Colleagues,

We have been using my need to increase social media presence (smp) as an example of how to lower E. Two other ways to make smp easier for me:

1. Get better: There is a tool called Meet Edgar that helps schedule social media posts. Learning to use this tool would lower my E. This also capitalizes on the creating processes strategy.
2. Make the task obsolete: Why do I need smp? So I can reach more people, which I measure by the size of our email community. More smp = larger community. But what if the community was already at the target size of 10,000 people? Social media would become unnecessary! 

 
In fact, if every member of the community recruited one person each month to join the community, we would be well over 10,000 people strong in six months!

1. Bonus strategy - Replace the task with something easier: I don’t know if it would be easier to get you to recruit one person a month to our community as each of you has a different V and E that goes into it, but perhaps if I become better at helping readers recruit others, I could forget about social media presence.

 
This entire week was created in response to a reader’s email. By taking three minutes to type 168 words, they provided value to all of us. That’s the power of community. The larger this community becomes, the more engagement we will have, and that will benefit all of us.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

Yesterday we discussed how delegating all or part of a task can lower E. We used my need to create a social media presence (smp), for which I have a high V but an equally high E, as an example. Today we look at two additional strategies:

1. Create an MVP version: Currently, I post about once a week on LinkedIn and Instagram. It isn’t enough, but it is minimally viable. I could go on like this if it was the only option.
2. Develop processes: When I edit a podcast episode, I write down all the juicy quotes. I could create a social media planning process in which I dropped powerful messages into a master document as I came across them. That document could include steps and links to the resources that help me create graphics. These processes would make things a little easier for me. Not easy, but better than the current situation. I could also combine this with yesterday’s strategy of delegating part of the task to Mara. Having a clear process would lower E for both of us.

 
Notably, Mara and I already have a process for the daily message. I have a template that includes the date, subject line title, and other elements. When I finish writing a message it goes into a shared folder with all that month’s emails. Documents are titled with the date first, so the newest emails are always at the bottom. Mara then loads and schedules the emails. If I have written them all ahead of time, she can load them all at once, which increases efficiency.
 
Remember to think about how to apply these strategies to your own E! I’ll share the final two strategies tomorrow!
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

On September 21 we looked at rebalancing the M=V/E equation. A reader responded:
 
“Yes, that's exactly what I am experiencing as [leader]! I don't think I have a problem seeing the value, but my experience of the effort is too great to have a M greater than 1.”
 
So, we have an essential leadership task. We recognize the V (value), but the E (effort) is so high that our M (motivation) is low. 
 
I am having a similar challenge. To help more people, I must grow this email community. To do that, I must increase my social media presence (smp). The V is huge, but the E is also huge. I can’t make V any bigger than it already is, so how do I decrease E?

1. Delegate all: Mara is social media savvy, and she enjoys it. I could ask her to take over all smp tasks.
2. Delegate part: Initially, Mara may not be capable of handling all smp tasks, but I can still ask her to do the ones that are most onerous for me. For example, I can give her the quote or concept and she can put together the graphic and post it. She could monitor comments and let me know when there is something I need to respond to. 

 
Do you have an essential task with both a high V and a high E? Can you use either of these strategies?
 
If so, please consider sharing an example. If not, read tomorrow for two more strategies.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

A reader responded to last week’s M=V/E message with this:
 
“It's interesting, because you are writing about this from the perspective of helping the leaders support their person… but I am experiencing what you are writing from the perspective of the person needing the inversion of their fraction...almost like I am needing to lead myself. Which makes me think...”
 
They also note that leading yourself is its own topic and that many leaders may lack people to develop them.
 
Admittedly, I have not thought of it this way before.
 
The hedgehog concept jumps to mind. This is another concept borrowed from Jim Collins’ Good to Great and adapted for personal use. The hedgehog helps us focus on the aspects of our work that we are in the best position to capitalize on. It works like this:

1. Draw three overlapping circles.
2. Label one circle “passion,” another “skills,” and another “job.”
3. List out the things you do that take significant amounts of your time and drop them into the appropriate spots in your diagram. Some things may fit in only one circle, some in two, and some in all three.

 
Once you are done, you evaluate your leadership:

1. All three circles (the center) are your priority things to do.
2. Only the passion circle are distractions.
3. Only the skill circle are distractions.
4. Only the job circle sucks your energy and passion.
5. Passion and skill – can you align them to your job?
6. Passion and job – can you partner with someone who has the skill, or can you get training?
7. Skill and job – can you develop someone else’s skill?

 
We’ll look at the “lead yourself” issue from another perspective tomorrow.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick

Tao is an ancient Chinese concept about “the way.” Tao is more about being than about doing. 
 
The way of being a strategic leader is more important than the specific actions we take. 
 
Why?
 
Because strategic leaders act intentionally, and intent comes from being, not doing.
 
Growing people is not an act, it is a path. When I walk the strategic path, growing people is a natural byproduct because I am intentionally looking for opportunities to teach, nurture, and support.
 
On Monday we looked at specific positive feedback as a tool for growing people. Adding specificity to a compliment takes one second, but how often do we neglect it?
 
We don’t neglect it because of the extra second, we neglect it because we aren’t walking the path and therefore, we aren’t being intentional.
 
I write a daily email to help us with the Tao of leadership. Nothing in these emails is rocket science, but each one is like a little breadcrumb that helps keep us on the right path (I hope).
 
Reflect: How well did you walk the path this week?
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick