You Get To (MUST) Choose
If you’re anything like me, when you get to work you either have something in mind that you need to or especially want to do, or your mind is not yet engaged for the day, you check your “to-do” list for what might be hot. But, before you start any particular task, you check emails, inbox and real mail to see what might need some attention or at least look interesting.
Then, one of your team comes in and the two of you chat about…whatever.
The phone rings and someone wants you to do something.
The email signals that there is a new email that wants some attention.
And so it goes, day after day, week after week, and year after year.
This is called working “in” the business.
You have a specific set of talents, gifts, experiences and knowledge that have value to the organization and every time you use them to solve problems (the definition of business), the organization moves forward just a little. And you get affirmed for working “in” the business.
If you remember, affirmation is one of the things that all of us need and want. What gets affirmed gets repeated.
See what’s happening here?
The cycle feeds itself.
Every once in a while you might read a cool book, hear an inspiring speaker or even get a spark of an idea from a friend on how to do things better, faster, cheaper by changing how your organization does things. Giving those you work with and lead the tools they need to do their jobs better, faster, cheaper is working “on” the business.
The benefit of working “on” the business is that you are working on causes instead of symptoms. Work on making the symptoms go away and they will likely eventually reappear.
Work on causes and you can go on to solve the next problem.
Working “on” the business might look like:
· Defining why your organization even exists.
· Articulating why customers and clients should do business with you.
· Deciding is it you want to accomplish.
- Establishing “the rules of the game” for your team.
- Building relationships among and with team members,
Leadership is Relationship.
- Working on getting your team members the tools they need to do the work of the organization better, faster cheaper.
- Creating teams and an organization to which team members want to belong,
- Making sure that are opportunities for affirmation,
- Building meaning into each and every job.
The best leaders spend at least as much time working on the business as they do in the business.
You get to (MUST) choose. Let me help you make good, intentional choices. Contact me at michael@intendtolead.com.
