Where is your focus - paperwork or people work?

Busy?

My guess is that nine out of 10 of you would answer "very."

I'll even go so far as to predict that you what you are busy with is attending meetings, submitting reports, doing rosters, complying with regulations, reviewing contracts, renewing leases, updating policies, replying to emails etc. You get the drift. Busyness. Kind of finds a way of filling our days, weeks, months.

I get it. None of us can actually opt out of this mostly paperwork stuff completely, but many of us are risking taking our eye off the most important responsibility we have - to make people better. 

When we submit to being consumed by the paperwork, and neglect people work, we simply become managers, not leaders. If maintaining the status quo ie being happy with tomorrow being the same as today and yesterday is OK with you, then by all means, keep your focus on the paperwork.

If, and I suspect it is, you'd rather make sure the future is as bright as it can be, focusing on making people better is the key.

Leadership is about people work! 

To win big, take risks and make mistakes

5 THINGS TO TURN YOUR BAD BUSYNESS INTO GOOD BUSINESS

It’s become customary that when someone is asked how they are, the answer comes back something like, “flat out, busy as, out of control” or, as a client recently said to me “I’m as busy as a one legged man in an butt kicking competition”! It seems like it’s a badge of honour to admit that you are really, really busy.

My issue is, that just being busy does not cut it. Being productive, efficient and making progress towards your vision or purpose should be the name of the game, but I see too many people floundering despite being ‘busy’. It’s simply not good business.

Here are five things that will make a difference.

1. Get a system for your time management. Be disciplined and systematic about how you allocate your time to your tasks.

2. Slow down. I see too many people in chaos and they are running really hard and basically getting no where. Slow down or STOP! Get in control, and go again.

3. Prioritise. We simply cannot have it all and do it all. Work out what are the most important things and work on those first.

4. Delegate. Every senior executive I have worked with was doing tasks that someone else in the organisation could and should be doing. Focus on your highest value contribution to you business. Delegate the rest.

5. Say No! We all like to be liked and sometimes we say yes just so we can please or not offend others, when we really should be saying no. Be honest and say no, so you don’t set yourself up for failure.

HERE'S HOW MUCH TIME I SPEND PLANNING

Many don't believe me when I tell them that we should spend 20% of our time planning. "Sounds ridiculously high", is what they tell me.

Well, just think of how productive 48 minutes in an hour would be if you spent the first 12 minutes doing nothing but planning?

If you were working on a three month project (which was actually 60 working days), imagine how awesome it would be could if you spent the equivalent of 12 days mapping it out, reviewing progress, and improving!

One departure from this theory is that you don't have to spend 20% of your year. In fact, I reckon if you spent a day this side or the silly season (or early in the new year) getting your big picture right, you would be setting yourself up for an outstanding 2017.

BUT YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THIS FREE PDF EBOOK TO HELP YOU!

It has the planning secrets of some on the world’s most prominent thought leaders and entrepreneurs. People like Tony Robins, John Maxwell and many more. I have been using the methodology developed by leadership expert, Michael Hyatt for many years with great success. He has gathered the thoughts of some of the world’s best. Why not learn from the gurus? 

It really is an incredibly valuable resource, and it's free!