entremuse - thoughts on life, leadership & career

Try not to make them. Learn from them if you do. Put systems and checklists in place to minimize their frequency. That's about all you can do. Don't worry about them or dwell on them. Move on and make yourself better.

Join a performance oriented club, compete with others, find those around you who want to become better and push each other for higher achievement. Whatever it takes, push yourself toward greatness. Don't just wander toward your goal. Run at it with all of your strength.

When you add in the cost of potential data loss, downtime, migration costs that happen more frequently; now the cost difference is even greater. 

Managing details is a big part of a successful career. Remembering specifics, tailoring services to the individual client, making sure tasks don’t fall through the cracks. This is how you set yourself apart from other people. Declaring “I’m not a details person” is just another way of saying “I don’t care enough.” If you can effectively manage details (hint: the use of systems) you will be seen as a hero and someone that can be trusted.

As you get older, take on more responsibility and mature, your interest in gadgets and fads will wane. This is a good thing. Welcome it. But don't let that keep you from exploring options from time to time. That's not what I'm talking about. Find what works for you and stick with it. In a 3 year period I had several laptops, smart phones and moved from one software package to the other. It was a journey. I explored. I found that a MacBook and an iPhone let me do everything I need to do with little to no downside and all upside. An iPhone and MacBook is also what I started that journey with. So if I had just kept using what I already had, I would have saved a lot of time and productivity killing frustration. Now I look at the end of my cell phone contract with disdain. I used to crave the latest phone or computer. Now I see the transitional period, migrating and relearning as a productivity killer... Because it is. There's something to be said for contentedness. Delight yourself in discipline, effectiveness and productivity, not in gadgets or the latest cool thing.

Trust. It’s the key to selling, keeping customers happy and getting referrals. Once you break trust, it’s very hard to go back. It’s not worth it to break trust. If you make a mistake and break trust you should immediately admit it, fix it, and communicate to the customer what happened, why it happened and what you’ve done to make sure that it won’t happen again. Simply, be trustworthy. Worthy of trust. In all you do and say, build trust.

It has been said that a goal without a deadline is just a dream. I believe that. Many people lack the self motivation to make something happen without tying to it a deadline or consequence for lack of achievement. Make sure every goal has a deadline, a date on the calendar, work towards goal achievement every day and evaluate progress regularly. Simply doing this will put you ahead of most people in all areas of your life. 

Good leaders make more leaders. Find someone who wants to grow and mentor them. Don’t force yourself on them, but instead, if they’re willing, be their mentor/coach/guide for a little while. Help them with context, success habits, unique problems and work ethic. You don’t have to have all of the answers but you may be able to expand their understanding or worldview so that they can work through their own issues. Mentor someone. As a side benefit, I bet it’ll benefit you as much as it does them. 

Your body needs rest. Your mind needs it more. Nothing starves creativity more than lack of sleep. If you've ever seen the videos of military training using sleep deprivation, you'll know that rest is key to basic human function. The soldiers have a hard time communicating, navigating and even speaking when they haven't slept. How can you give your best, win at work, be healthy and become successful without rest? You can't. Go to sleep on time and you'll reap the benefits immediately. 

Friday night tunes!

If you don't set a deadline, you won't get as much done as those who do. Sometimes you need an external motivator and a deadline is a good one. When I feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks I have before me, I'll set an unrealistic deadline to accomplish the top five tasks. More often than not, I'll get very close to completing them in time. This little trick has given me the boost I've needed to get ahead and stay motivated. Set deadlines. 

Favorite quote “You grow from the reflected glory of your people.”

Don't force it. When we force it, the relationship becomes strained. Forcing an agreement, project, task, outcome, timeline, etc puts accomplishment above people. The easy way out is to force it. Leadership requires coercion and motivation driven by trust and open communication. Forcing it unravels all of that.  

Lots of people want to start things. Sometimes the best thing you can do before you start something is to stop doing something else. Before you add something new to your responsibilities, think about what you can stop. 

Don’t lie. The truth will find you. It’s just not worth it. Once your credibility is brought into question, everything about you is brought into question. Tell the truth.  

Zig Ziglar