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Play a Bigger Game
Five really useful tips to IMPROVE YOUR LEADERSHIP in Five minutes!
Leadership has the single biggest influence over every important factor of a business. Strategy, Operations, Team functionality, Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction.
Show me a business with poor leadership and I will show you a business that is dysfunctional, inefficient, struggling to keep its head above water.
Show me a business with great leadership and I will show you a business that knows where it is going, has efficient operations, teams that thrive, employees that love their work and customers who are raving fans. Show me a business with poor leadership and I will show you a business that is dysfunctional, inefficient, struggling to keep its head above water.
I have been fortunate to experience the vast impact of leadership in many walks of life, as an entrepreneur, as a CEO, as a consultant and as a professional sportsman. There are some undeniable leadership elements that transcend every leadership role in every industry. When these simple fundamentals are applied you will find your leadership rocks and your business is on a role.
1. DECIDE
This may sound very basic but leaders forget that one of their most important roles is to make decisions.
Working with or for leaders that procrastinate and put things off is one of the most annoying things in the world. We want answers and we want them now? Where are we going? What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we doing it? All day every day people are looking for answers to these questions. When they’re not answered productivity declines, engagement falls away, customers head elsewhere. It’s not about immediate and fast it’s about getting it done. I use this rule of thumb.
For small decisions like buying a new printer, getting business cards done etc I make the decision instantly because there is not a huge impact or consequence if its not 100% right. So fast works here, get it out of the way.
For medium decisions like office furniture, website changes, ordering stock, customer complaints, I try to get these done in 24 hours. These are important decisions that need some consideration but shouldn’t take up all my time.
by getting the minor and medium decision out of the way I can give the major decisions the consideration and attention they deserve
Finally there are major decisions, such as a new business vehicle, recruiting new staff, launching a new product that I want to get spot on, by getting the minor and medium decision out of the way I can give the major decisions the consideration and attention they deserve. I want to get these important decisions right. What’s minor, medium or major for you will depend on your business size and structure but having a methodology allows the decision process to be understood and to flow.
2. COMMUNICATE
Having your own office can often mean you get tucked away from the day to day operations. This often means that there is a communication disconnect and when people don’t know what’s going on they often come up with their own interpretation and that’s almost always wrong.
use the communication channel that will have the greatest impact
We live in a world that now communicates in a multitude of formats across multiple mediums. Phone, text, email, written, meetings, social media just to name a few. It’s important that leaders understand that they need to match their messages to the medium. If you have something really important to communicate, use the communication channel that will have the greatest impact. This is most likely to be the least used communication channel. For instance a major staff restructure should not be communicated in a mass email if email is the natural way that people communicate general work issues. You need to step it up, have a staff meeting and announce it. On the other hand don’t call everyone to a meeting to tell them something trivial.
When you master the art of matching the strength and importance of your messages to the right medium you will find your staff and your customers relate to you better.
3. WALK THE TALK
As a leader the biggest influence you have over another person’s behaviour is your own behaviour. People will do what you do, not what you say to do. So if you talk about customers being the most important part of your business but treat them like dirt, you can be sure your staff are treating them the same way you are.
People will do what you do, not what you say to do
If you say punctuality is important yet turn up late for meetings, people will interpret that it’s not really important.
Talking a good game doesn’t make it a good game. You have to back the talk with actions that are congruent, then people will really get it and behave accordingly.
4. DON’T MAKE THEM GUESS
When something goes haywire or something is not right you can tell in a leaders body language and facial expressions. But because the leader doesn’t communicate their frustrations other than through they’re body language, everybody has to guess what the problem might be.
To overcome this in my companies, we have a system that makes it easy for staff to understand what’s right and what’s not. On the day they start we give them a single sheet of paper. At the top of the list is my 5 Non Negotiables. These are the 5 things that will cause me to get really cranky. Things like Never be Late for anything – ever. Each of these comes with an explanation, so Never be late for anything-ever is followed by “the greatest disrespect you can display to another team member or to customers is that your time is more important than theirs. So always be early. If we say 10am to the customer, have it ready at 9am. If we have a meeting at 2pm, show up at 1:50pm ready to go.
When I am obviously cranky about something and staff can see it in my body language, they can also predict which of the 5 I’m cranky about and they will often come to me with an explanation rather then me having to confront them.
My team also have they’re 5 non negotiables with me. Things like being paid on time or personal expenses being reimbursed withinin 24 hours. That way the staff know that the things that are important to them also get addressed quickly.
5. CATCH SOMEONE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT
If you want to create a culture that buzzes, where people look for opportunities to impress, than you have to find people doing the right thing. Typically leaders find or hear about employees doing the wrong thing and then have a rant about it, giving he person what for. If instead you look for people that have done something significant, useful and positive and rave about that to others, you will find that others will also look for the pats on the back.
make catching someone doing the right thing every day your priority
Research has shown that the number one thing employees want at work (even more than money) is recognition, a simple thank you. If you make catching someone doing the right thing every day, like doing something extra for a customer, coming up with an idea to speed up processing, helping another employee out in a quiet period etc. more people will do the right thing which ultimately makes the business function better.
Get more tips for building leadership, confidence, integrity and trust fast so that you become a remarkable leader in your business and your life! https://rowdymclean.com/leadabilitybook/
One of the reasons elite athletes do so well is they have a consistent discipline. A clear training schedule and set of benchmarks that they must adhere to.
It’s the same for crack military teams. Everyone clear on their role and the expectation in that role
It’s also true for airlines. Clear and concise communication. An understanding of everyone’s role and a clear expectation that they will carry out that role.
You can bet this also applied to whatever sporting team won the premiership in whatever code you follow. They get the job done because they have a discipline and dedication built on the back of a clear set of standards and behaviours
They get the job done because they have a discipline and dedication built on the back of a clear set of standards and behaviours
Show me a high performing team, a successful organisation, any elite body or winning team and I’ll show you a group that understands the power of standards and benchmarks.
In business, this is also undoubtedly true. When it comes to sensational service it is absolutely true! Yet few businesses really tap into the value of standards and benchmarks. Some, like McDonalds have built a multi-billion dollar empire on the back of it. “Would you like fries with that”
Invariably these standards and benchmarks are put together or pulled together by the leader or leaders of a business. So ask yourself theses questions. As an organisation, do we have a clearly communicated set of standards and benchmarks? Do we execute on those behaviours? (Plenty of businesses have them, but few hold people accountable to them) Do our people know what is non negotiable in our business? (Its good to have the must do’s sorted, but it’s also good to get clear on the must not dos as well)
If the answer is no, then you have got some work to do. If the answer was wishy washy (I’m not sure or I don’t know) then you have some work to do. If your answer was yes, well, you still have some work to do.
I have spent two decades helping businesses get their standards and benchmarks sorted. When they’re sorted the business functions better and when the business functions better, you cant help but make more money.
the business functions better and when the business functions better, you cant help but make more money.
Here is how you go about it.
1. You need to be ultra clear on what you want to achieve as a business before you start creating standards and benchmarks. If your strategy is all about service but your standards and benchmarks are all about sales you wont get the result that you want
2. Get everyone involved. If you involve staff at every level in the process of setting the standards and benchmarks, you will get better buy in across the whole business. Way too often I see leaders create a set of standards and benchmarks that are forced upon staff and the staff push back. They think its stupid, cumbersome, a waste of time. Often they are dead right. You can’t create a set of standards and benchmarks from an air-conditioned office on the top floor. You need to get them from the coalface where the business comes into contact with its revenue source.
3. Once you have created a set of standards and benchmarks you need to communicate them. Not only what they are but also why they exist. What purpose do they serve? “Would you like fries with that” is an up sell. A simple question that does not make the customer uncomfortable but adds to the bottom line (some up sells, like insurance in banking really upset the customer)
4. The leaders need to walk the talk. You simply cannot have a set of standards and benchmarks that only apply to one group of people. If you decide that everyone must where a shirt and tie but turn up some days without one. The standard is shot to pieces. As a leader, remember this, people are far more likely to do what you do than what you say to do. If you decide that every customer must be greeted as soon as they enter the store but don’t do that when you’re on the floor the staff wont either.
5. Test and measure. I can guarantee you wont get it right the first time, so test what works and what does not work. Get mystery shoppers in, ask customers for their feedback, test for efficiency and effectiveness. Check for consistency. Is it being done in the right way, in the right time, on time, every single time?
Standards and benchmarks are not only the path to high performing, high achieving, successful businesses; they’re the very foundation, the springboard for success!
As a leader, how do you get your team to Play a Bigger Game?
One of the key roles of a leader is the ability to inspire and motivate others. This is the path to getting them to Play a Bigger Game.
However motivation and inspiration are vastly different things. Motivation is lighting a fire in someone so they take responsibility for their own motivation. so they find their own triggers to step up and Play a Bigger Game.
The struggle for leaders is that what motivates one person to Play a Bigger Game will have no impact on another.
The struggle for leaders is that what motivates one person to Play a Bigger Game will have no impact on another. So to motivate a group of people you need to understand what motivates them personally. Listen to what they get excited about, to what fires them up, to what stirs their emotions, what gets them in the game!
Before trying to understand the motivations of your team though, you should deeply understand your own personal motivation and be able to articulate those motivations to others. When your team understand what motivates you, they are more likely to play the game, especially if there is some alignment with their own motivations.
When your team understand what motivates you, they are more likely to play the game, especially if there is some alignment with their own motivations.
Inspiration on the other hand is feeding the fire. Its providing your team with examples of people playing a bigger game. Through these examples they can see how they might play a bigger game.
You can share quotes, books, videos, stories podcasts, blogs and all sorts of information with your team to help them feed the desire to play bigger.
However, you also need to understand that what inspires one person may not be of any interest to someone else. One person might love Gary Vaynerchuk and his motivational style, someone else might prefer Tony Robbins. One person will enjoy books another might prefer podcasts. Its your job as a leader to understand what suits whom and then apply that knowledge for the best results.
The best form of inspiration a leader can use is to be a personal example to those they lead.
The best form of inspiration a leader can use is to be a personal example to those they lead. It is not what you say though that most inspires people. Its what you do! People will copy your behaviours. What you do is far more important than what you say to do. If you say “customers are the most important part of our business” and then you treat them like dirt, your team will also treat them like dirt. On the other hand if you treat customers like royalty every single time, your team will be inspired to do the same. You have to walk your talk!
Finally, a little encouragement goes a long way. If you want your team to play a bigger game, give them a genuine thank you, tell them what a great job they have done (but only if you mean it), encourage them to have a crack, give it a go and make it safe for them to do it. Steer them in the right direction, give them feedback, advise and help them find their bigger game. The people you help get ahead will be fans of you forever!
Overcoming the 3am horrors. How to stop waking up worrying!
If you are a leader, business owner or someone that struggles to get a good nights sleep because you wake up in the early hours of the morning with your mind racing or the cold sweats. It doesn’t have to be that way. I used to sit up half the night, worrying, thinking, planning and considering instead of sleeping. The next day I would be a wreck, after weeks of it, I would be a walking zombie.
If you are waking up because of excitement or anticipation, lucky you. Enjoy, you don’t need this read this 🙂
However for those that get the 3 o’clock horrors . Here’s how you fix it.
its not just you, its happening to millions of people
First of all, you need to understand that its not just you, its happening to millions of people. Yes, I know you don’t care who else its happening to, you just want to sort it for you. I tell you this because I’m about to give you my solution, which I reckon will solve your problems. However, if it doesn’t search other peoples solutions so you can find the solution that works for you. Just like fitness, not every solution suits everyone but there is a solution for everyone
Why are you waking up? Its invariably because your subconscious mind is processing something. That something is usually a decision that needs to be made, some pressing activity or task that needs to be completed, an important conversation you need to have or something that’s not quite right in your world that’s a big concern right now or an exciting idea that you cant wait to implement.
Here are the solutions that work for me
1. Try to be clear on which of the above is causing you to wakeup. Take a litmus test of the above in the late afternoon (to give you time to put a remedy in place). What makes you worried, anxious or concerned?
2. Get ahead of the game by planning what you are going to do about it (preferably before 5pm) You don’t need to solve the problem, but you do need a clear (practical honest and effective) set of actions you are going to take. What will you do? Who will you call? Who will you meeet with? Who do you need advice from? Write them down. You are effectively telling your sub conscious that you have a plan, so don’t wake me up, or if you do wake up, you know you have your best plan in place so you can roll over and go back to sleep. It takes dedication and practise, but as you get better and better at this you will wake up less often. This is the most important step to getting a complete nights sleep. You need to resolve the issues or at least have a concrete plan to solve the issue if you are going to shake the 3 o’clock horrors.
You don’t need to solve the problem, but you do need a clear (practical honest and effective) set of actions you are going to take.
3. If you do wake up and cant just rollover and go back to sleep, get up. Go to another place in your house and write down all of your thoughts. Don’t assess or judge your thoughts, just get them out of your head and on paper (do not do this in bed) Once you have exhausted all the thoughts, ideas and options, go back to bed, you should easily drift off to sleep. Again, you are telling your sub conscious mind that you have got this.
4. Prepare yourself to sleep well. My kids are amazed at how quickly I can be sound asleep and snoring. I’ll tell them I’m off to bed, they’ll come in two minutes later to ask me something and I’ll be dead to the world, especially if they want to borrow some money J. I start preparing myself for sleep straight after dinner. You have to slow your mind down. You cant be drinking coffee, watching violent tv, or sprinting on the treadmill before hopping into bed and expecting to drift off into a comfortable nights sleep. So be careful what you consume. Choose carefully what you eat or drink, choose what your mind is taking in and choose what activities you are. Learn to slow down to the point you are almost nodding off on the lounge and you are sure to get to sleep and more importantly stay asleep.
5. Never underestimate the power of meditation. I tried learning different ways to meditate for 20 years, but could not make it work, despite the very best efforts of some meditation experts. Then one day I tried Qi Gong (a Chinese meditation passed down from family to family for over 4000 years) and it worked! With a little guidance and some practise I found myself able to switch off for 5, 10, 20 and now 60 minutes. When I practise Qi Gong i am so much more chilled and therefore I sleep so much better. Again, just like fitness, you have to find the the thing that works for you. I wish I had of discovered Qi Gong 20 years earlier.
6. Get comfortable. Set up the most comfortable sleeping environment you can imagine. Make sure you have a really really really comfortable bed, Comfortable bedclothes and comfortable bed linen. Simply buying the perfect pillow for you can make the world of difference. I know, because this year, I kept waking up and the one thing I changed was buying the perfect pillow for me, in no time I was back to snoring loud enough to keep the neighbours awake. Make sure the environment is right. Do you need a Breeze? Can you control the temperature and do you need to block out the light or noise.
If you do all these things, I can pretty much guarantee you will get a good nights sleep and wake up to deal with the issues that you face in the coming day far better prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.
If you don’t wake up from time to time thinking about the exciting times that are in front of you, you are probably not playing a big enough game
A final word of caution. If you don’t wake up from time to time thinking about the exciting times that are in front of you, you are probably not playing a big enough game and you need to step it up. Do you have what it takes to play a bigger game? Click here to find out. https://rowdymclean.com/checklist/
New Year, New Word
Well here it is, the beginning of a New Year and with every New Year comes a new word for me (well except for last year when I ran with contribution for the second year in a row because it had served me so well in 2016)
Why a word you might ask?
For decades now I have adopted a single word to help me focus on what I wanted to pay attention to and to achieve during the year. For example, I have had a year of ‘service’, a year to ‘grow’, and a year of ‘no’, among many others.
The year of ‘no’ was of defining importance for me.
With every request I received, my first mental response was no, I’m not going to do that, I’m going to pause and assess that opportunity, I’m not going to do just any job, I’m not carrying a responsibility that is not meant for me.
With that response in my head I would then ask the person to give me more information, to really sell me on the idea, providing me with compelling evidence that it was right for me.
I was amazed at how many of these potential distractions simply disappeared when I challenged their usefulness or importance to me, and I was impressed with how little I compromised myself because the first response in my head was no.
The word that I have chosen to commit to and place all around me, to maintain focus, becomes part of my identity and my behaviours for the year shaping everything I do.
It seems so simple – and yet – it is so powerful.
The more years you do it, the more powerful it becomes!
I have all the executives who are part of my mentoring programs do the same thing. When we reflect on the power of their word after twelve months the results are simply amazing!
What you care about comes about, so choose your word carefully and then be brave enough to share it, and the reason why you chose it, with others.
Here’s mine . . .
Why did I choose it?
Well the last few years for me have been about being comfortable and cruising along.
At the end of last year, I wrote a new book on leadership called Leadability. (You can get a copy @ rowdymclean.com or at any good bookstore. Order your copy HERE ) It was published in December, together with a massive marketing campaign on giant billboards outside airports and signage throughout the airports themselves and inside bookstores.
It has gone absolutely gangbusters!
This has filled me with enormous excitement for the year ahead and it has made me want to show up with exuberance, effervescence, pizzaz and zip. I have found my get up and go again and so I’m playing all in and having a BIG year rather than a cruisy one.
How about you?
I would love to hear what yours might be, and the reason you chose it, take some time to tell me about it in the comments section below
There are two things that we all do that lead directly to all of us becoming unhappy. The good news is that when you are aware of them, its really simple to eliminate them.
COMPARISONS
Comparisons is a sure path to unhappiness. in this world of multiple social media platforms, its really easy to see whats going on in the world of the people you know (and people you don’t know). Its easy to see what they are achieving, doing, acquiring and see the success they are having. We then compare our progress with theirs. When you compare your results, body, looks, career, finances, health or relationships with others you will always find someone else who is better off and then you become unhappy! The key here is to compare your progress, results and achievements with your own results, have you improved since last month or last week? When you focus on your own progress you are more likely to continue to move forward. That’s the real challenge, to make progress so that your own circumstances look better going forward than when you look backward.
EXPECTATIONS
The other path to unhappiness is making your expectations too big. I am a massive fan of setting goals but goals should stretch you, not overwhelm you! They should challenge you but be achievable, otherwise you will just stress yourself out. Be careful about the expectations others place on you (and the expectations you place on others) if they seem to big, too overwhelming, break them down to bite size, achievable chunks and or time frames. When we are challenged to do something that stretches us but is within our possibility mindset we are motivated to get stuck into it. when the expectation is too big we procrastinate, fail to execute and then become unhappy!
Are you soft? Are you easily misled? Do you make excuses?
Now I know you already know, that this is a motivational blog, but have you really thought about WHY you want to read something like this. Is it because you really want to get ahead, you have some hopes and dreams, some aspirations, the desire to achieve something? Do you have a goal you would like to smash, a result you want to achieve or a target you want to reach?
I BET YOU DO!
You’re not reading this for the feel good factor? Or are you?
Here’s where I’m heading with this. If you want something, really want something, then you should be DOING something about it, not just reading about doing something!
I know it sounds basic, right, but soooo many people talk about getting ahead and then find every reason on the planet NOT to do something about it. They put it back, put it off, delay the start, give up half way through. It drives me CRAZY.
Let’s put this to the test!
Half of this year has now passed. What have you achieved in the past 90 days that is getting YOU ahead? Send me an email – no, I’m serious, I want to know how many people who read this blog are actually using it to make their lives better, because that’s the whole reason I write the bloody thing.
What have you done and what are you doing next? Email me!!!
It’s time to get serious, get real and get fair dinkum about getting what you want out of life, no holds barred, action packed progress toward a better future. Now THAT’S what we’re talking about here!
No more wishy-washy, soft, cotton wool covered excuses. DO THE WORK – NOW. 99% of people DON’T. Each quarter, achieve something that takes you in the direction of your dreams.
In 12 months you will be surprised at what you have got done. If you don’t another year of same old same old will pass you by and then another and the next thing you’re OLD and full of regrets.
Get on with it now, 90 days at a time is the best advice I can possibly give you for getting ahead. Time waits for no one. As my friend Terry Hawkins says, “There are two times in life. NOW and TOO LATE.”
Play BIGGER
I read a wonderful book recently that was so simple, yet so useful. Its about getting the most out of life and Playing a Bigger Game, and no, its not my book 🙂 More on the book later.
Playing a bigger game is about getting on with life, about doing the things most people only dream of. It is making progress and moving forward and being able to look back on the years that go by (and don’t they go by really fast!) without any regrets. It is knowing you have given it your best shot, leaving nothing in the tank, rolling from one year to the next going ‘woohoo, what a hell of a ride!’
That is the bigger game. If you’re not playing it you should be. If you haven’t stepped into it, you simply have to. If you don’t know what yours is then you must search for it. Why? This is the cruncher. If you don’t you will live a life full of regrets. If only I had done this, tried that, gone there, spent more time with them etc etc.
I am sure, you are just like me and want to create a life with NO REGRETS!
Which brings me to the book – The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware 
Bronnie spent years working in palliative care and listened to the dying wishes of those faced with their own mortality. The dying wishes she put into a fantastic book that essentially helps us to understand how to live a life with no regrets. It is a must read. Here are the 5 regrets
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn’t work so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
I have pretty much got 2 of the 5 nailed, so there is some work to be done!
Plus I have a couple of others for you to consider that I hear all the time from the people that I work with across the globe.
I wish I hadn’t let other people steal my dreams.
I wish I hadn’t waited to live the life I always wanted.
So, what can you do this week to unravel some of the regrets that you might have? I know its going to take more than a week to sort some of the out, but at least you can make a start, I know I am!
Play BIGGER
