When a leader loses perspective for too long, it can be terminal.

So what should one do who finds themselves tired, fearful, and confused? Here are 5 suggestions for those of you who might be trapped in this very uncomfortable place right now.

1. Take some time OFF. This may feel like the last thing you can afford to do, but it could be exactly what you need right now. Don’t take a trip — take a vacation.  Unplug and rest. Take some time to sleep, read, exercise, eat right, and connect with those who encourage you. The purpose of this OFF time is to rejuvenate you, not to further drain you.

2. Protect your sacred spaces. iPhones, Blackberries and TVs are incredibly useful tools in our lives, but we must establish boundaries. If we are sitting in bed late at night or first thing in the morning checking Facebook, watching the news, and responding to email, we are living in reactive mode 24/7. We won’t get the rest we need, and we will wake up feeling further behind. Instead, make your late evenings and early mornings a reflective, restful time. Use this time for the things that refresh you. Protect your bedroom as a sacred space, and keep certain times of the day as sacred.

3. Feed the machine. Our bodies will break down over time if not properly cared for. Make your health an A-1 priority. Make healthy meals, daily exercise, plenty of sleep and lots of water a habitual part of each and every day. Don’t take your body for granted, or the machine will break down just when you need it most.

4. Spend time with your cheerleaders. Make sure you find time in your week to spend with people who love you, believe in you, and who truly want to see you at your best. Hopefully this takes place already in your home, with your close friends, and with certain team members. Be mindful of who you invest your time with, and if needed schedule extra time with those who encourage you most.

5. Consult the map daily. Look at the plans and books that guide your direction every morning. Keep your Life Plan, Business Vision, and Business Plan in front of you. If you lose sight of the big picture, the tired, mundane, confused and even fear-filled days will surely follow.

I am confident that one or more of these tactics will help you to get your perspective back. May you be fortified for the battles of your life.

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1. I Love a Good Vacation in the Morning
2. Things Will Not Fall Apart
3. Questioners and Truth Tellers

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Daniel shares some observations about successful team culture in this follow-up to his recent post, The Monday Morning Huddle.

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Like many CEO’s and business leaders today, they are feeling a bit battle-weary. The last three years of economic challenge forced them to make many of the difficult business decisions that many of us faced, including downsizing, cost cutting, and fighting for survival over the short term. Today, they find that they have weathered the worst of the storm, and are now buried with too much business and too much opportunity for their maxed out team.

I know many of you can relate to this story.

In speaking with them today, I noticed that they had stopped doing some of the very things that made them successful during the nine years prior to this economic storm. One of those missing pieces was their weekly team huddle.

As I mentioned in my previous post, How a Big Company Can Feel Small, it is critical for us leaders to communicate during the more challenging times. But this is when most of us feel like communicating least.

During difficult times, we may not be exactly sure what to say. We buy the lie that everybody expects us to have all the answers. The truth is that most of our teammates already know that we don’t have all the answers, and they are hoping that we know that, too!

This group of partners used to have a weekly huddle, and they let that discipline slide. Now, many of them don’t know what is happening in the other departments of this small firm.

One Action Plan I gave to them — and I now share with any of you who need to improve the health of your team — is to have a weekly Monday morning team huddle. Spend 15 to 30 minutes right as the week kicks off to connect, to share victories from the past week, and to discuss what is happening in the week ahead.

The good news for you leaders is that you don’t have to prepare a 16 page presentation. The purpose of the Monday morning huddle is to help your team to be engaged and prepared for the week ahead. Everybody on the team can and should participate. You just need to lead by example, and to facilitate this group action plan.

Your culture and results should improve,

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Now, I know that much has been written on the subject of health by those who are far more educated in this arena. But I thought I would share my experiences as a guy who has taken a different approach.

The problem with the “start and stop” rhythm is that this approach is never a good strategy for battle, and that is exactly what maintaining peak health is: a battle.

We can’t win this battle if we focus on it for a few weeks by eating packaged, low-fat, processed foods in pre-subscribed quantities and working out for 20 minutes three times a week….and then toss it all to the wind when our weight goal has been reached or we become frustrated.

Unless we change our thinking, we will not break out of this “start and stop” behavior.

Like my friend, we will look for the next greatest diet. It could be no carbs, just grapefruit, all meat, no meat, fist size, etc….

For any of you who have benefited from these types of diets, I am not saying they are bad. What I am saying is that our thinking must change first if we are going to see our health improve over the long haul.

So, here is a suggestion on how to go from dieting to maintaining good health as a way of life:

Change your “Why.” You may want to get to a certain weight or size, but that is usually not enough to keep you going. You need a more significant “Why.” Perhaps you would love to be able to keep up with your kids when you play together, or you want to add more pain-free years to your life. Maybe you are motivated by what you don’t want, like spending so much time in doctor’s offices, or being the one who holds your family back on vacations, or becoming a burden to those you love.

When it comes down to taking action and making better daily choices, these kinds of reasons are more likely to tug at your heart than the dream of a single-digit dress size.

Identify your Non Negotiable Disciplines. This is critical. My suggestion is that you start with disciplines you can nail at least 80% of the time. Examples of this could be to replace your soda intake with water, or to snack on veggies, fruit and nuts twice a day so you are not as hungry at lunch and dinner. Once you start to build momentum incrementally, you’ll find the bigger changes come more easily.

Find an Exercise Buddy. Who do you know that will commit to walking with you four mornings a week? Who will go for a jog with you every other day at lunch? Who can you hire to teach you how to properly lift weights and stretch? If you can afford to meet with a trainer regularly, it could be one of the greatest investments you make in your life. But whether you hire a trained professional or recruit a friend, you’ll find you have greater success when you’re accountable to another person.

Now, remember my friend who has tried every diet under the sun? His challenge isn’t to start the next great diet or quick fix exercise program to maximize the short bursts of time when he’s focused on his health. It is overcoming the daily drive-through habit and the lack of exercise when the diet stops.

He could be the world’s greatest dieter, but it won’t produce real change without a shift in thinking.

The battle is won when health becomes a lifestyle, not a task to be accomplished.

This is a rich topic, and I welcome your comments and questions!

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Waking up running is the norm for many in these crazed times. This daily routine can leave many a leader feeling overwhelmed and tired. It can cause us to live our days craving an escape.

We go about our schedule with mechanical precision, without really being present for days, weeks, or even months. We’re just waiting for the day we can board a plane to the tropics. Then, once the wheels are up and the Mai Tai is in hand, relaxation will finally set in.

It does not need to be this way.

I have a routine that I strive to sustain just about every weekday. I call it my morning vacation. It is my time alone in the early hours, before the rest of my family is awake. It usually lasts anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes and includes some time spent reading the Bible, praying, reflecting, stretching, or meditating. Many mornings, I do my reflection in the hot tub as the sun is rising.

When I follow through with my morning vacation, I find that it impacts how I go through the rest of my day. I am more present, calm, and aware. It equips me for the challenges and opportunities the next 24 hours will hold.

A day that begins well has a higher probability of finishing well.

I think it is a mistake to wake up in chase mode. Morning vacations can radically impact how you lead, serve, and love those in your office and your home. I know many leaders who have similar routines, and they swear by them.

Take a vacation. You deserve it.

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Think about a week that you really brought your “A” game to the office. 

You were on time, fully present and prepared for all your meetings.  You closed the deals you were working on.  You executed with excellence.  Not only this, but you had time to think, to plan, to exercise, and you were home in time for dinner!  Did I mention email?  Yes, you were even caught up on all email correspondence.  Not just your work email, but your Linkedin, Facebook, and personal email accounts.

Even as I type this, I am thinking “Yeah, right!”  I was tracking with my own exercise, until I got to that email part.  It’s time for a coaches’ confessional:  I am really struggling to keep up with my email inboxes.  I have to admit that email communication is one of my weaker disciplines.

So if I were coaching me, what questions would I ask?  What direction would I take myself in this situation? 

The first place I would start is with my Perfect Week.  The Perfect Week is an exercise we coach clients through to help them visualize what a week filled with High Payoff Activities from their Life Plans and Business Plans would look like.  We then have them add the Low Payoff Activities which cannot at this time be delegated or dropped.  We also coach them to schedule no more than 70% of their time, leaving room for the unplanned opportunities and challenges that creep into all of our days.

This is just what my assistant Lynne and I did last week.  We went back to my Perfect Week to make sure it is synchronizing with my real schedule. 

In years past I had two times blocked out each day for emails and returning phone calls.  Somehow, I had lost that discipline.  The good news is that, by doing this exercise, we recaptured that discipline, and Lynne is already scheduling these times back into my days.  I am confident this will help me to keep my inboxes managed and my stress level down.

I know this has worked for me, and I believe it could help you as well.  Please feel free to contact us at info@buildingchampions.com if you want a Perfect Week Time Blocking template.

Cheers,

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I’m not alone in this, either.  Many times at the beach, on the mountain, or in the streets you will find my colleagues and their kids right there with me.  Coach Barry Engelman has recently taken up snowboarding with his boys, and he also surfs with me from time to time.  Coach Steve Scanlon can often be found skating in local parking garages at 11pm, or at Mount Hood boarding with his kids.

Anyhow, our immature hobbies are not the point of this post.

So what is my point?  That I hang out with boys in men’s bodies?  Maybe so, but I believe that there is some life-giving magic to be found in playing outdoors at any age.

One mentor in my life is my great uncle, Chuck Heller.  Chuck was a very successful business owner in his day.  When I first started in business some 25 years ago, I asked him for his take on what had made him successful.  He shared a great deal with me, but the thing that really stuck with me was how he took care of himself physically, and how he played.  Chuck came home for lunch every day to swim laps, eat a healthy meal, and take a short nap.  He said this helped him mentally as well as physically.  He is 94 years old now, and still plays tennis at least 5 days a week!

I’d like to encourage you to take care of yourself this year.  Pick one health discipline to improve upon.  Do you need to work on eating better quality foods, or smaller portions?  Will you commit to exercising at lunchtime for 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week?  Have you been thinking about trying a new hobby, or finally dusting off the clubs, racket, glove, or board and getting out there to play once a week?

To keep playing like kids, we must be very intentional with how we care for ourselves.  This year, pick one aspect of your health account to improve upon.  Then, incorporate some play into your Life Plan and your calendar this year.  Not only will this allow you to make the most out of every day right now, but you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.

Do this, and you may receive one more wonderful gift:  when you play like a kid, you get to do this stuff alongside your kids!

I hope to see you on the mountain this weekend,

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After an hour and a half, he left, and one of my sons came by.  He is 17, and is finishing up his senior year with some classes at our local community college.  The purpose of our one on one time was to connect and take a look at his plan for the next quarter.  It was an opportunity for me to listen to him and to connect at a deeper level.  I was able to pour into him.

The reason I wanted to share with you about my morning is to challenge you to think about how you will spend your time this year. 

Are you proactively scheduling one on one time with those you care for most?

One on one time is the absolute best way for people to connect, to experience intimacy, to build trust, to share life, to love and support one another, to challenge each other, to affirm each other and to show those around us how much they mean to us.  With our busy schedules, this can be quite challenging, but it is worth it.  I have learned — by observing those who are further down the path than I am — that those who do this tend to have the deepest and the best relationships.

Many of you are already busily filling in the vacant slots on your calendar for this month or even the entire year, and this is one discipline that will pay huge dividends.   These one on one times (or dates, as we call them in our home) should be scheduled first before other things get in the way.

Look at your Life Plan, and make sure your key accounts include the discipline of one on one time with those who are the most important in your life — your spouse, your kids, your close friends, your extended family members.  Then make room in your calendar, and invite them to meet with you.  Make this a non-negotiable discipline so that it becomes a way of life for you.

I know many of you already do this, and do even more to make the time rich and meaningful.  I could learn from you!  Others may want to make this a priority, but don’t know where to begin.  It starts with one date.

I hope this helps you and those you care for,

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Today I want to clear up some confusion we commonly see in the minds of our clients.  This confusion is around the difference between a goal and a discipline. 

To put it simply, a goal is the end result you’re aiming for.  A discipline is the behavior or task you must repeat, over and over, to achieve the result you want.  A goal is an idea that motivates you.  A discipline is an action that moves you forward.

At Building Champions, we coach our clients to gain clarity on which disciplines they must establish in order for them to have the highest probability of reaching their goals.  If the client is to succeed, these disciplines must be non-negotiable.   We like to focus on the behaviors that define how we live and lead. 

These non-negotiable disciplines are truly where the magic lies in self development.  Goals and resolutions are important, but by themselves they have no power to change your situation.  Identifying the disciplines you will repeat constantly is the critical next step.  Here are a few examples.

Goal:  Increase monthly sales volume by 10%

Non–Negotiable Disciplines:

1. Observe 4 sales calls per week with a sales rep – coach them on improvements
2. Team Sales Meetings every Monday at 8am
3. Review and provide feedback on weekly sales call plans and reports
4. Quarterly Business Plan Reviews with each team member

Goal:  Lose 25 Pounds in 2010

Non-Negotiable Disciplines:

1. 30 minutes on the treadmill M-W-F at noon
2. 15 Push Ups and 25 Sit Ups every morning
3. 8 glasses of water daily — no sodas
4. Fruit and veggies instead of breads.  No muffins for breakfast or breads at lunch.

I have seen people truly flourish when they gain clarity on how they want to live and lead, and then identify the corresponding disciplines.  These individuals develop strong convictions around their disciplines, and they become non-negotiable.  Their disciplines become a way of life.

Make your disciplines non-negotiable,

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The power of this Business Plan is that it is very specific and personal.  It is not meant to replace a larger corporate plan.  It answers the following three critical questions for you on a single piece of paper:

1. What are my measurable goals for the year? 
2. What do I need to do each day to reach those goals? 
3. What improvements do I need to make in the year ahead? 

Part One:  Outcomes

What goals are you aiming for in the year ahead that are specific and measurable?  These are your desired outcomes.  You should be able to assign a specific number to each outcome.  Your desired outcome could be the number of people served, units built, or units sold.  It could be a target for revenue, net income, market share, ROI, or customer satisfaction ratings.  The clearer you are on your numbers, the easier it is to identify the behaviors and projects that will be required to achieve those outcomes.

Part Two:  The Disciplines of a Champion

What non-negotiable disciplines or behaviors will you repeat over and over in order to have the highest probability of reaching your desired outcomes?  Identify three to six disciplines that you will repeat daily or weekly, regardless of how you feel.  Examples might include sending five handwritten notes each day, conducting weekly financial reviews, making ten sales calls per day, holding weekly coaching sessions with your direct reports, walking the floor daily, or spending eight hours per week behind the customer counter.  The Disciplines of a Champion are very specific.  They should be so clear that you can schedule them as appointments in your calendar.

Part Three:  Improvements

What three to five specific, one-time projects will you work on in the year ahead that will help you to do your job with more success?  These are your improvements, and they differ from disciplines in that they have a finite point of completion.  List them out in order of priority and assign a target completion date for each of them.  Examples of improvements could be updating your database by March 1, rolling out your new customer service plan by May 15, or hiring two new sales representatives by August 1^st.  Once you have clarity on each of these projects and how they fit into the overall plan, you can schedule the needed ON Time (or project time) in order for you to complete your improvements.

So there you have it:  a simple and personal Business Plan that has the power to cause your behaviors and results to improve.  If you review it frequently, you will remain focused in the year ahead.

You are welcome to contact our coaching company, Building Champions, to receive this tool from us as a year-end gift. 

May you find clarity about your plans for 2010,

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