www.danielharkavy.com » Life Planning

You Need a Road Map (Increasing Your Leadership Capacity Series — Step 5 of 8)

Daniel Harkavy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:53:06 +0000

One thing that hinders our ability to increase our leadership capacity is a lack of clarity. This lack of clarity can show itself in so many ways. We can lack clarity on our company’s purpose, our primary products, our key differentiators, who on our teams are best equipped to do what, where our strategic wins can be found, what plans we may have committed to in times past and who is doing what and when in order for us to execute with excellence. Sometimes leaders even have a lack of clarity around why in the heck they started leading this thing at some point in the past. Just typing this causes me angst! Note: This post is part of a series on Increasing Your Leadership Capacity. Click here for the previous step.

Now I don’t think that all leaders are struggling with confusion around everything I just listed, but I do know that I, along with many business leaders I have coached over the years, have found themselves not leading with excellence because we have lacked clarity on at least one of them at some point.

So what can you do if you find yourself stuck with very little time, energy and clarity as to how to build your and your team’s leadership capacity? Here are four specific musts do’s that can absolutely increase your level of passion and your direction which will enable you to continue to grow your capacity.

Take a good look at your Business Vision. As you read it, are you finding yourself excited and compelled to continue pushing forward and giving your all to the cause? If your vision does not compel you, then how can you expect it to compel those you lead to stretch and grow?
If it compels you, the next question you must ask is this: “can I plan from it?” If you vision is not clear, it will be very difficult to build plans and strategy from it. Your vision should help you to see who your customer is, what value you will bring to them, what problem your team, service or product will help solve. It should help you to see what your team will become and what you will build at some point in the future.
Now look at your Business Plans for the year and the quarter. Your desired outcomes, disciplines and improvements must be very clear. These three things should fit on one page and should truly direct your actions and impact your calendar.
And then finally, if you have done the previous three things and are still not seeing things clearly, you are wise to understand that self leadership always precedes team leadership. Your challenge might be deeper and bigger than what is happening vocationally. You could really benefit by spending a day reviewing or building your Life Plan. An effective plan is compelling and clear in how it directs your thinking, your actions and ultimately your results.

To your continued growth,

Note: This post is part of a series on Increasing Your Leadership Capacity.
Step 1: Own Your Role
Step 2: Be Healthy
Step 3: 6 Steps to Improve Your Thinking
Step 4: Be Hungry and Humble

Leadership Moment — Syncing Up Your Calendar and Life Plan

Daniel Harkavy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:00:45 +0000

Does your calendar sync up with your Life Plan? Watch as Daniel shares some tips to make sure your calendar and Life Plan are working together.

Leadership Moment: Don’t Wait

Daniel Harkavy — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:14:08 +0000

Life is fragile, and there are no guarantees about tomorrow. In this Leadership Moment, Daniel urges you to evaluate your Life Plan so that you are intentionally adding more value in the time that you have.

Unable to view the video? Click here.

Relationships Take Time

Daniel Harkavy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:54:56 +0000

If you have ever struggled with your spouse, one of your kids, a parent, a friend, or a fellow teammate, you know how it can negatively impact the other areas of your life. Conversely, if you are doing exceptionally well in any of those relationships, you know how that overall feeling of goodness tends to spill over into the other areas of your life.

The depth and quality of our relationships directly impacts the overall quality of our lives. And we all know that deep, high-quality relationships take time.

As an executive coach here at Building Champions, I know that most leaders find the battle for time to be their single greatest challenge. It is truly a game of trade-offs. I have often said that we must be able to say no to the good in order to say yes to the great.

Here is my action plan for you today:

Take a good look at your Life Plan, and compare it to the last 90 days of your life.
Assess how you are doing with the investing of time into the relationships in your life that matter most. If you are on track and building relational net worth, fantastic.
If not, make a plan today to do one thing in the week ahead to invest in a key relationship.

You will probably need to say no to something else to make room for that relationship, and chances are, it will be to something important. But ask yourself, “Will it be as important on the long run as building that relationship?”

Relationships take time, and I say invest in them!

You’ve Got More to Give

Daniel Harkavy — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:36:17 +0000

I absolutely believe the Biblical truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I think it is true for all of us!

The problem is that many have lost perspective. It is easy for this to happen when we have lost things such as love, friends, income, jobs, family norms…and the list goes on. We can easily fall into the trap of thinking about how to protect ourselves rather than how we can help others.

So ask yourselves these questions daily if you want to increase your levels of passion, purpose and overall fulfillment:

• Not what can I get, but what can I give?
• Not who can serve me, but who can I serve?
• Not what can I take, but what can I add?
• Not what can I learn, but what can I teach?

The best leaders bring this mindset to their teams.

The best teams bring this mindset to their customers.

The best sales professionals bring this mindset to their clients and partners.

And the most successful people in life bring this mindset to the world.

In trying times or during a long season of struggle or loss, it is common for us to lose our perspective and to find ourselves most concerned about ourselves, looking out for No. 1.

If that is you, take a day to reflect on your Life Plan and Vision. If you are not seeing enough giving in what you read, revise it. If it’s already there but you just haven’t been doing it, come up with one action you can implement in the week ahead. Maybe starting your day off with the above questions will be help enough.

We believe so strongly in this philosophy that we made it our theme at this year’s Experience. If you are looking to find more ways you can make a greater contribution in your business and life, consider joining us this September.

It is more blessed to give than to receive, and it is a much better way to live and lead.

It Has to Lead to Contribution

Daniel Harkavy — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:55:17 +0000

The last few years have been especially hard on most of us. Heck, normal life without the ramifications of this global economic meltdown was challenging enough. The sad reality is that many people we work with have begun to question their ability to contribute. Maybe we’ve even had those doubts ourselves at times.

Are you hearing and believing any of the following?

• I am just trying to survive, I have nothing left over to give.
• I am slammed, way too busy to add anyone or anything else to my plate.
• The best is behind me. I used to think I could contribute but my mistakes have taken me out.
• What does it matter? Who cares anyway?
• I have nothing special to contribute.

I can tell you that I know that these are not true! They are lies and must be fought with vigor.

I am not trying to discount your situation in any way. What I want to communicate is that no matter what your situation, you can still contribute and make a difference and others are counting on you to do so.

For some it is to parent and train up future leaders or good hearted servants; for some it is to apply your skill to your trade of passion; and for some it is to serve and lead your teams and organizations.

Sometimes we lose our way, but we can always find our path back if we know our WHY.

Hopefully many of you are already familiar with the Life Planning process we use at Building Champions. This is a process I have been benefitting from and coaching others on for many years. I am a firm believer in its ability to aid us with making better proactive and intentional decisions in life and business.

Your Life Plan should be a dynamic and living document that is continually being reviewed, lived out and adjusted where and when needed. One of the ways you might want to improve upon your plan is to assess how you see yourself contributing to each of your accounts.

Look at where you are doing well and where you think you could contribute more. Then, map out a plan to make sure you are making the greatest impact you can in your life, your business and your community. We believe so strongly in this theme of contribution that it will be a central part of our Building Champions Experience this fall.

The truth is that we all have the ability to make a greater difference in the lives of those around us.

On behalf of those lives you will touch, thank you for your contribution.

Business Plans Don’t Work

Daniel Harkavy — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 18:12:57 +0000

What Do You See?

Daniel Harkavy — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:07:31 +0000

For my first post of 2011, I decided to do an audio message. Turn up your speakers, click below, sit back and listen.

Hope you enjoy!

Download the tool: [Download not found]

How to Fight the Gloom

Daniel Harkavy — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:02:35 +0000

Last Monday, Coach Steve Scanlon and I had breakfast in a New York café and were discussing our schedules for the upcoming week. We both had on-site coaching sessions with either an individual CEO or with their teams, we had the World Business Forum coming up, and then Steve was off to work with another group in Oklahoma.

While we were eating, Steve mentioned that he is seeing an increase in the number of professionals that are struggling to keep their minds out of the doom and gloom. He wanted to address this with the group he was going to speak to later in the week.

I think everyone would agree that the challenges of the last few years have increased the number of those who are losing the battle to keep perspective. Steve and I came up with some ways to help fight living in this dark space.

Here are our 9 Steps to Fight the Gloom:

1. Read your vision every morning. If you don’t stay connected to your vision, you will get stuck reacting to the demands of the present. The best leaders have Bi-Focal Vision – they keep one eye up on the future and one eye down facing reality.

2. Update your Life Plan. If it is not helping you to gain perspective in the areas of your life that matter most, you may need to modify it to make it more real and compelling.

3. Build your Worst Case File. Create the contingency plan now that states what you will do if the worst does in fact happen, without the emotion and stress that could surface in a more stressful time. Chances are, you will never need to execute that plan, but it will settle your mind to know you have a plan in place.

4. Now, put the Worst Case File away. Once you have mapped out your plan, don’t pull it out again unless it is needed. Free your mind to work on the actions that will bring you success in both professional and personal arenas.

5. Surround yourself with clear thinkers. During challenging times, you need to be intentional about spending time with people who see opportunity and potential. If you keep company with those who only see the glass half full, they will pull you down with them.

6. Take care of yourself. Proper nutrition, regular exercise, and adequate sleep must be a priority. Don’t compromise here, or you will soon feel the pain.

7. Make time for silence. For me this is prayer time. For others it may be meditation. Force yourself to create some silent space daily. This is oxygen for your mind, and will lift the gloom.

8. Don’t compare yourself or your circumstances. How others would deal with your situation or what others are doing right now is not your concern. You will never know their whole story, so comparing can be very destructive.

9. Embrace the seasons of life. Don’t run from the challenge or the fear. Walk into it, embrace it, learn from it, give it the proper attention, and realize it will not last. As they say, “This too shall pass.”

If you are feeling weight, pressure, and gloom…don’t give in and never give up. Try a few of the above and let me know if this helps.

Are You Spending Enough Time?

Daniel Harkavy — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:00:19 +0000

That was the question Greg Salciccioli asked me last night, just moments after we witnessed the marriage of his oldest son Nate.

One year ago, we also had the privilege of attending their younger son’s wedding. Greg and Dianna have two sons, and now in the last year they have gained two daughters. As Greg asked me the question, he was looking at my four kids who were standing behind us, engrossed in a conversation of their own.

My off-the-cuff response was, “Yeah, I think so.” I have been working hard and playing hard with them, and I think we are getting plenty of time together. But when I woke up this morning, I was still pondering Greg’s question. Am I spending enough time with my kids?

I must admit, I don’t actually know the answer. How much time is enough? Enough time for me to feel like a good father? Enough time so they know beyond the shadow of a doubt how much I love them? Enough time to impart what they need to learn from me to have the best chance of succeeding in life?

Greg asked me this question at a milestone in his life as a father. This was the last of his kids’ weddings. Now both sons have their brides, and Greg and his bride are truly empty nesters.

In that moment, Greg said to me, “It just goes by so fast.” He encouraged me to remember that at moments like this, it is not about what you accomplish at work; it is the quality of your relationships that matter most.

As I reflect on these words in the early morning light, I hear my four kids starting to stir. We have some mountain biking to do today. Thanks to Greg’s question, I also have some assessing to do. My challenge today is to be fully present during our hours together.

Are you spending enough time?

I think Greg’s question can be applied to any relationship in your life. Take a moment to ask yourself that question, and if your answer is “not enough,” don’t wait! Give them a call, set up a date, go home and play, or enjoy of cup of tea with this person — face to face, eye to eye, with no interruptions, today.

Thanks to Greg and Dianna for allowing us to share in this beautiful occasion. And Greg, thanks for caring enough to ask such an important question.