Developing the Leader Within You - Priorities : Part 2

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.

Last time, we leaned about The Pareto Principle, which states 20% of your priorities will give you 80% of your production. Let's see what else Maxwell can tell us about it.

It's Not How Hard You Work; It's How Smart You Work. Working hard only helps if you are working hard on your priorities.

Organize or Agonize. The ability to juggle three or four high priority projects successfully is a must for every leader. A life in which anything goes will ultimately be a life in which nothing goes.

Prioritize Assignments:

• High Importance/High Urgency: Tackle these projects first.
• High Importance/Low Urgency: Set deadlines for completion and get these projects worked into your daily routine.
• Low Importance/High Urgency: Find quick, efficient ways to get this work done without much personal involvement. If possible, delegate it to a "can do" assistant.
• Low Importance/Low Urgency: This is busy or repetitious work, such as filing. Stack it up and do it in one-half hour segments, every week; get someone else to do it, or don't do it at all.

Chose or Lose. Every person is either an initiator or a reactor when it comes to planning. The question is not, "Will my calendar be full?" but "Who will fill my calendar?" If we are leaders of others, the question is not, "Will I see people?" but "Who will I see?" Maxwell's observation is that leaders tend to initiate and followers tend to react.

Leaders:

• Initiate
• Lead; pick up phone and make contact
• Spend time planning; anticipate problems
• Invest time with people
• Fill the calendar by priorities

Followers:

• React
• Listen; wait for phone to ring
• Spend time living day-to-day; react to problems
• Spend time with people
• Fill the calendar by requests

Evaluate or Stalemate. Decide what to do and do it; decide what not to do and don't do it. Evaluation of priorities, however, is not quite that simple.

• What is required of me?
  -A leader can give up anything except final responsibility.
  -Distinguish between what you have to do and what can be delegated to someone else.
• What gives me the greatest return?
  -The effort expended should approximate the results expected.
  -A question you must continually ask yourself is, "Am I doing what I do best and receiving a good return for the organization?"
  
• What is most rewarding?
  -Life is too short not to be fun. Our best work takes place when we enjoy it.
  -Take This Job and Love it.
  -Success in your work will be greatly increased if the 3 R's (Requirements/Return/Reward) are similar.

Next time, we will take a look at the Priority Principles.

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc