Time continues to accelerate. I was recently speaking with some High School students about careers and what I have learned over the years. We were relating to the years on some of my first jobs where you stared at the clock. You felt like two hours went by and 15 minutes was the real time that went by. Today I refer to my office as a time machine. I go in and 8 to 10 hours go by and it feels like 15 minutes. Now more than ever I must plan my day and stick to managing my time.
Today is my last day in the office for the year. By far one of the fastest years ever. Watching my boys get older is an amazing way of seeing time fly. Caden is now driving and Carsen has really become his own person. So proud of both of them and how they don't let others influence them into making bad decisions. Reason I am writing is to recap what I learned this year at work. This year I have been from Phoenix to Scotland and including Florida twice, Indianapolis, Texas, Denver, Branson and so many more places. Way too much travel in the summer and am going to limit that in 2019 for sure. So here is my list of what I learned.
1. As we continue to go down the building processes direction I have discovered there can be some real loops you can get stuck in. For sure building the processes is very important and documenting is key. However one thing I have found is for some teams and people there will never be enough process. You detail what you think is a very fine line of detail and some want more. So where is the line of doing it the same every time versus wanting to take any decision making out. The customer experience is key and unfortunately things will always challenge the processes you built. Key is defining the 80% then focusing on the 20% and educating the teams on what good decisions look like. Then you cannot wield the sword of accountability when it is really people trying to understand they why or just clarifying things.
2. Culture is never done. You must continuously communicate in many different ways and never stop. Right when you think you have it right you find out you have people worried. Safety in jobs builds the right culture. That doesn't mean no accountability it means communicating failure then building trust through candor.
3. Only the best leaders build future leaders. If you have not been part of building a future leader then are you really a leader? Possibly, however there is a time where you must have done this to really be successful in your leadership path. That doesn't mean you had to be their boss to help build them, you just had to be part of another's leadership journey.
4. It amazes me how few people really care for others. I don't mean that they don't empathize, I mean at their core would do anything for people they respect. Having a few that you just say "I will do anything for them period". That list grew significantly this year for me and should have a bigger list for sure.
5. Support and love the people and the rest will follow. Heard it, seen it hundreds of times. Sometimes faith is key to making this happen.
6. Self awareness is not a given. Only the best leaders have this skill and as people get bigger titles there are fewer people to give feedback (That is authentic) Looking into the mirror is a must however don't look too close because you will become paralyzed.
7. Learning is never done. I continue to learn more every year. I just get better at picking who/where I learn from.
8. Personal relationships will get you a long ways. It helps bridge the gaps where people don't get along.
I look forward to next year and can't wait to see what it teaches me. Hopefully it won't slap me!
No comments:
Post a Comment