine tasks that you can omit from your daily reminders: read emails, return phone calls, attend 10:00 AM daily meeting.

On the other hand, you should have a list of tasks as they pertain to specific issues. For example, “Call ABC’s buyer to confirm the order.” “Schedule a meeting with the distribution team to solve delivery issues.”

Specific Measured Steps

For me, dividing a task into smaller tasks is effective for completing long-term larger projects. I schedule these steps according to priority and deadline. I measure them in terms of details, time, date, and time allowed for each of these steps.

Whether a person is writing a book or starting a retail business, they can create a list of the steps that they must take to reach finishing the project. Then break these measured steps into achievable daily goals.

In some cases, you must have tasks running simultaneously. Even though the tasks are simultaneous, you can’t do either of these two things at the same time. Therefore, break your task into units that you can complete during a single day.

List these things on your daily calendar as specific measured steps in terms of details and time you will spend on a task and the time you will start it.

Conclusion

Can’t afford project managers? These steps help you create your own system for managing large projects.

Deep Breath: The Simple Step to Mental Clarity

A deep breath will never dissolve my problems, but it will give me a clear head to solve them.
~ www. jaywren.com

Deep breath: How does this simple action lead to greater success? What are the many rewards of focusing on our breathing?

Health

Worrying about our problems steals our energy. Our muscles tighten. Our nerves become stressed and our nervous system becomes out of balance. We can get headaches, stomach aches. and aches in our back and neck. Worrying is dangerous to our health, because it puts stress on our internal organs, especially our stomach and our heart.

Mind

Anxiety clutters our mind. Rather than dissolving our fears, anxiety hardens and fixes fear. We put the things that bother us under a mental microscope. We lose sight of the big picture.

And what am I really doing when I am worrying? I am not solving my problems. I am just scaring myself with my own thinking.

A Deep Breath is Normal

Breathing is healthy and normal. Panic causes shortness of breath. The decrease in oxygen only further increases the mental and physical harm of anxiety. Therefore, the physical action of a deep breathe helps restore our oxygen levels to a normal state.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, every healthy person is capable of taking a deep breath. However, we simply don’t use this normal, healthy process.

The Benefits

When we take a deep breath, our chest and lungs expand. The extra oxygen from deep breathing helps restore our mind and body to a centered and healthier state. We suffer less from nervous and physical tension.

Our problems still exist. But with a deep breath we can have greater mentality clarity to solve our problems. Focusing on our breathing helps us to return the present moment. We can look at our problems objectively. Our problems don’t dissolve, but solutions are easier to see.

Furthermore, we become available to our friends, our coworkers, and supervisors. Our lives not only become more productive with a deep breath. They become enjoyable.

Unconscious Bias: How Our Feelings Hijack Our Judgement

Unconscious bias is part of being a human. We all have emotions and points of view tied to our core beliefs. These core beliefs affect how we think and feel about everything in our life. How can we make our bias an asset?

Our biases lead us to seek out or even create an environment that reinforces our beliefs. We build our daily activities around people, places, and things that make us feel safe and bring us comfort. As a result, in our daily lives, we don’t broaden our point of view. Instead, we harden our biases.

Surrounding ourselves with people we like is normal. People who look and think the way we do become our friends. Following our biases, we become a member of a group that helps us advance our interests.

Therefore, in this case, unconscious bias is a good trait.

The Risks of Unconscious Bias

The painful triggers from our biases make us angry, even before we fully understand the situations that trigger us.

In these cases, unconscious bias is a thief. It steals our happiness. We not only suffer fear and anger. These feelings can hijack our judgement. They can damage relationships and put us in pointless confrontations.

Likewise, the pleasant triggers put us at risk of accepting and even doing things that are not always in our best interest. We fail to see the benefits of changing our beliefs and, therefore, our behavior.

Pause Before Acting

When unconscious bias triggers our emotions, we can do and say things that we soon regret. Rather than risk harming ourselves socially and professionally through hasty reactions, we can do things to deal with the feeling before we act.

Here are some ways that we can pause before acting.

Step away from the situation. Literally go to another location.
Take a deep breath.
If you are in a situation where a person is pressing you to act, ask for time to think.
Write our feelings in a private note, but never send angry letters or emails. Simply writing can take the sting out of painful feelings.
Discuss the situation with a person who is not involved in the problem.
Realize that doing nothing is, in some cases, the best way to handle a situation that stirs our bias.

The mere awareness of acting out of anger is a signal that we are at risk of increasing the size of a problem. Accept this awareness and pause before acting.

Understanding Unconscious Bias

By understanding our unconscious bias, we can grow. We can learn ways to make better decisions. We can become more effective as a friend, co-worker, or leader. Our lives can become more rewarding and happy.

Leadership Styles: Why They Matter in Creating Success

Leadership Styles: There are as many leadership styles as there are different personalities and different points of view. Why does this matter? These traits create bias that colors a leader’s judgement.

The Effect of Leadership Styles

The leadership style that you use will affect the morale, productivity, engagement, and, ultimately, the success of your organization. Here are some ideas to help you rise above your emotions and your prejudice to create a leadership style that will lead to a successful organization.

Moods

We all have high moods and low moods. When we are in a low mood, we can become impatient and abrasive. Additionally, we can lose confidence and become less effective as leaders.

On the other hand, when we are in a high mood, we can become generous with our time and the company’s money. We can become less demanding than required for success team effort.

Whether we are in a high mood or a low mood, we must focus on the performance of the team. Before we start to lead, we must level out our moods. Great leaders establish an understanding of what they expect of an entire organization. A bad mood can undermine the understanding an organization has of the leader and the mission. Trying to follow a leader who is up one day and down the next is confusing.

Consistency

Some leaders are inspirational teachers. Other leaders are practical teachers. There are leaders who micromanage. Some leaders delegate. Still other leaders leave all the decisions on how to do things to the people who are doing them.

There are countless leadership qualities that lead to success. Throughout my career as a recruiter and business owner, I have made notes on leaders I admire. One of the things that I most admired was consistency. Once I knew what to expect from a leader in terms of their expectations in our relationship, I could manage my style to meet the leaders approach to business.

For example, I worked with a senior vice president of sales who wanted to speak with me at 6:00 PM on a regular basis. She wanted an update on each recruiting assignment and my plan to complete each search. I prepared before the call and gave her the information she wanted. Therefore, our calls were short, to the point, and productive. The consistency made working with the person simple.

Leaders who let their personality control their leadership often fail to focus on the organization’s mission. Therefore, as a leader, ask yourself whether you are acting in the best interest of the organization or to feed your ego.

Photo by Silas Baisch on Unsplash

Giving Credit: Boosting Team Morale and Reducing Turnover

Giving credit to other people is a no cost way to boost morale and reduce turnover.

Leaders who have the humility to give credit inspire others to become future leaders. ~ www.jaywren.com

A Memorable Experience

Saying, “Thank you” is easy to do. People appreciate it when I say, “You did a good job.”

Furthermore, people not only enjoy receiving credit. They tend to remember the experience. Giving credit is a type of winning behavior that will help you build career-long relationships and an ever-growing network.

Humility to Inspire

Leaders who give credit are an inspiration to an organization. They encourage positive behavior with positive reinforcement. Inspirational leaders are not afraid to say, “You did an excellent job.”

Gaining Respect by Giving Recognition

People respect leaders who give credit.

For several years, I have published a newsletter. Two people have regularly given me thanks for my work in creating and publishing that newsletter. One of these people is a senior executive at The Walt Disney Company. The other person was the Vice President of Sales at Nestle at age thirty-two and today places more C-level executives than any other corporate recruiter in the country. I remember and I respect these people for responding to my efforts to keep them up to date on career and industry information.

The Simplest Form of Recognition

I have read several times that the words people most like to hear are the words in their name. When I first meet people, I repeat their name during my conversation with them.

Whenever I greet people, I say their name. Of course, when I want their attention, I say a person’s name.

Name recognition is very powerful, especially with people you are getting to know.

The Real Winner in Giving Credit

The real winners in giving credit are the people who are giving the credit. These people attract people to them. I remember people when they take time to give me recognition. I find that especially is the case when I have done a large job. Furthermore, I find that I remember people who have repeatedly thanked me for my work or told me that I did a good job. I feel good about myself and about those people.

Workplace Winners: How to Gain Respect and Create Success

Workplace Winners: How do people set the tone and take the action to become a winner in the workplace? Here are four steps I have seen that separate workplace winners from the crowd.

Workplace winners show respect for the people who respect them. ~ www.jaywren.com

Respond Intelligently to Criticism

When someone criticizes me, I can easily criticize him or her for things that they have done. This type of response does not lead to solutions.

The best thing I can do is to listen to the person. I can create space and time until I can understand what the person is saying.

The person may have information I need to do a better job. Even if the person has suggestions that will not help me, I can listen and avoid tension. I can focus on the situation at hand.

Let Other People Have Their Say

I have two ears and one mouth. I need to learn from other people. If I am talking all the time, I will never learn anything from anyone.

If a person has gone off the subject, I can direct them back to the point of the discussion.

Moreover, Pay Attention to What People Are Saying

When my mind is elsewhere during a conversation, people will notice that I am not paying attention. I need to wake up and pay attention. People respect me for the attention I give as much the attention I get.

Show concern for people who are struggling

I once became impatient with a secretary who was hesitant about helping me schedule a flight. When I pressed her on the matter, she confessed that she had never scheduled a flight. She had never been on an airplane. The fact was awkward for her. She was so bright and capable in so many ways. I apologized for my impatience. I explained the simple process to her. She booked the flights. A little bit of patience from me helped us both move on to the important things we needed to do that day.

Workplace Winners

In Conclusion, workplace winners don’t focus on what is wrong in other people. Rather, they show respect and learn from others in the workplace. As a result, these winners gain respect and build their own success.

Tyranny: How Bad Leadership Ultimately Destroys an Organization

Tyranny: Leaders can become cruel. They can use their power to oppress, abuse, and cheat workers. Ultimately, tyrannical leaders can destroy an organization. On the other hand, great leaders lift their workers to create great organizations with people who enjoy professional success. What elements create great leaders who instill confidence and workplace engagement?

Tyranny in leadership infects the brain of an organization and creates destruction as it spreads throughout the entire organizational body.
~ www.jaywren.com

Leadership

Leadership is a trait that can start from any place in an organization. Usually leadership starts at the top and runs throughout the entire organization. By picking and developing winning teams, great leaders create great organizations.

Tyranny in Leadership

However, bad leaders, especially leaders who practice tyranny, can create failure in any organization. The Caine Mutiny is a novel about a commanding officer, LCDR Philip Francis Queeg, whose endless mistakes and tyrannical command create such desperation among the officers that they commit mutiny. Herman Wouk, the author of The Caine Mutiny, drew upon his knowledge from World War II experiences aboard a similar vessel, the USS Zane.

The book dramatically portrays leadership failure. The mistakes, tyranny, and dishonesty of Captain Queeg result in mistakes among the officers and crew and create dangerous and embarrassing situations for the ship under his command, the USS Caine.

As I said in an earlier post, there is a saying in the United States Navy, “So goes the captain. So goes the wardroom. So goes the ship.” A bad captain creates bad performance among the officers who in turn create bad performance among the people who work for them. On the other hand, great commanding officers raise the performance of their officers and in turn their crew.

The same principle applies in any organization.

Brilliance Exists at All Levels

Great leaders know that brilliance exists at all levels of their organization. Furthermore, great leaders have left great quotes to instruct us on leadership. During World War II, Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz was the Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Fleet. Additionally, he was Commander of the Pacific Ocean Areas for U.S. and Allied air, land, and sea forces. Here are two quotes from Nimitz that show his view of leadership.

“Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.”

“Some of the best advice I’ve had comes from junior officers and enlisted men.”

Rather than abuse the people who work for them, great leaders see these future leaders as sources of creativity and inspiration.

My Experience with Excellence in Leadership

The greatest leader I have known is Admiral Sylvester R. Foley, Jr., who, like Nimitz, was Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. I knew him earlier on when he was my captain aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Midway. He would say things to encourage and to simplify the job for the people under his command. He clearly stated what he expected of you. Furthermore, he gave you credit when you performed with excellence.

Great leaders like Nimitz and Foley influence lives. The leadership I experienced under Admiral Foley gives me confidence and direction to this day. Tyranny destroys leadership. However, the best leaders create great leaders to follow them.

Self-Awareness: How Knowing Yourself Creates Success

Self-awareness: Some people become victims of their feelings and thoughts. How can developing self-awareness change victim thinking to action thinking?

Self-awareness is knowing and understanding how our feelings and thoughts occur inside our own mind and body. Furthermore, this knowledge and understanding can show us effective ways to act on the things that trigger the way we see and respond to the world.

The Negatives of Lacking Self-Awareness

In response to pain from the past, present, or future experiences, we often turn our focus on what’s happening in our mind and in our body. We have a sensation of lack of control over our circumstances. We don’t focus on solutions. Instead, we turn painful thoughts over and over in our mind.

The most difficult thoughts are those about things beyond our control. By focusing on our faults, we add to the frustration and fear that we experience. When these feelings become intense enough, they blind us to options and solutions. We feel trapped.

The Benefits of Self-Awareness

On the other hand, people who are self-aware know that feelings happen inside themselves. They turn their focus away from their feelings and thoughts and toward the world around them. These people live in the present moment. They don’t think about the past or the future. Additionally, they trust that however things turn out, they have the ability to develop to tools to deal with them. In short, they have confidence and know freedom from fear and frustration.

Relationships: A Higher Level of Self-Awareness

Furthermore, people with self-awareness are available and engaged with others. They have a higher capacity to listen and a greater capacity to respond appropriately.

Self-awareness empowers people to be more successful leaders and better friends. They realize the effect their actions have on the people around them.

Furthermore, people who are aware of how their actions affect other people become more effective in motivating others, in changing public opinion, and have the potential to direct large masses.

Ending Perfection Paralysis: How to Become More Productive

Ending Perfection Paralysis: How do successful people end the compulsion to rework projects and move on to create new ones?

My Personal Struggles with Ending Perfection Paralysis

I have worked on drafts of articles so many times that I have lost track of what I had in mind when I started writing the article.

Additionally, in reviewing older blog posts, I see ways that I could have written the post better. However, few people will ever see those posts. Taking time to continually review and rewrite old material takes away from my time to create new work.

The Perfectionist as a Manager

The worst case of perfection affecting performance I have seen was the case of a former supervisor. He placed so much emphasis on everything being exactly the way he wanted that everyone struggled through countless changes to meet his expectations. Whether dealing with correspondence, maintenance, or production, he would continue to look for flaws in everything. He would insist that things be done to meet his idea of how they things should be done.

When this person left, his replacement was just the opposite in his management of people and requirements for perfection. He knew that he had intelligent, conscientious people working for him. He would carefully review the finished products and perhaps make changes. However, he also knew that countless unnecessary revisions were just a waste of time.

Peak performance comes from knowing when to move on to the next project.

Money Saved and Money Earned.

The first obvious benefit of ending perfection paralysis is that people become more productive. However, there are other benefits.

The principle of ending perfection saves money and builds businesses to make more money. Every time a company revises or reworks anything, the company spends money and creates delays in profitable productivity.

Reduced Risks of Mistakes

Additionally, some products may undergo changes that introduce errors that must be caught before the revised product can be released. Every time I revise my material, I risk making errors in the new material.

Changes of schedules or procedures in groups of people create risks of confusion. Inevitably the more changes to a schedule will result in an increase in the likelihood that more people will fail to know and meet the schedule.

I first observed this when I was a young manager and there was a flight change involving eight people. No one got the information about the change. All eight people missed the flight. Having been involved in countless scheduling situations since that time, I have made it a practice to hold people to their commitments to stick to schedules.

Solutions to Ending Perfection Paralysis

Some people may need professional help to end their endless perfection. These people have a compulsion. Consistent with compulsions in drinking or taking drugs, people with a compulsion to rework their projects may have an addiction. These people may need professional help to overcome their addiction to perfection.

On the other hand, learning the signs of perfectionism can help you let go of the desire to rework a project. Here are some techniques that may work for you.

Get feedback. Work in teams where consensus can help you release your work and move on to new projects.

Establish parameters. State the purpose of a project. Layout out the details. Once you have completed a project so that it fulfills its purpose, you can know when it is time to release the project.

Set the project aside for a day. Backing away from a project to let yourself view your work objectively will help you recognize when you are reworking a finished project.

Anger Management: When Emotions Damage Careers

Anger Management: People who cannot control their tempers can ruin their career and the career of others. How do some people manage anger to create success for themselves and their organization?

Anger protects us against danger. However, acting out of anger clutters our thinking and undermines our success.
~ www.jaywren.com

Four Steps to Anger Management

Here are four areas of anger management that can help you be more successful in building great relationships in stressful situations.

Pause Before Acting

When you first feel anger, pause and wait for your emotions to become less intense. If possible, step away to process your emotions.

Avoid saying things when you are angry. Rational thinking can evaporate when our feelings hijack our reasoning.

Certainly, don’t say things or send angry letters or emails that you may regret later.

Seek Mentoring

A mentor might be anyone who can help you work through your feelings and take constructive actions.

Discussing our feelings with a person who is not involved can help us process our anger. Furthermore, just writing about our feelings can help remove the sting of our experience. Once we have those feelings on paper, we can use our notes for our discussion with our mentor.

Let Go of Unproductive Emotions

If people have offended us, we feel sore. A common response is to hold onto our anger. Resentments are dangerous. They can damage our health and our relationships. When we feel angry for past wrongs, focusing on our breathing can help us get out of our head and into the present moment.

Set Boundaries

Negative, angry people cause us stress and damage our performance. They create anger in the people around them.

It is not always easy to avoid negative people. Likewise, changing the behavior of other people is difficult. However, speaking out to set boundaries on behavior that you will not tolerant is often all that we need to do. Where possible, seek alliances with other people to help protect your boundaries. Report abusive behavior.