Tag: planning

  • Pause. Breathe. Look. Leap.

    Pause. Breathe. Look. Leap.

    In our drive to get things done, we often leap into action. But best practices would say, “Pause. Breathe. Look. Leap.” Do daily and weekly check-ins on our own work and with our teams. Then get into action. Do deep monthly, quarterly, and annual planning for ourselves, our careers, with our families, and with our […]

  • How to Finish the Year Well

    How to Finish the Year Well

    How to have a really successful year end? Spoiler: do less, not more.

  • How to Prevent Burnout when Working From Home

    How to Prevent Burnout when Working From Home

    Working more hours yet have less time to get our work done. On calls, Zoom, or Teams all day. Rear end feels welded to the chair. These are some of the symptoms we experience when we (suddenly) shift to remote work. Here are four cures. Meet LESS Often When we are together, we communicate more…

  • Leading in Different Times #2: Reinforce Clarity

    Leading in Different Times #2: Reinforce Clarity

    This is the second in a series of Play notes about leading well during different times such as this one. “This not that. Here not there. And here’s why…” With daily distractions, project deadlines, and competing priorities, our teams can get unfocused. Add something like a global health challenge and they’ll likely get really scattered.…

  • Don’t Look Back

    Don’t Look Back

    The sages tell us that all our power is in the present. Any time we spend regretting, blaming, or trying to figure out stuff in the past will more likely distract us than help us. Don’t worry about repeating mistakes. We’ve already learned what we could. Set it aside. The future’s calling.   In your…

  • Pursue Our Dreams?

    Pursue Our Dreams?

    In business and life we wonder, “Should we pursue our dreams or be realistic?” Hold on! Who said these are mutually exclusive?   In your corner, Mike   Today’s photo credit: J.M.Seekford Soar via photopin (license)

  • Give Yourself These Important Gifts 

    Give Yourself These Important Gifts 

    Running around, overwhelmed, and (truth be told) only just keeping it together probably isn’t what we signed up for. But it is not necessary to be like this to be successful. We can be effective leaders (with or without title) and be mostly at ease. Impossible, you say? But it is so! We can become leaders…

  • Three to Four Things

    Three to Four Things

    If we choose 3-4 projects to make significant progress on this week and if we, each day, choose 3-4 things to accomplish that day, we will have the focus we’ve been searching for. If we accomplish most of them, we’ll have the satisfaction we’ve been seeking, too. In your corner, Mike

  • Proper Use of Planning

    Proper Use of Planning

    Planning fails when we use it to control the future. Seeking to control the future comes from a distrust or fear about it. And it can’t be done. Planning works when we use it to prepare for the future. Anticipating a desired future with quiet excitement and taking sensible preceding steps are great ways to…

  • Why Concrete Goals are Better than Specific Goals

    Why Concrete Goals are Better than Specific Goals

    They tell us that we should set goals that are specific. But if we shoot for ‘specific’, we may end up with ‘detailed’. And detailed goals aren’t helpful. They tempt us to plan and manage every aspect along the way to the goals. Such a focus blinds us to innovation, better ways, and serendipity. Here…