At a recent meeting of the Building Champions coaches, we were reflecting on things from our past that made us better.
My mind went to something I had never shared with anyone before, about a huge mistake I made that thankfully had a long-term positive impact on me. I was a sophomore in my first high school football game. I can still remember that moment when the coach looked at me. Since then I have always tried to be ready and keep my head up.
What is really impacting your pursuit of the results you want to achieve? If there is something holding you back in your life and chosen career, what can you do about it?
Certainly the economy — domestic and global — has impacted most of us, and will continue to have a negative impact for at least a few more years. But it is too easy to blame outside influences and avoid taking responsibility for what we need to do in order to reach our goals.
There are external factors — including biases, prejudices, regulatory barriers, and so on — that are out of our immediate control. Yet there are things we can do that will improve our situation if we persistently stay the course.
During a recent coaching session, I was asked, “How do we get the most out of ourselves?”
Several ideas came to mind, and I quickly rattled off a short list. Upon further reflection, I thought it was a list worth sharing, because we all have the potential to do more than we are doing today.
Here are eight ways that you can unleash the best from within yourself.
Have you ever had someone ask you for advice and suggestions about their career? What do you say?
My first response is to “Aim Higher.” We often sell ourselves short. We don’t pursue every opportunity to stretch our limits. We need to take full advantage of the potential that lies within each of us.
Many of us don’t see all the possibilities that lie ahead. We must be open to uncovering them. This begins with exceeding expectations in the work we are doing right now. Excel at every task, large or small, and set as a goal to add real value every day.
At the end of each year, all of us at Building Champions take time out to rest and reflect. With this in mind, our office will be closed beginning on December 24th. You can look for more thoughts on Leadership From the Trenches when I resume blogging in January.
What will the New Year hold for you? In what ways will you be blessed, and how can you continue to help others be the best they can be?
My hope is that you will join me this Christmas season and reflect, renew, and recommit to be the best person you can, in every respect. Here are some questions to help you do just that.
As we approach another year, we go through the “exercise” of preparing a new budget, reviewing our vision, and detailing the actions needed to reach our goals.
These are all reasonable and necessary activities, both for our businesses and for us personally. However, these activities are often approached as just an annual exercise … something to do and get done so we can get back to work.
When completed, the exercise goes back on the shelf or the corner of the desk to be reviewed again next year.
How many times do we begin with great intentions, but fail to get the job done? Our plans were solid, we had detailed action steps, but something got in the way and we didn’t follow through.
How much time is wasted by incomplete efforts with poor results, and nothing tangible to show for it? Probably more than we would like to admit.
In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in the marathon event, and he had every reason in the world to give up.
Akhwari had dislocated his knee in a fall and was hurt, bleeding and bandaged when he entered the darkened arena. Most of the crowd had already left, as Akhwari came in well over an hour behind the runners who finished before him.
Recently, I shared some insights from the breakout session I led at the Building Champions Experience entitled “Strategy and Strategic Thinking.” Today, I’d like to tell you about my other breakout session on the subject of Leadership.
I believe hope is essential in all we do, but hope alone is not a winning strategy. It is your leadership skills that will make success a reality!
In this session, I focused on 10 Leadership Principles that I have learned from my time in the trenches. Some of these principles came naturally, but many were observed, developed, or improved through practice.
Let’s explore these areas briefly and review why I believe these principles are indispensible for achieving success.
It is a mistake to put off for tomorrow what can get done — or at least get started — today. We’ve all heard this saying before, but it still holds true. This logic applies to the myriad of daily tasks, large and small, that need to be accomplished to realize our goals.
We all need more intentional urgency. Complacency and indecision are killers for any organization. We need to determine what needs to be done, and by when. Then we need to get busy accomplishing each task.
Never confuse activity for accomplishment. Stay on track, and focused on the actions you’ve committed to. Hold others accountable to get things done on time. Urgency matters!
When unexpected events occur, organizations often respond by hastily putting new procedures into place. These changes may be logical in the short term, but ultimately these added steps can slow down the overall process. They may get in the way of serving customers, impact productivity, and hinder financial performance.
This is especially problematic when processes are not frequently evaluated, streamlined, or even eliminated. Unchecked processes bloat virtually every organization.
Spring cleaning applies to businesses, too!
Jerry Baker began his career in the management development program at Ford Motor Company, later became a manager of budgets and analysis for Northrop Corporation, then furthered his management development as Deputy Director for the California Department of Commerce when Ronald Reagan was Governor.
He advanced through senior management ranks at Countrywide Financial, becoming Managing Director. He then became Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fleet Mortgage Group, a public company. Jerry joined First Horizon in 1998, holding several senior executive positions before becoming President and CEO of First Horizon National Corporation and First Tennessee Bank.
As a member of the Board of Directors Jerry helped to refocus, develop, recruit and lead the company through a tumultuous period. Under his leadership the company had nearly 10 years of double digit growth in returns.