“There are smart decisions and wise decisions. And one form of wisdom is the ability to judge when to let luck disrupt our plans. Not all time in life is equal. The question is, when the unequal moment comes, do we recognize it, or just let it slip? Jim Collins (Great by Choice)
Being opportunistic means that we take advantage of those opportunities that unexpectedly cross our paths. To best position ourselves to capitalize opportunities, we need to:
Successful leaders make good decisions… consistently.
Good decision-making is dependent on a number of factors: understanding, experience, intelligence, foresight, and just plain luck. There is no guide that will tell you how to make the perfect decision. But, there are some keys to better decision-making that, when followed, will help to improve the quality and consistency of your decisions.
“It’s not always what we say; often it’s what we allow the other person to say. By listening, we gain trust and make other people feel more comfortable with us.” Rick Pitino
The ability to listen well, to really listen well, is one of those “soft skills” that distinguish effective leaders from run-of-the-mill managers.
As leaders, effective communication requires that we listen well to understand the true views and opinions of our team, our customers, and other stakeholders.
Four keys to such effective communication include:
Strategic thinking skills differentiate middle-level managers from effective upper level leaders. With excellent strategic thinking skills, the leader is able to make effective decisions that benefit their companies in both the short and long term.
Developing strategic thinking skills requires practice. It requires us to think strategically and see the consequences of our thinking. Three ways to get this practice and develop great strategic thinking skills include:
Hawaiians and other Polynesians are the descendants of peoples who traveled by boat from East Asia to settle their islands. Those most likely to survive the long and arduous journey were those with “thrifty genes”. They were those ancestors who were best able to process and use the limited food on their boat trips. Today, in a world of cheap and plentiful food, these same “thrifty genes” have led to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes among their descendants. What worked in one time may not work in another.
I share this anecdote to drive home the point that “survival of the fittest” does not mean survival of the toughest or meanest in a dog eat dog world. Rather, the survival and success of the fittest requires that we be flexible and adaptive in our leadership focus, style, and vision depending on the needs of the marketplace and our companies. Continue reading
Even as leaders, we all have bosses. Perhaps, it is a Vice-President. Perhaps, it is the CEO. Perhaps, it is the Board of Directors.
To move our companies forward, we need to be good (but not mindless) followers to our good bosses.
The success of any organization requires that everyone is rowing in the same direction. So, our job as followers is to ensure that we devote ourselves to following and supporting the direction in which our boss is taking us. This means supporting their key initiatives and doing what is required to further the goals and objectives of our boss.
In corporate America, approximately $100 billion is spent each year on training. Yet, many studies show that training is only 10% – 15% effective. As Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer writes, this is…
the great training robbery
Yet, training is a vital part of developing a winning team. So, how can we do training right?
Training is only useful when it can be put into action and change our thoughts and behaviors. The best way to do this is to change one habit at a time. As such, our training goals need to be modest and focused on one (or at absolutely most, three) specific concepts at a time. In addition, the trainer needs to be explicit about how the training relates to the trainee’s job and how the training can be put into action.
