Developing the Leader Within You - Priorities : Part 3

We will continue our leadership journey, learning new skills and refreshing old ones, with John C. Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You.

There are two things that are most difficult to get people to do: to think and to do things in order of importance.

Maxwell lays out eight Priority Principles to close this chapter.

1. Priorities Never "Stay Put."
   • Priorities continually shift and demand attention.
   • Well-placed priorities always sit on "the edge."
   • To keep priorities in place:
     

     • Evaluate: Every month review the 3R/s (Requirements/Return/Reward)
     • Eliminate: Ask yourself, "What am I doing that can be done by someone else?"
     • Estimate: What are the top projects I am doing this month and how long will they take?
       
2. You Cannot Overestimate the Unimportance of Practically Everything.
• "The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." - William James
3. The Good is the Enemy of the Best.
   • Most people can prioritize when faced with a right or wrong issue. The challenge comes when we are faced with two good choices.
   • How to Break the Tie Between Two Good Options:
     
     • Ask your overseer or coworkers their preference.
     • Can one of the options be handled by someone else? If so, pass it on and work on the one only you can handle.
     • Which option would be of more benefit to the customer?
     • Make your decision based on the purpose of the organization.
4. You Can't Have It All.
• Ninety-five percent of achieving is knowing what you want.
5. Too Many Priorities Paralyze Us.
• If you are overloaded with work, list the priorities on a separate sheet of paper before you take it to your boss and see what she will choose as the priorities.
• All true leaders have learned to say 'NO' to the good in order to say 'YES' to the best.
6. When Little Priorities Demand Too Much of Us, Big Problems Arise.
• "The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first." - Robert J. McKain
• Often the little things in life us up.
7. Time Deadlines and Emergencies Force Us to Prioritize.
• We find this in Parkinson's Law: If you have only one letter to write, it will take you all day. If you have twenty letters to write, you'll get them done in one day.
• When is our most efficient time in our work? The week before vacation!
  
• Why can't we always run our lives the way we do the week before we leave the office - making decisions, cleaning off the desk, returning calls?
• Under normal conditions, we are efficient (doing things right).
• When time pressure mounts or emergencies arise, we become effective (doing the right things).
• Efficiency is the foundation for survival.
• Effectiveness is the foundation of success.
  
  
8. Too Often We Learn Too Late What is Really Important.
   
• "An infant is born with a clenched fist; a man dies with an open hand. Life has a way of prying free the things we think are so important." - Author Unknown

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc