Colleagues,

MVP: Wise leaders are intentional about how they either spend or invest their time.
 
Black Friday is coming. 
 
Be careful.
 
It is a trap.
 
I’m not trying to rain on your holiday traditions so feel free to ignore this post if you love Black Friday.
 
Black Friday is a modern invention designed to specifically put you into quadrant 3 – urgent and not important!
 
What could be more important than Christmas shopping?

• Talking and playing games with family.
• Laying on the couch reading a book.
• Getting together with friends.
• Taking quiet time for yourself.
• Getting outside!!!
• Clearing an hour and reflecting deeply on the fall and your leadership.

 
All these activities give you something, as opposed to Black Friday which just wants to take and take and take.
 
If you can afford to spend the time shopping all day, can you afford to invest one hour in yourself?
 
If so, schedule the time and I’ll share a reflection exercise on Friday.
 
 
Today’s intention: Think about the hours of Friday as being a precious commodity that you can choose to spend or invest. Be intentional about how you use that time and choose wisely.
 
Cheers!

Frederick

Colleagues,

MVP: We can use down times to informally gather information about the state of our organizational culture.
 
In many organizations, today will not be a very productive day.
 
If there is some down time today, consider asking people to reflect on the fall:

• What has gone well?
• Have there been any surprises?
• What could we do differently in the new year?

 
This is a simple and informal way to check in on the organizational culture. Pay attention to what is working and do more. Listen for friction points and think about how to resolve them. Ask yourself “why?”
 
Don’t make this a discussion, just ask, smile, nod, and be quiet. This is simply a variation on 5-minute coaching.
 
Today’s intention: Ask the three questions and listen. Do this with as many people as possible.

Cheers!

Frederick

Colleagues,

MVP: Helping people grow is the hack to increasing job satisfaction
 
This image is making the rounds in LinkedIn. The thought is nice, but honestly, I’m not a big fan.

Colleagues,

MVP: Reflect on your priorities, presence, and permanence. Then share.
 
I ask you again, where are you on your leadership journey?
 
What priority will you focus on today?
 
Who will you be present for and help grow?
 
How will you avoid getting sucked back into the black hole?
 
I would be ecstatic if you would share your answers to any of those questions with me. It would totally make my day and would cost you only a minute or two. And if you want to make a request, for how I can better serve you, that would answer the third and fourth questions!
 
I would love to hear from you, so please reply to this email. We will both feel better.
 
The Daily Intention: Focus on the priority you identified. And reply to this email and help me grow!
 
Have a great weekend!
 
Frederick

Colleagues,

MVP: Manage your priorities. Be fully present. Build supports for remaining strategic.
 
How do we escape the black hole of urgency?
 
We stop managing time and start managing our priorities. That is the first step.
 
How do we move from being strategically reactive to being a strategic leader?
 
We focus on being fully present with others, and we begin growing our people.
 
How do we break the cycle of moving from strategic to urgent and back again?
 
The hard truth is that we don’t. 
 
However, what we can do is build supports for ourselves to help us stay strategic more often and escape the urgent more quickly.
 
We never arrive. Leadership is always journey.
 
Isn’t that awesome?
 
The Daily Intention: Focus on the actions in italics that are most appropriate for where you are in your journey.
 
Cheers!

Frederick