First 5 Steps to Achieving Great
Things
Greatness doesn't just happen. The
best leaders take steps to ensure that when they do something, they do it
better than anyone else.
You're good. You wouldn't
be where you are if you weren't. But you know you're capable of better than
good. You're capable of achieving truly great things.
Problem is, days go by,
then weeks, months--maybe even years--and you're still cranking out good. You've
yet to design that unbelievable product, write that great novel, dominate that
market. Everyone admires you, but you've a growing sense of disappointment in
yourself.
How do you change that
dynamic? How to you move from delivering good, to delivering Holy Cow! every time?
Try these five steps:
1. Prioritize.
First things first. If you want to achieve something great, best decide what it's going to be.
First things first. If you want to achieve something great, best decide what it's going to be.
This may seem like a
flash of the blindingly obvious, but I've noticed an interesting and consistent
positive correlation between those who know what they want to achieve and those
who achieve great things. As my mother used to say, "If you aim at nuthin', you'll hit it.".
Can you jot down on a
notepad the two or three great things you want to achieve? No? Then start
there.
2. Plan ruthlessly;
execute relentlessly.
The highly successful leaders I work with distinguish themselves from the merely competent by one thing: They have a plan, they work the plan, but they aren't trapped by the plan.
The highly successful leaders I work with distinguish themselves from the merely competent by one thing: They have a plan, they work the plan, but they aren't trapped by the plan.
While this sounds like a
simple mantra, merely competent leaders stumble in its execution--specifically,
they either design a plan, but don't work it; or they work the plan, but
shudder to a halt when they reach a barrier or uncover a problem.
The answer? Once you
start implementing, don't stop until you've finished. Adapt on the fly,
improvise as best as you can, but unless something truly horrendous will happen
otherwise, keep going.
Here's a small example of
what I mean: I deliver a lot of online webinars. Some of them are
"canned" (recorded in advance) and some of them are live. I've
noticed that with the canned webinars, I'll often start and restart many times,
unhappy with my choice of words or the tone I've struck. With the live
webinars, once I've started, I've no option but to keep going. And guess which
webinars almost always turn out to be more vibrant, and better received? The
live ones.
3. Get out of your inbox.
Leaders in thrall to their inbox, once only apparent when you visited someone at their office, now, you can see it everywhere: peck, peck, peck; on airplanes, at lunch, during rest room breaks. Any where, any time there is a minute to spare.
Leaders in thrall to their inbox, once only apparent when you visited someone at their office, now, you can see it everywhere: peck, peck, peck; on airplanes, at lunch, during rest room breaks. Any where, any time there is a minute to spare.
Here's the thing: if
you're in thrall to your inbox, you're working to other people's agenda, not
your own (a view I was
intrigued to see shared by one surprising individual).
It may be over-promoted
and it's often over-complicated, but the ability to achieveInbox Zero (or
something close to it) isn't optional for great leaders. If you're serious
about achieving great things, you need the time and space to do it, and if
you're using every break available to scroll through your inbox (or your social
media stream), then I have news for you--you ain't doing great things.
4. Get out of your
office.
You truly want to achieve great things? Get the heck out of your office.
You truly want to achieve great things? Get the heck out of your office.
Not just because it
removes you from all the interruptions and distractions that being in your own
environment makes you subject to, but because it takes you out of the comfort
zone of maintenance activities.
Your office desk, chair
and computer monitor is where you do the 80 percent of merely good work, day
in, day out. Find a retreat space, a unique corner somewhere, where you can
specifically go to work on your major achievements. It may be a conference room
down the hall, it may be the local coffee shop, it may be a broom
cupboard--doesn't matter--just find a space that isn't the place where you do
'normal stuff'.
5. Review, revise, adapt,
push on.
It's day two. You've made a start on your great project. What to do today? Try this formula I arrived at in achieving one of my own big goals: Review what you did yesterday; revise anything that looks a little off; adapt your overall plan as necessary, and most importantly, push on.
It's day two. You've made a start on your great project. What to do today? Try this formula I arrived at in achieving one of my own big goals: Review what you did yesterday; revise anything that looks a little off; adapt your overall plan as necessary, and most importantly, push on.
By: Les McKeown
Source: Inc.
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