| A strategic way to boost your business leadership | | | | - Is it absolute? [secure, or obligated to my |
| results, along with its profits, productivity and | | | | relationship, or persuasive or memorable] |
| growth is through effective time management | | | | "We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not |
| practices. Because time, as it is in any profession, | | | | many folks spend a lot of time trying to be |
| is a critical resource in making business leadership | | | | excellent." |
| actions profitable, innovative and transformative. | | | | - USA President Barack Obama |
| Before we continue, you need to appreciate this | | | | (Can This Moment Become) Quantity Time? |
| important fact about business leadership - | | | | |
| whether we're talking about market, innovative, | | | | 1. Is it substantial? [is there substance, meaning or |
| strategic, situational, transformational, project or | | | | fulfillment in this use of my time?] |
| organizational leadership - leadership in any form is | | | | 2. Is it concrete? [producing a specific, tangible, |
| always a social activity. | | | | measurable, realistic, attainable result from the use |
| So with that understanding, we can look at | | | | of my time] |
| business leadership in three generic ways: as | | | | 3. Is it clear? [does it help me be or become |
| market leadership, organizational leadership and | | | | more focused, intentional, results-driven, practical] |
| human capital leadership. | | | | Or you could use dimensionally-oriented questions |
| In business organizations, entrepreneurs may | | | | to determine, implement and supervise your |
| choose to invest their time in human capital | | | | applications of business leadership significance. As |
| related leadership activities, that is in leading, | | | | we mentioned earlier, time can be measured |
| coaching or soliciting and recruiting the support of | | | | against a location - that is, time and a location in |
| their associates and trading partners. | | | | space are always related - so we say, "you are |
| Entrepreneurial leaders also have opportunities to | | | | always somewhere at some specific point of |
| use their time to contribute to the quality, | | | | time!" |
| quantity or significance of life for their customers | | | | "Between stimulus and response there is a space. |
| and clients. I call these actions a form of market | | | | In that space is our power to choose our |
| leadership. | | | | response. In our response lies our growth and our |
| Business leadership tasks demand that leaders | | | | freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl, psychologist |
| analyze, plan and re-order their budgets, cash | | | | In the social expanse known as "space-time", you'll |
| flows, operational systems or their schedules, | | | | discover how dimensional constructions usually |
| where their sole objective is to manage their time | | | | hold true. Social dimensions include the scope, |
| as profitably, effectively and creatively as | | | | importance, direction, magnitude, definition, |
| possible. We can call these activities organizational | | | | quantity, aspect, extent, element, a position, |
| leadership. | | | | attribute, property or proportion of any social |
| A fact-of-life for those professionals charged with | | | | activity. |
| business leadership responsibilities - which includes | | | | Dimensional characteristics are important because |
| the executives, entrepreneurs and managers - | | | | they provide insights into the breadth, depth, |
| they will usually encounter the most disruptions, | | | | thickness and heights of your utilization of time - |
| interruptions or other forms of distractions to | | | | are your capital assets being transformed into |
| their scheduled activities. Unfortunately in the face | | | | something tangibly significant, are your human |
| of that reality, these business leadership personnel | | | | players moving together in harmony, are the |
| tend to immediately discount, ignore or | | | | reasons for pursuing this action realizing the |
| underestimate the potential value in those | | | | desired results? |
| unanticipated events. | | | | Therefore, you will need to ask the following |
| If you ever hope to become an effective leader | | | | types of questions to generate the right types of |
| you should never focus your attention on the | | | | dimensionally important answers and thus |
| management of accomplishing tasks against a | | | | understand how well or how effectively you are |
| daily allotment of your time, you should however | | | | using your time for performing your business or |
| concentrate your energies on the management or | | | | organizational leadership tasks: |
| maximizing the allocations of your significance. | | | | - Where-When: describes a physically obvious, |
| We know that being effective means doing the | | | | tangible reality of an event without trying to |
| right things. We also know that being efficient is | | | | explain any aspect of human, social or physical |
| doing things the right way. Are you doing the | | | | capital involvement or influences; |
| "right things" or are you doing things "the right | | | | - Who-What: defines and describes the moving |
| way"? | | | | parts, functional attributes and players of human |
| The problem with the focus of most time | | | | exchanges, transactions, interactions or reactions |
| management strategies is this, we are told to be | | | | - Why-How: endeavors to provide causes or |
| efficient in our use of time, that is, we're taught | | | | reasons for human actions and seeks to identify |
| that the right way of doing time management is | | | | the ways and means employed to satisfy or |
| to plot whichever tasks we feel or believe we | | | | attain the desires for taking those actions |
| need to accomplish in a certain amount of time | | | | We can easily describe the process of how and |
| segments. | | | | when to take action to use the extant sources |
| And in the case of business leadership, the right | | | | and depth of information, which are what you |
| things for your usage of time must be based | | | | have, to help you become what you desire, to |
| upon your contributions of quality, quantity or the | | | | unleash the future envisioned by what your |
| value of your significance. | | | | dreams have awakened within you, and |
| In a word, your contributions have to be acts | | | | prosecute your strategy for business leadership |
| that you take for the purpose of being of benefit | | | | to the ultimate extent of your resources, |
| to all the actors, artifacts or artifices, attributes | | | | expertise and abilities. |
| and audiences engaged in your social activity. On | | | | "Dream and give yourself permission to envision a |
| the other hand, your significance must add a form | | | | You that you choose to be." - Joy Page, actress |
| of excellence, emphasis, essence, elevation, | | | | However, in essence, we must look at each and |
| eminence, effectiveness, efficacy, efficiency, | | | | every one of our competitive, operational and |
| execution, elucidation, explanation, exposition, | | | | developmental efforts as activities taking place |
| expression or esteem to your actions. | | | | within, and, as actions existing at points along, |
| "Most executives, many scientists, and almost all | | | | positions within or locations of "space-time" - that |
| business school graduates believe that if you | | | | is, using these reference placements to indicate, |
| analyze data, this will give you new ideas. | | | | investigate or interrogate the: |
| Unfortunately, this belief is totally wrong. The mind | | | | |
| can only see what it is prepared to see." - Edward | | | | 1. Manifold - Which diverse, variety and many |
| de Bono, creativity expert | | | | features of my actions...? |
| I advise my business leadership clients to keep | | | | 2. Affect or Add-to the Dimensionality - the ins |
| strategic questions in mind whenever they engage | | | | and outs, ups and downs, across and around, |
| in any activity. I call these mini-evaluations | | | | over and under, back and forth, breadth and |
| strategic because being strategic means being | | | | length, brokenness and wholeness, heights and |
| decisive, deliberate and dexterous - meaning | | | | depths - of our efforts...? |
| leaders who wish to be strategic thinkers or | | | | 3. Time-frame - When will or When must the |
| questioners have to think through, think about and | | | | intervals, periods, moments, phases, ages, eons, |
| think with their actions, don't they? | | | | ticks occur and...? |
| The purpose of those questions isn't to generate | | | | 4. Relativistic - How or How much does it relate |
| answers consisting of one-word or a single idea. | | | | to our past, present or future perspectives...? |
| And leaders shouldn't use these questions to | | | | 5. Who benefits or is impacted by the Attractions, |
| judge a moment-in-time as being either significant | | | | Interactions, Transactions or Reactions of our |
| or worthless. Rather than making those types of | | | | informed actions - and Why will they be...? |
| value judgments, these questions should ensure | | | | Thus in the realm of social phenomena, we define |
| you have competent, strategic responses | | | | "space-time" as the distinctive features and |
| prepared, organized and ready to go in advance, | | | | structural dimensions which identify the cognitive, |
| so that you can optimize, leverage or otherwise | | | | cultural or emotive segments of perspectives and |
| make the best use of those planned-for or | | | | interactions involved when we act, acted or will |
| unplanned-for periods of time. | | | | take action. |
| Here is one set of example questions you could | | | | "But the best teams I've encountered have one |
| ask to help you make more effective use of | | | | important thing in common: their team structure |
| your time, regardless of any interruption, or | | | | and processes cover a full range of distinct |
| unexpected or distracting event. | | | | competencies necessary for success." - Jesse |
| "Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a | | | | James Garrett, Infopreneur, information architect |
| dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you | | | | Therefore, business leadership means |
| can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a | | | | incorporating the "physics" of socially-oriented |
| situation in which your work will give you as much | | | | space-time into the creation and application of a |
| happiness as your spare time." - Pablo Picasso, | | | | much more effective time management program |
| artist | | | | to generate profitable results and strategic |
| (Can I Make This) Quality Time? | | | | innovative opportunities while it strengthens your |
| - Is it pure? [resulting in no distractions, disruptions, | | | | organizational leadership development programs |
| delays from your goals or mission] | | | | and performance improvement efforts. |
| - Is it sweet? [warm, refreshing and enjoyable | | | | Copyright 2010, Mustard Seed Investments Inc., |
| experience or environment or forum or venue] | | | | All rights reserved worldwide. |