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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
How to make better decisions and achieve your goals What shapes a person's career and life, and defines them as a leader? Their decisions. We all want to be more productive and deliver our best results. But doing this effectively--and consistently over time--is a significant challenge. Managing it all is hard, and leading in today's hyper-paced world is even harder. The good news is that leadership expert Steve McClatchy makes it easier. In Decide, McClatchy--who works with Fortune 1000 people every day to help them achieve outstanding levels of performance--shows you how to cut through the complexities and excuses to start realizing real gains simply by changing one thing: the way you make decisions. With McClatchy's help, you can quickly begin to: * Use the time you have each day to move your business and your life forward * Make decisions that yield better results * Waste less time, reduce stress and regain balance Again and again, McClatchy has helped people learn for themselves how great decision-making habits yield a lifetime of accomplishments. Follow McClatchy's no-nonsense and practical approach, and you'll soon manage--and even lead--at your highest level of personal performance.
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Seitenzahl: 274
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
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CONTENTS
Cover
Praise for
Decide
Title Page
Dedication
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Two Forms of Human Motivation
Prevent Pain: I Have to Do It!
Do I Really Have To?
Attributes of a Gain Task
Management versus Leadership
The One and Only Exercise I Will Ask You to Do in This Book…Brainstorm!
Chapter 2: It's All up to You
So Why Take on Gain?
The Paradox of Balance
Gain Is the Answer to the Balance Crisis
Gain and Prevent Pain Must Work Together
Chapter 3: Prioritizing Tasks in Relation to Results
A New Way to Prioritize
Why Is Prioritizing Important?
Focus on Results
Survival Instincts
Breaking Down Gain: Creation versus Consumption
Chapter 4: Energy and Motivation
What Can Your Brain Do for You?
Energy from Desire: Creation and Consumption
Energy from Fear: Procrastination
The Final Judgment on Procrastination
Chapter 5: What Understanding the Value of Time Can Do for Your Life
The Value of a Minute
Understanding Where Our Time Goes
Make Better Decisions about Your Time
You Accomplish Gain by Getting Your Goals on Your Calendar
Why Does This Work?
Getting Your Goals on Your Calendar: The First Steps
Need Some Examples?
Leap of Faith
Don't Squeeze It In
Chapter 6: Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Planning
No Time to Plan?
Benefits of a 5-Minute Plan
Make It a Habit
Chapter 7: Managing Interruptions
Stick to the Work Involved
Steer It Back by Interrupting Yourself
Set Expectations
Recover and Get Back to Work!
Work Interruptions into and out of Your Schedule
Return the Favor
Chapter 8: How to Manage It All
Organizing Your Information Resources
Why Get Organized?
Decide and Commit
The Keys to Using a Time Management System Effectively
What Your System Needs to Do
Task Management System: To-Do Lists
Calendar
They Work Together
Being on Time versus Being Late
Information Management: Contacts and Notes
Touch It Once
Chapter 9: Take Action
The Power of Your Decisions
Decisions Are Like Rules
Your Decisions Determine Who You Are
Do You Make Leadership Decisions?
It's Not a Competition
Building Your Identity as a Leader
Don't Just Think About It. Do It!
You Work Too Hard Not to Get the Great Results You Deserve
Notes
Acknowledgments
About Alleer Training and Consulting's Work with Clients
About the Author
Index
Advertisement Page
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Figure 2.1
Figure 3.1
Figure 3.2
Figure 3.3
Figure 3.4
Figure 3.5
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.2
Figure 4.3
Figure 4.4
Figure 5.1
Figure 6.1
Figure 7.1
Figure 7.2
Figure 8.1
Figure 8.2
Figure 8.3
Figure 8.4
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1
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Praise for Decide
“Steve's approach is not only hugely engaging but has an immediate impact on motivation and productivity. His book is the next best thing to having Steve in the room. I highly recommend it!”
—Christina Harper ElgarrestaManaging Director, Accenture
“Decide delivers: If you're struggling to lead, not just manage; if you're frustrated that your very best results are just beyond reach; or if you're simply at war with your calendar, Steve McClatchy's new book is for you. Decide is a rare fresh take at some of the thorny problems that block our best work. But don't just take my word for it. Get your own copy, and you'll soon be ordering copies for your team as well.”
—Marshall GoldsmithAmerica's preeminent executive coach (Fast Company magazine)
“Decide puts personal power squarely where it belongs—in your hands. Follow Steve's advice, and you'll immediately see benefits that will change the way you plan, spend your time, and engage with others. To change your trajectory and start leading in all aspects of your life, all you have to do is decide.”
—Mary Davis HoltLeadership coach, speaker, and best-selling coauthor of Break Your Own Rules
“I have worked with Steve, and I can say firsthand that his approach has had a profound impact on every level of our organization. His methods are deeply insightful and tremendously impactful. I highly recommend Steve, his approach, and this book!”
—Luc RobitaillePresident of Business Operations, Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club
“In Decide, Steve McClatchy shows us that we can accomplish amazing things by aligning what we want to achieve with how we spend our time. Regardless of the industry or level of the reader, real benefits will be accomplished from Steve's advice—an immensely practical guide!”
—Valerie SuttonDirector of Career Services, Harvard Graduate School of Education
“As the late Professor Randy Pausch said, ‘It's not how long you live, rather how well you live.’ Decide shows how we can all live more meaningful, productive lives simply by practicing better decision making. I invite you—and your team—to start regaining control over your time and efforts by reading this important book.”
—Navi RadjouSpeaker, advisor, and best-selling author, including author of Jugaad Innovation and From Smart to Wise
“World-class leadership is about making inspired and enlightened choices. With fresh stories and advice, McClatchy drills down to this idea by recommending daily habits that leaders at every level can use to their immediate benefit. Decide is a very worthy read on a critical subject.”
—Douglas R. ConantChairman of Avon Products, founder of Conant Leadership, and New York Times best-selling author of TouchPoints
“Your success as a leader is as good as your decisions. McClatchy shows you how to make the decisions every day that will keep your business and you moving forward.”
—Elizabeth WalkerVice President, Global Talent Management, Campbell Soup Company
“If your intention is to gain from your life, and not just prevent the pain that often comes with it, then Decide is the book for you. Steve McClatchy reminds us that to achieve something of significance, we have to focus on things that matter. His new book is full of the practical wisdom that will enable you to end burnout and bring balance to your life—and to find a path worthy of being followed. I absolutely recommend this book.”
—Jim KouzesCoauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University
Decide
Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example
Steve McClatchy
Cover image and design: Paul McCarthy
Copyright © 2014 by Steve McClatchy. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Dedication
To Lynn, Grace, Amy, Kyle, and Kelly,for being the reason that I work hard, rush home, and smile.Thank you for your confidence and trust,your support, and your abundant love.This book is for you.
Preface
The material in this book has been presented to high-level executives as well as high school and college students and people in every stage of life in between, over the past 12 years. It is a message of leadership that everyone can relate to in their own way because everyone has the opportunity to be a leader, whether it's for a team of professionals or in their own lives.
Decide aims to help readers lead toward improvement in their business and their life by teaching them how to make better decisions based on the real results they want to experience. Decide explores what drives us to do the things we do each day. It explains that the things we don't have to do at all matter the most in defining us as leaders and as individuals. It explains how to achieve balance in our lives through better decision making, rather than waiting for an employer to provide it for us. It presents readers with a perspective on the different ways we create the energy we need to get through each day—including accomplishments and procrastination—and challenges readers to make a choice on how to get theirs. It presents an understanding of the value of time from an opportunity cost perspective and how our understanding of that value determines how we will spend our lives. It offers valuable advice on prioritizing, planning, managing interruptions, and organizing to provide real-life practical skills to apply in order to get more done in less time, reduce stress, and complete the things we have to do so we can have more time for the things that make life worth living. And last, it offers an explanation of how our decision-making habits shape our lives and relationships in the long run.
This project is the culmination of many years of content creation, idea development, live presentations, audience polling and brainstorming, research, and soul-searching on the topics of time management and personal leadership. I have spent many years in the talent development industry because I believe in its mission to help people think and reflect about their values, to take responsibility for their lives, to take a step back and recalibrate when new direction is needed, and to provide the framework within which people can evaluate their decisions, direction, and vision of the future.
I also believe in the power of this industry to help businesses form vision, missions, common culture, and meaningful purpose, as well as the road maps to fulfill them. Employee development, as part of a company's mission, has been linked to happier employees, happier customers, and longer retention of both. These metrics improve not only the general wellness of an organization but also productivity and the bottom line. After attending my leadership programs, clients have reported increased engagement, improved retention, and intensified corporate culture. Leadership is essential for companies to survive and thrive in a fast-changing world. I especially believe my definition of leadership as “improvement” is necessary in business and in life. Without constant improvement, organizations begin to fall behind and die out. As individuals, the same thing is true. Personal leadership, pursuing Gain and adhering to values, is what gets us out of the rut and allows us to grow and improve over time.
Leadership and progress take time, energy, and commitment. But time continues to pass, whether you use it to accomplish something worthwhile or not. If your decisions about life and how you use your time do not reflect an effort to make the future better than it is today, then it won't be. Pursuing Gain, making proactive choices, and considering the consequences of your actions or inactions on your employees, family, colleagues, friends, and children define you as a leader, because you are improving things and determining what the future can be rather than leaving it to chance.
My passion for cultivating leadership at all levels has driven me to develop this material and present it to thousands of people every year. After hearing people around the world tell stories about their leadership experiences, I can tell you that leaders really do make a difference. So I hope you decide to be a leader and to make a difference, and I hope this book will show you how.
If, after reading this book, you decide and commit to making improvements in your life and leading toward a more passionate, engaged future, then Decide has accomplished its purpose.
Introduction
September 16 was always a great day during my childhood. Once per year, every year, for at least 18 years, it was the only day I got to decide what I would eat for dinner. It was my birthday.
With 12 kids, a husband, and various guests in the house every evening, my mother would had to have been crazy to take orders and try to satisfy everyone. So every day, she surveyed the pantry and made the decision herself regarding what everyone in the family would be eating that night. The only time this wasn't the case was on someone's birthday. Then the royal treatment was bestowed, and everyone had to eat your favorite that night. I remember what each person's favorite was and the look of pride and satisfaction on each one's face when it was served. I also remember the rarely successful negotiations my siblings and I undertook in trying to influence the birthday kid's choice. Everyone understood the value of the opportunity in front of them. No one was naïve enough to let that feeling of power and freedom of choice slip by for another year.
Lucky for us, the meals, although undemocratically chosen for us, were always enjoyable—and always welcomed as something we didn't have to do for ourselves. The fact was, there was a lot you had to do for yourself from a young age in a family this big. For the record, Mom was a fair-minded person and a believer in free will, so for the 364 days of the year on which the meal choice was not up to you, an alternative meal of cereal and milk was always available. You still had to sit at the table with everyone, but your cereal bowl was the statement of individuality that would satisfy even the crankiest child among us.
Mom didn't make the choice as a reminder of who was in charge. She had constraints: time, budget, only two hands, and one kitchen. Thankfully she didn't have to deal with any food allergies, but there was no shortage of strong opinions. Almost every night there was someone who chose the cereal.
When I anticipated going away to college, I was excited about my visions of the independence I would have living in a dorm. I knew there would be many choices available to me regarding schools, majors, how to use my time once I was there, and so on. But I had to laugh the first time I went to the campus cafeteria and found that there was a limited, predetermined menu every day, and there was a large cereal dispenser at the end of the tray line in case you didn't like what they were offering.
That rush of pride and freedom that comes from the authority to make our own choices, our own decisions, is a powerful feeling to experience. Even as children, we recognized the power of having choices. Obviously, as we mature, the process of making decisions moves from what we once considered a cherished privilege to a significant responsibility. This usually happens as the consequences of those decisions become more serious and lasting. The bigger the decisions we make, the more the results begin to affect other people, like our family or employees. Sooner or later, making decisions can even feel like a burden to the point where you sometimes just want someone else to tell you what to do or pursue next and how to get there…or at least just to decide what's for dinner.
Although most of the decisions we make result in a good meal choice or affect similarly insignificant matters, some have a significant impact on our lives. Do these things deserve equal amounts of time and attention? How do you decide how to prioritize them? Do you know where to start when it's time to make a crucial decision?
Let me ask you some other important questions: How do you feel about the big decisions you've made so far? What about the everyday choices that affect your daily life? Does your life feel balanced? Do you have enough time to get to the important things, or are you always running in place trying to keep up? Do you know how to prioritize and plan effectively to get more done in less time? Can making better decisions produce better results? Do you know how to progress from managing to leading? Are you fully engaged in your career and your goals? Do you find ways to improve your business and your life while still managing and maintaining the daily business of just being you? This book will show you that these things are not only possible, but indeed they are necessary to prevent burnout, maintain happiness, and become an effective leader in your business and in your life.
Chapter 1Two Forms of Human MotivationGain and Prevent Pain
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
—Mark Twain
What decisions or pursuits produce significant results in our lives—and are we giving them enough time and attention? Which of the many things that we do each day actually move us forward, and which just keep us running in place?
According to popular psychology, we all have the same reasons for doing the hundreds of tasks that we do each day. Many psychology studies have agreed that we can divide all sources of human motivation into two categories: to move toward Gain, or Prevent Pain. Every time you've felt compelled to do anything —from making a phone call, to getting up off the couch, to spending money, to going to work, to traveling, you were either motivated to move toward something you want (Gain), or prevent the loss of something you have (Prevent Pain).
We can illustrate this concept in almost any part of your life: health, finances, eating, career/work, even family and hobbies. Let's look at your health first. Do you exercise regularly, take vitamins or medications, or see doctors for checkups or when you feel ill? Every time you're motivated to do something about your health, it has either been to Gain in that category (get healthier than you are now, lose weight, lower cholesterol levels, tone muscles, heal injuries) or to Prevent Pain (prevent illness, weight gain, disease, muscle deterioration, and so forth). Sometimes you can have both motivations for doing something; for instance, you might exercise to lose weight and to prevent heart disease.
How about your finances? Everyone has been motivated by money at some point in his or her life. Are you trying to Gain in this category by getting a promotion and a raise, making a profitable investment, or increasing your savings? Or are you trying to Prevent Pain—that is, keep from losing the money you have—by buying insurance, clipping coupons, applying for a scholarship or grant, refinancing your mortgage, or finding a cheaper place to live?
Then, of course, there's food and eating. Sometimes you want to Gain a fine dining experience or try a new type of cuisine. Sometimes you are far too hungry or busy for that and just need to eat something to prevent hunger pains or headaches and be done with it so you can get back to work.
The Gain versus Pain question applies in business as well. Ask yourself: Is the purpose of your weekly meeting to identify new target clients or figure out how to improve the process of taking new orders? Or do you use it to go over meeting protocols and talk about employee lateness or inventory status? Is it a Gain meeting that will move your business forward, or is it a Prevent Pain meeting that will simply keep you from falling behind?
Consider any motivation you've recently had about your career. Has it been focused on Gain tasks that would benefit your career in the long term, such as pursuing an advanced degree, earning a professional certification, or closing a landmark deal that could put you in the running for a promotion? Or are you thinking more about how to avoid the next round of layoffs that may be coming or what needs to be done to meet expectations on your next performance appraisal?
Either Gain or Prevent Pain pushes you toward completing every decision and activity you pursue. And although it could be a combination of both, one is always in the majority. You have 51 percent or more of one of these motivations driving you to do that specific task. The most important difference between the two is the results they produce.
Tasks that you are driven toward by Gain produce more significant positive results in your life and your business than tasks that you are driven toward by Prevent Pain.
You might immediately wonder why. When you are thinking about Gain and you are being motivated by Gain, you are focusing on something you want. You are figuring out how to produce a result that you desire in your life. You are not thinking about losing something or maintaining the status quo. You are working to move your life forward from where it is now, making it better than what it is today, considering how you desire your life to be—and that's exciting! Gain gives you focus, a direction to head toward.
These aren't the thoughts that cross our mind as we do our everyday Prevent Pain tasks such as paying bills and doing laundry. Clean laundry isn't something we desire out of life. When we do laundry we are preventing the pain of having no clean clothes to wear. Similarly, paying bills prevents the pain of having our electricity turned off or having to pay late fees to the credit card company. But focusing on a Gain is different. It pushes us to move toward something we want, something that will make our lives better. And those results are much more significant to our lives than the results that Prevent Pain tasks produce.
Take a minute to think of something you'd love to do or achieve in life that you haven't already done. There is no right or wrong answer; this is uniquely you. Have you always dreamed of getting an MBA or PhD, finishing a marathon, learning a new language, writing a book, opening a business, starting a foundation, or restoring a vintage car? What about learning a new sport, traveling to foreign countries, or researching your family tree? How about buying your first house, owning an income property, or running for political office? Think of one thing that stands out among all the others. What would you most love to do in life that you haven't already done?
Now, would you say that this goal or accomplishment is about moving toward something you want or preventing the loss of something you have? For most people, it's about Gain. Few people, when asked to identify something they would love to do in life, talk about paying their electric bill or filing an expense report. When we think about things we want to accomplish in life, we are thinking about Gain. Consider what your life would be like if you accomplished that Gain task. Would it bring you pride, a sense of accomplishment, and happy memories? Would your life be better than it is today?
That's what Gain is about: improving life and moving forward. It's about the experiences and accomplishments that you want to have as a part of your life.
Prevent Pain: I Have to Do It!
Prevent Pain tasks simply prompt us to do what we have to do. There's that old saying that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. However, I'm sure that if I asked you what you have to do today (or any day) in order to keep up, you would have a much longer list.
Everyone has responsibilities; some more than others based on our age, job, family, and so forth. There are many “have to” responsibilities that simply come with earning a paycheck; after all, your employer is paying you to take care of certain tasks. If you are in school, you have to study and take advantage of the opportunity to learn and prepare for your future. Things such as home ownership, car ownership, and even pet ownership come with big responsibilities. Parenting is in a category by itself when it comes to taking on responsibilities and all the “have to” tasks that come with it. Some responsibilities, such as dealing with illness or injury, may have come to you without your consent; some you may have willingly signed up for; others may have come as an indirect result of your decisions.
No matter how many “have to” tasks are on your plate, you can always fill your day with them. There's always something to repair, maintain, clean, feed, keep up with, pay for, or care for. The reason that Prevent Pain tasks go on and on is that they never actually go away; they just eventually repeat. For example, you don't really cross doing dishes off your to-do list; you just move it to the bottom because by the next night, you will have to wash them again. The same is true with checking e-mail or stocking inventory. You don't cross it off; you move it down the list, because it's coming back again at some point. Tasks such as putting gas in your car, doing laundry, and going grocery shopping all have to be done over and over again because the things necessary to maintain your life are never finished. By always focusing on getting them done and preventing pain, you don't end up with Gain; you end up with no pain and unfortunately no progress.
Prevent Pain tasks come with varying degrees of urgency. You have to complete some, such as a certain assignment for work, according to deadlines. Others, such as housecleaning, have a bit more flexibility in terms of timeline; it's your responsibility to get them done sometime or deal with the consequences of failing to complete them. There is one thing that all “have to” tasks have in common, which is our definition of a have to: a “have to” (or Prevent Pain task) is any task or activity that, if neglected, someone else will eventually bring to your attention.
For instance, let's say someone is waiting for you to complete a task. If you don't do it, the person waiting will eventually catch you at the elevator, call you on the phone, send you an e-mail, stop you in the hall, send a reminder in the mail, or come knocking on your door and say, “Hey, did you ever get a chance to…?” Whether it's a manager, colleague, client, family member, neighbor, roommate, bill collector, or someone else, that person will want to know if you did what you were supposed to do. That is the nature of a “have to,” or Prevent Pain, task. The pain that you should have prevented will visit you eventually if you don't complete it.
Do I Really Have To?
When I say “have to,” you may think, “I don't have to do anything; I am a free person!” And sure, the decision about whether or not to complete these tasks is technically up to you. However, if you decide not to do them, you will have to face the consequences of that decision. For example, if you decide you will stop paying your rent or mortgage, you will have to deal with the consequences of not being able to live in your home anymore and possibly not being able to get another one because of your destroyed credit. So you either have to pay it, or you have to deal with what happens if you don't. The consequences are the pain you are preventing when you complete a Prevent Pain task.
Although I doubt anyone wants to risk becoming homeless, some unfinished Prevent Pain tasks have less severe consequences that you may choose to accept instead of doing the task. For example, if your neighbor knocks on your door and says, “Hey, did your yard become the Amazon? When are you going to mow it?” you could respond in any number of ways, including, “Hey, thanks for bringing that to my attention, but I'm not doing it ever again! It's my yard, and I can do what I please with it!” You have made your decision to stop mowing the lawn, to not complete this Prevent Pain task. But now the pain that wasn't prevented will start to roll in: your yard looks overgrown, and you can't use it for anything; your grass might die; and your relationship with your neighbors will suffer. If you let it go long enough, your kids or pets might even get lost out there! If you can live with these consequences, then you might choose this course of action, but either way, mowing the lawn is a “have to” or Prevent Pain because you either have to do it or you have to deal with the consequences of not doing it.
