One of the most ridiculous reasons I’ve ever heard for not investing in your career is that you don’t have time RIGHT NOW. 

When do you think that time will appear?

If you don’t have time to invest in yourself today, do you think that some magical realignment of the universe will open up an expanse of time on your calendar?  Will you ever be LESS busy than you are today?   The reality is that if you don’t learn to manage time and invest in your own success, your time will be less and less your own.  Other people will always be in charge of your calendar and your career.

As a wise mentor once told me, the issue is never time, and its never money.  It is always priorities.  So here’s my question - what are yours?  If you’re not putting a high priority on accelerating your career development, who is?  Time to figure out what’s holding you back.  Here are a few possibilities: 

You’re afraid that admitting you need help is admitting you’re not perfect.  Nobody’s perfect.  Top performers see their opportunities and always invest in themselves.

You haven’t developed the essential habit of getting a little better each day.  You don’t become great at anything in an afternoon.  Start now.

You’re afraid to ask for money for coaching or professional development because you don’t think they’ll approve it.  Companies always have money to invest in their high potentials.  Even in turbulent economies.  High potentials are people who out perform, believe in themselves, and are willing to ask for what they need.

You’ve tried learning something, found you’re not not a natural, and given up.  As a coach who works with top executives, trust me, it takes years just to develop confidence and skill on the platform.   Nothing worth doing is easy.

If any of those sound like you, time to figure out what’s holding you back and deal with it now.  Today becomes tomorrow, and if you’re still asking yourself the same questions then you’re simply not moving ahead, or taking charge of your own destiny.

1 Comment »

What that statistic doesn’t tell you is how much time you spend writing, editing and crafting each email.  If you’re trying to manage your time more efficiently, one question to ask is - would it take less time to do this by phone?  Or would it be more effective by phone?  It’s not just that email - but the trail of email you are about to create that you must consider, not to mention, the lost opportunity of building a relationship over the telephone.  Go to your data base, look up the number, and dial the phone.  

Let’s imagine that each email message you read takes approximately 1 minute to scan, another 1 minute to consider, and 3 to 5 minutes to write a response.  That’s up to 7 minutes per email - and I haven’t even calculated the ones you are just receiving, reading and deleting.  You can bet that while some email correspondence may take less, many may take more time.  38 emails times 7 minutes is 266 minutes –that’s four and a half hours of email time.  Half your workday.  So the 25% number could be low. 

What are some other tips that will help you to change the email/time equation? 

• Internally, keep your answers friendly but very brief. 
• Let people know that you prefer the telephone for scheduling internal meetings. 
• Tell people not to copy you unless you must be informed or unless you must take action. 
• Include in your own subject lines whether an email requires action. 
• Become a pithy, high content writer. 
• Create scannable email with bullet points, bolds, and underlines so people can quickly review and respond.  Encourage those who work for you to do the same.  Your
• Unsubscribe from all the lists you don’t want to be on - that waste your time. 
• If you have an executive assistant, work out a plan so they can respond to certain people and types of communications. 
• Don’t check the email constantly - batch it at points in the day when you can take a break from the high priority, high concentration tasks you have.

No comments »

According to Salary.com, the average American worker wastes over two hours each day.  Don’t ask me how they know.  They surveyed American workers.  Why anyone would admit this in a survey - is beyond me.    

But I digress.  The question is - why are they wasting time –at a time like this?  What are they doing when they are not working? Let’s start with what they’re doing.  The biggest culprit: the internet.  Almost 45% of Americans rank surfing the web as their primary time-wasting activity. The second big time waster: standing around talking with co-workers -almost 35% admit to that.  I don’t know whether that counts email and text messaging.

While it’s a little bit funny, and let’s face it -we’ve all  wasted time at work, if you’re the leader of the organization you probably find this very scary.  Stop to consider what it is costing your company –the calculation in lost opportunity, wasted person hours, delayed projects, could consume you.  

Right now you need to have100% of your team focused on the highest priority projects and activities that will keep your business moving forward to the other side of this dismal economic downturn.  What can you do?  It’s instructive first to look at WHY people say they are wasting time–the reasons for slacking off.  Then we can look at what to do.

 One third of American workers s say they don’t have enough work to do.  About a quarter say they feel underpaid.

For those who don’t feel they have enough work right now - well that’s easy.  They need to be enaged.  As the leader, you need to show them how they can make a difference.  There are always things people can do that will move the needle even when they’re aren’t doing their regular jobs.

As a leader, you need to communicate in a way that inspires and engages people.   You may feel a little down yourself right now.  But this is your job.  You have to raise your own energy level and communicate this energy to others.  I wouldn’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of thinking that most people are people are ”difficult to motivate.”  While you can’t really motivate anyone, you can inspire people to get in touch with their own motivation.

As for those who aren’t working because they believe they are underpaid.  They shouldn’t be there anyway.  I just read another survey in the Wall Street Journal that found job satisfaction is actually up.  A December 2008 survey by Yahoo! Hot Jobs found 38% of respondents are “very satisfied with their jobs, compared to 28% in 2007.  This is no doubt because they are grateful to have jobs right now.  But it’s also because, in my experience most people want to do a great job, and be recognized and rewarded for it, not just with money, but with praise.  People work for a paycheck but also long for a purpose.  

How do you do go about inspiring others?  Think about what motivates them.  Talk about that.  Have a conversation about what they’re doing, give them a pat on the back, and tell them how important their work really is.     

Focus them on a common goal. During times of crisis, it is actually easier than ever to rally people around purpose.  We’re all in it together!  Whether that goal is to seize market share -an opportunity brought on by the turmoil, or whether your company is just in survival mode, staying alive, everybody knows it.  Get them to focus on what they can do about that.  Get them on the same page, fighting for the same thing.  It’s either  a clear, present danger right now, or a clear, present opportunity.  

You have to communicate it so they can hear it, again and again, until they act on it.  It is your job as a leader to communicate so everyone understands. Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a motivating, inspiring leader.  But anyone can be that person. Where to start?   Get in touch with your own passion - why do you believe in what you’re doing? Why is it important is it to you?  When you’re in touch with your own passion, it will come through in they way you speak with others.  

Note: You cannot over-communicate in a crisis.  You have to be out front, speaking about it, all the time, delivering a message that is clear, consistent and credible.  Communicate through every channel.  And don’t make it all one way communication.  Walk around and listen to people.  Ask questions.  Find out what is holding them back. Observe and learn.  If they are not productive, if they’re not spending time on the right things, find out what can you do to help them, and let them know how vital they are to your business plan and recovery. 

One thing I discovered while writing Motivate Like a CEO, (McGraw Hill 2005) is that we all long to have a purpose.  We want our lives, and our work, to matter.  We want to make a difference in the world.  If you believe this then you can always motivate people to give their best because you appeal to their best intentions.  That will help them be highly productive every day.

If you suspect people are wasting time– here are eight tips that will help you get people engaged:

1.  Walk around and talk to people - ask how they are doing, and how you can help them get things done

2.  Be clear about the priorities - they can change during times of crisis - keep everyone up to date

3.  Praise people, reward productivity, and let them know how much particular activities mean to the organization - be specific 

4.  Stay in touch through email and other channels and drive that message home - so no one can say they didn’t know

5. Be positive - communicate success stories, tell them about opportunities ahead, use motivational quotes, and an upbeat tone

6. Stay motivated yourself- get out of the office, get fresh air and a fresh perspective so you can give to others

7.  Walk the talk; be productive, use your own time wisely and set a great example

8.  Remember your words count - a single conversation with someone can change their behavior for the better

I want to share one final thought.  I once asked one of my wonderful mentors, a successful business woman, how she decided every day what she should do.  Her answer was simple.  “I look through the pile, decide what can make me money, and put that on top.”  Perhaps you can pass that story along. 

4 Comments »

The November/December issue of The Conference Board Review has an article I want to recommend on The Attention Deficit.   The issue about productivity in a world of constant communication is important.  This isn’t about interruption - there has always been interruption in the workplace.  From the guy who stops in midday to tell you what his kids are doing to the friend who always calls you in the office while she’s traveling or in her car with nothing to do — there have always been those.

What’s new, as the article points out, is the sheer number of such devices and their intrusive nature, from e-mail to instang messaging, XML feeds, blogs, social-networking sites, cell phones, pagers, “they connect the knowledge worker, but to what?”

According to BASEX, a New York-based IT research company, a thousand executives and knowledge workers last year repored receiving on average 200 e-mails, instant messages, phone calls (office and cell) and text messages a day.

One of the most relevant points for the leaders who are readers of The Power Speaker Blog is this - “Many people permit their e-mail to deflect them from their plans for the day.  Their inbox, in effect, becomes their daily schedule.  People end up working on stuff that’s not important.”

Here’s my own QUICK QUIZ: Are Your E-Mail Habits Getting in the Way of your Career?

• Are you anxious to hit the reply button as soon as a new email comes in?
• Are you checking your email more than 4 times per day? 
• Do you get sidetracked answering email when you know other things are more important?
• Do you spend too much time replying?
• Are your messages too long?
• Do you find yourself answering surveys, checking out unimportant attachments, and otherwise, getting sidetracked?
• Do you feel that email “relieves” your stress when you don’t want to do something else, or something you’re working on seems too difficult?
• Does it drive you crazy to have anything sitting in your inbox?

If you answered yes to half or more of these questions then it’s time to look at your email habit as a habit.  Unless you have the type of business (or an explicit promise to your clients and customers) that you will return all email correspondence within the hour, then you need to set strict guidelines and stick to them.

Why? You’ll never get promoted to the top or stay at the top if you can’t manage your time, and more important, execute what’s important.

E-mail is literally threatening many rising stars future.  I’m not old fashioned about this - I’m as connected as the next person.  But you know who you are.  This is about more than your productivity, it’s about creativity, time to think, innovate, plan, prioritize, and move your organization forward. 

No comments »