“It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” —Henry David Thoreau
A few years ago, I listened to a great talk by, Chris Deleenher, a successful business leader from Texas. Below is a summary of what I learned from that talk. Thinking through it will help you with your own personal and work life.
What makes a good work ethic?
Drive. Running to win.
Determination. Refusing to give up.
Devotion. Inviting God into your work.
Discipline. Work hard!
Meryl Lynch’s high performers:
1. Played sports. (competitive)
2. Blue collar families. (want a better life)
3. 3 or more siblings. (relate well to others)
4. Part time job in college. (not entitled)
What get’s you fired?
1. Don’t deliver results.
2. Too narrow in perspective.
3. Don’t relate well to others.
4. Self-centered.
5. Doesn’t inspire or build talent.
How does one commit their work to God?
Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to The Lord and your plans will be established.
What does it look like to commit your work to The Lord?
1. Believe God has really called you to it.
2. Pray “into” your work… Really pray “into” it.
3. God wants to give you a voice, not just an echo.
Problems with execution:
Busyness is a cuss word!
Lack of clarity with goals
Lack of planning
Vague accountability
*People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect.
In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely accustomed to routine trivia.
Help your team define what winning looks like
Core Components of Execution:
1. Preparing: Researching, doing your homework. “What do I need to see?” Perspectives.
2. Planning/goal setting: What are the key events needed to achieve my goals? What are the mile markers that lead up to the big goals this year? Daily(3 big blocks), weekly(define priorities and key events), monthly(Goal setting aligning long-term), quarterly(Evaluate, goal-setting strategy).
3. Communicating: How do I keep people informed and up to date with what we’re doing? Get clear running lanes.
4. Monitoring: What are the deliverables and when are they due? Get specific and meet them where they are. 3 reasons people don’t change; don’t know what to change, too much to change, unwilling to change. (What are the one or two things that you’re here to learn?)
5. Measuring: How did I move closer to achieving my goals this week?
6. Realigning: What’s next?
