As a professional, business owner or MD who is putting in a big effort to develop their business and team you deserve to be truly exceptional. There are two key things that will really make that difference between good and great leadership.
These two vital things are FOCUS and CONSISTENCY!
If there is an area of your business that is not where you want it to be or in fact an area of your life is not hitting the mark it is probably down to a lack of FOCUS and CONSISTENCY.
1. FOCUS
In order to focus you need something to focus on. I like to refer to this as Vision but you can use a different word if you prefer.
With your Vision you need absolute clarity, you need to have firmly in your mind a clear picture of what success means to you.
Your Vision needs to succinctly and clearly describe where you want to be. If where you want to be needs to involve the help of others then you need to be able to clearly describe your Vision to them so they become engaged.
- Try this now- can you write your vision down in one simple sentence?
To make your vision super effective it really needs to be powerful andI find that they work best if they kind of scare you a little so that when you do achieve it you will feel really proud because you have accomplished something exceptional.
I believe your Vision should include a clear description of the value you are going to deliver to others, your clients or customers. Zig Ziglar said that you can get whatever you want in life as long as you help other people get what they want!
My Vision is short, succinct and written like it has already been achieved. I can remember it and hold it front of mind. It drives everything I do. When I read my Vision the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Just imagine if you read your Vision and this happened to you. Just imagine if you started every week by reading your Vision and focused consistently on taking action to work towards it? How much more could you achieve, how much more effective would you be?
2. CONSISTENCY
So the starting point of being focused and consistent is to clarify what you are aiming for, Stephen Covey said begin with the end in mind.
In order to be consistent you need to give yourself the best possible chance of success. This is where chunking down your Vision to Core Objectives enables you to direct your monthly actions.
Sometimes the size of a large task can be off putting put when you break it down it becomes more believable. As Napoleon Hill said in his excellent book Think and Grow Rich “what the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.”
Once you have set you Core Objectives you need to break those down even further to some stepping stone goals. These stepping stone goals are what frames your daily actions.
All too often we have an idea of the big picture but there is a dis-connect between the big picture and what can be done in the next 86,400 seconds each day to make an impact.
When you set your stepping stone goals you have shorter time frame targets to focus on and that is how you get momentum on side. Achieving your goals will make you feel good and you will be motivated to keep going. (Watch my video below on how to ensure that you and your teams have an effective week).
It is very reassuring to have a simple plan to follow. Any sporting star will have a training plan to get into peak physical and mental condition and a game plan once race day comes. It is exactly the same for professional people like us.
So in order to be exceptional we need to be focused and be consistent. When you have built your simple plan and follow it diligently you will achieve far more than you are now and as a result will be far happier and fulfilled in your business.
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