Have A Plan

Having a plan suggest you have done some thinking, which is good. Having a plan does not mean being inflexible and rigid. Your plans should always be up for revision, amendments and changes. When situations change, your plans may need to change to stay current. I looked through lists of long term goals I had set for myself roughly five years ago and I realized I have already reached half of my ten year goals. Not knowing all the details of your plan is OK, not having a plan is not.

Leaders Listen, Learn And Lift

A true leader first needs to listen to his or her people, learn and lift them before he can lead them. There are three intrinsic questions followers are asking from their leader; they are asking for care, help and trust. "If I follow you, will you make it better for me?" A great question to ask yourself as a leader is; "what can I do and what can I say to give other people something of value?"

Travel Agent Or Tour Guide?

You cannot give what you don't have. You can not lead where you have not gone yourself. In that case you merely act as a travel agent, you have never visited the country, you are only booking the tickets. When you are a tour guide on the other hand, you take people to places you've been many times before. You can explain the history and related details thoroughly because you are well acquainted with the environment. What kind of leader do you want to be?

Connect With Heart And Hand

I have found that in politics as well as in business you first need to touch the heart of people before you can ask them for a hand. You need to establish rapport and trust with your constituency. In sales, when you can connect with the customer on an emotional level about his or her need, then your order is almost always certain. Why is this, you think? I think it is because people don't care that you know until they know that you care. Heart comes first!

Willingness And Capacity

When you are about to hire someone, two great questions to ask are; "Will he or she?" and "Can he or she?" "Will" speaks about attitudes. Is this individual a person who will go that extra mile, work for the betterment of the team etc.? "Can", on the other hand, is about capacity. Does this individual have the potential to get the job done and to grow and skillfully contribute in my organization. Make sure you assess both the attitude and the capacity.

Learn To Banjo

One productivity tip is to deal with a nuisance right away, instead of letting it just sit there unfinished and sap your energy right out of you. Learn to play the Banjo. BANJO is an acronym standing for "Bang a nasty job off". Getting something unpleasant out of the way makes you feel better. Once you finish the task the sense of accomplishment will help you achieve higher levels of energy throughout the day.

Benefits Of Teamwork

It is true that in a well functioning team everyone wins because with more people focusing together on a single aim, you increase your capacity as well as combined talent, experience, connections and energy. A great acronym for the benefit of organizing and working in a TEAM is: Together Everyone Achieves More. To achieve maximum benefit, understanding of group dynamics and what it takes to develop a team is a critical leadership skill.