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There’s no shortage of leaders who’ve been promoted partially because they wanted to get ahead. There’s no shame in craving to climb that corporate ladder. You get great joy from getting ahead… but so do they and they need your help to do it. What about the business? If you’re the leader, do you really want to be behind the 8 ball come fourth quarter or do you want to be well prepared and positioned to excel? Getting ahead can be great, but if that’s the case, why do so many leaders push things on purpose just to experience the pressure, adrenaline and see if they can beat their own speed record of accomplishment? Yep, I’m talking to you, but it takes one to know one so let’s learn together and maybe take that time to get ahead… now. Here’s a couple of ways to make it work!
Ready, Fire…leaves something out
There’s a lot to be said for that aiming piece. The late Dr. Stephen Covey used to refer to it as a Q2 activity. Q1 is all the things we perceive to be on fire. Q4 is where we’ve fought the fire and are at one with the couch, burning out. Q3 is somewhere in between and together, when we live in 1, 3, and 4, I call it the Bermuda triangle. Make time for the things not yet burning. Aim for preparation, prevention, and a pace ALL can keep with and you’ll extend your leadership life and the amount of energy you have to do even more.
You Need to Lead How they Get Up to Speed
The downtime for many industries between May and September when much of the mindset is “Ahhh, summer vacation”, leaves a large gap in time to prepare and get ahead. But if you don’t lead the effort, the slump will set in and everyone will go on vacation, even if they don’t leave the office. Use that time to set up the staff with training. Maybe this is the ideal time to build those new leaders’ skills with Transition from Buddy to Boss. Perhaps now is when you provide CORE Profiles® to those managers who just don’t seem to get who they lead and how to lead their efforts. Let them practice now instead of when things are frenetic and year end revenue is on the line. After all, you meant to train them when they were promoted, but where does the time go? Consider this, if they don’t feel you value what all they know and how they grow, why would they be concerned with growing the business?
If the summer IS slow for you, take the time to develop, maintain, and improve your competitive edge with a little planning, preparation, development and training. Maybe this period of time is exactly when you personally need a coach of your own. Don’t wait until the last minute to ensure you’re ready to roll. At some point you’ll get burned with that process. Instead, lead you and them in the way you know they need so that you can all succeed.
