Know Thy Self

One key method for ensuring you are progressing as a manager and a person is to engage in reflection time. Yes, this does include some soul searching but not necessarily in a spiritual way.

One great method is to spend the last 10 minutes of every day writing down your thoughts under the following categories -

1. What went well today?


2. What didn't go so well?


3. What could I have done differently?


4. What will I do differently tomorrow?


5. What do I need to accomplish tomorrow?


6. What do I need to finish the number of days I have left this week?

By reflecting and improving on the little areas in life then you are well able to make adjustments that will work better into the future.

"If we don't change our direction we're likely to end up where we are headed". Chinese proverb.

"The self aware person is able to gain an accurate and appropriate perspective on events in their life, and instinctively brings simmering feelings into awareness. The self-aware person is a positive person, and recognizes that there are only ever 'positive people' or 'negative people' in life, business or sport" (Lead to succeed - Craig Lewis).

Crisis - How do you deal with it?

A crisis can either paralyse you with fear or energise you to make a change going forward.

This week we have had to deal with a major crisis that fortunately will not have as much impact as we first thought it would have. Also the team came out the other side with a clearer understanding and sense of purpose than what we had before the crisis hit.

So what did we do to get through?

1. Called a crisis meeting. All the parties involved were called in. Not just the persons who may have appeared to have been at fault but a wider selection of people. Those persons who were also able to solve the situation.


2. Focused on the issue at hand. Move away from finger pointing, blaming others or trying to apportion responsibility to a person. Rather focus on fixing the problem.


3. Made action plans. Every person in the meeting left with a sense of direction about what would be done to solve the situation. Every person will also be held accountable for their assigned tasks to ensure they are completed correctly.


4. Created procedures and protocols. Solving the problem faced once is not good enough. Creating levers and establishing communication links for the future is the ultimate outcome.


5. Reflected. There were a whole bunch of people who - missed it. We all missed the error and didn't fully appreciate the outcomes of our decisions. Through reflection we are able to ensure (as well as we can) that we will not knowingly make the same mistakes again.


6. Came clean. Our boss went and spoke to the CEO as soon as we knew what was happening and was able to - build credibility (integrity and honesty) and take some of the heat out of the situation.

Don't get me wrong. There was a crisis and there is some fallout as a result. However given the fact that we dealt with it - early, with everyone and can move forward - we all get to sleep better at night as a result.

Leadership Interviews - Number 2

Wendy Kopp, CEO of Teach for America - is a great role model. Ms Kopp is listed as having a Bachelors degree. What does that say? You don't have to have a PhD to be a great CEO!

What I find really interesting about Ms Kopp is the fact that when she first finished her study she noticed a need in the community at the low income end and ended up starting a community and social responsibility company that seeks to help under privileged kids.

Here's the lesson - if you follow your heart, use your smarts and open to change then anything is possibe.

Here's another lesson - often times you won't change the system from within, but you can create and provide solutions from the outside in.

Here is a video of an interview done with Ms Kopp.




There is also another great interview with her written up by the NY Times over here.

Change Manager

Change Management.

Definition -

A company or person charged with - adapting to change, controlling change, and effecting change.

Qualities required -

• high levels of commitment,


• motivation,


• optimism,


• self-confidence,


• influence and


• initiative.

Have you got the goods?

Great Reads

If you live in the South Pacific and are wanting to read something that is local and relevant, check out the following publication -

"BOSS" by the Financial Review. It comes out of Australia and constantly has excellent articles and interviews.

From what I can see the magazine has re-engineered it's content over the past year or so and is now capable of competing with other top line management magazines that are out there in the market place.

The October issue has the following article highlight's - Top bosses: the missing link, i feel motivated, The boiler room.

Grab a copy - you won't be disappointed.

Talent - what do you do with it?

Every employee you have and person you know has a particular talent and tons of potential. The key is to figure out - what is that talent and how do you make the most of it?

Talented people generally are on the move (either upwards or sideways) and think they know where they are going. What you need as a manager to do is to provide a balance between untried ambition and actual skill. Provide a balance between new challenges and the development of new skills as well as the refinement and strengthening of current skills. Getting the balance between the two is hard - but the results are also very rewarding both for your business and the person concerned.

The other idea is to make every employee a CEO of something. Make them completely responsible for an idea or project. Give them a budget, authority and the right amount of support to make it happen.

Talented employees also need feedback and reflection time. The reviewing of KPI's and goals is a powerful motivator. Keep the KPI's short and aggressive. By doing this you, the manager, keeps close to the talent and you can gauge their growth. Where growth is quick - you can set higher targets and more complex problems. Where growth is slower - this provides a good time for both you and the talent to catch a breather before proceeding.

Note - not all talent is under 30! Some of the most talented people you have are over 30, settled into their jobs and are quite possibly bored. the mission is to identify them, lure them out of their secure place and unleash their hidden skills on the world!

Education, Trends and Job Currency

In order to be relevant and to keep relevant you need to keep in touch with current trends, philosophies and approaches.

How can you do this? Here are the simple methods -

1. Read. Join your local library and borrow books. Readers lead and leaders read. Good libraries update their books often. If your library doesn't - ask! Your local librarian might just need some good ideas of what people want to read.


2. Surf. Jump on the Internet and seek out teaching and lessons from the top leaders of our time. There are a lot of websites that exist with top content.


3. iTunesU. Download the latest lessons from the worlds best Universities every week!


4. Listen. Often times the language that is being used by the 'guru's' doesn't take long to permeate into everyday language.

If you are able to keep current with modern thinking and activities - you position yourself well for tomorrow.

You Get What You Measure

What are the key aspects of your business and work that you measure?

When you begin to measure something you are able to assess the impacts and success rates of what it is you are trying to achieve.

If you are working to achieve higher turnover - you measure sales!

If you are trying to achieve more website traffic - you measure the hits and content!

If you are trying to get fit - you measure weight loss, stamina gain and strength gains.

In order to know if you will hit your targets and goals - you must measure your development as you go.

Aim, Analyse and Achieve.

Connection vs. Communication

Napolean Boneparte once said "An army marches on it's stomach". True.

A business and relationships are dependant upon something else - communication. We operate in a world where there are countless opportunities and technologies that we can use to communicate with others. However we need to reassess and discover if we are merely connecting or are we truly communicating?

(Note - I will use the word 'connect' to mean electronic methods of interaction).

Here's an example - to connect means someone picks up the phone or sees you have messaged them but there is no action, feedback or follow through by the other person.

Communication is where the other person answers the phone, listens to you and understands the intent and purpose of your message.

Many managers assume because they have made a connection (usually electronically) that the message they were trying to communicate has occurred. Wrong assumption.

How do you know the difference between a connection and a successful communication? Try these tips to figure it out -

1. When sending email track the message - to make sure it gets opened.
2. Get the receiver to repeat back to you the message you sent - in their own words.
3. Follow up with the person to their progress within a realistic time frame (shorter rather than longer) to ensure progress is being made.
4. Speak to people face to face. Body language and non-verbal communication styles account for 80% of a message given (and received!)

To succeed in life - communicate.

• Communicate often;
• Communicate clearly;
• Communicate effectively.

Management Reads

I picked up a copy of "Lead To Succeed" written by Craig Lewis. This is great book that centre's on the sporting achievements that Craig was able to help engineer with leading New Zealand sports teams and individuals.

The thing I liked most about this book was the openness and frankness of the writer. He dealt with real people in real situations and Craig does an excellent job of walking the line between sports leadership and business leadership.

The book is essentially based upon a few major themes -

• kaizen - the drive for constant improvement;
• fun - enjoying what you do;
• trust - knowing those around you.

It is a great read filled with stories of achievement and overcoming what others think are insurmountable odds - and doing it anyway!

The other book I am reading is "Follow The Roar" by Bob Smiley. What does Tiger Woods have to do with management? Everything!

This is a very humorous and candid story from an impartial observer of what Tiger Woods does, and even more importantly how he does it. There are a number of very potent observations that the writer makes that can teach the average person a lot about how to approach life and be a winner.

Excerpt "He walks slowly; nothing is rushed. He actually appears to relish the pressure of the moment".