Monthly Archives: November 2009

How to Identify Future Leaders

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Every meeting provides an opportunity to learn important things about the people who attend. Here’s what to watch for:

> Is it planned?

Effective leaders always begin with clearly defined goals and then prepare plans for achieving them. They have the courage to set a direction and then make changes as new information becomes available. They communicate with candor knowing that people perform at their best when they know what is expected. Thus, did the person who called this meeting prepare an agenda? Was the agenda distributed before the meeting? Did the agenda tell you everything that you needed to know to work effectively in the meeting? If so, this serves as a positive indication of effective leadership planning.

> Is it efficient?

A meeting is the culminating step in a larger process. It begins by setting goals and preparing an agenda. Then the chairperson should have contacted key participants to inform them of their roles in the meeting, told everyone how to prepare for the meeting, and alerted people who may be asked to accept responsibility for action items. All of this work before the meeting assures that the meeting will progress smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. So, how is the meeting going? Is there evidence of this attention to detail?

> Is it logical?

Pay attention to what people say during a meeting. Do their ideas contribute toward achieving the goals? if so, this shows that they’re working as part of a team to help find solutions. Do their ideas build upon what others just said? If so, this shows that they’re paying attention to the dialogue. Do their ideas demonstrate originality, creativity, and knowledge? If so, this shows they’re working hard to add value. Effective leaders possess strong analytical thinking skills.

> Is it helpful?

Evaluate the comments and behavior during a meeting. Are the participants working to support each other? Are people contributing to the safe environment that is essential for open creative thinking? Are people adding high-value contributions (instead of stories or jokes that distract everyone)? Note that chronic unproductive behavior betrays either fear, a lack of effective work skills, or misunderstood expectations. People who perform poorly in meetings may need constructive coaching.

> Is it controlled?

Leadership involves more than watching people talk. Thus, observe the dynamics of the meeting process. Is the chairperson leading everybody through methodical steps that take them to a result? Is the meeting being conducted in such a way that the participants feel that it is a fair process? Is the chairperson helping others perform at their best so that the group can produce an outstanding result?

Someone who excels in the above areas should be considered for leadership positions. This explains why most executives consider a person’s ability to lead meetings when selecting future leaders.

How To Increase Self Confidence

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Are you looking into ways to help you to gain more confidence? Have you a lack of self-belief? Do you think that you are a weak person? Would you like to be more care-free person? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, this article may well be worth a read. I am going to write about how people can go about increasing their self-confidence. This advice is what I have used to help myself turn from an often depressive person to a now happy and relaxed young man.

My name is Steve Hill and I have to admit that for the first twenty-two years of my life, I did not exactly live life to the full or in the correct manner. I was basically like a scared rabbit, I worried about almost all aspects of life and was a very negative person. I needed to change this approach as I was not exactly a happy chap. Ten years ago I went about making this change by reading literature about self-confidence and by trying to learn how other people coped with their problems compared to me.

One of my many weaknesses was that I was very paranoid about what other people thought of me. I was desperate for people to like me and would easily get upset if people criticised me or made fun of me etc. In a way, I tried to hard to earn this type of respect and would do things and attend functions which I did not really want to, just to please other people of course.

I have now realised and accepted that it is important for me to be truthful to myself. I should be doing what I want to do and if people do not like me for whatever reason, then that is fine, I have enough people who do.

I have also decided to stop worrying about things like the future, money, relationships and work. Stressing about these and other things does not make life an easier, in fact it makes it a lot harder. There is no time in life for this type of fear, I should be spending this time trying to improve and enjoying my life. If something goes wrong which of course it will from time to time, I will deal with it when it happens, in a very positive and dynamic way.

As an example of my new found inner confidence was something that happened during a recent evening out I had with some friends of mine. We were all drinking quite a lot of beer and it was clear that most of my friends were intent on becoming very drunk. I like a drink but not half as much as what other people seem to. At around nine o’clock I had basically had enough of drinking alcohol and started to drink diet coke. My friends gave me some funny looks and made some comments, they were suggesting that I was not a true male. I did not care what they thought of me and told them so. If I want to drink diet coke then I will.

I am happy with my latest approach to life and am determined not to go back to the way I used to think and live. I do stress at times but quickly attempt to snap out of it by thinking in a more positive way.

Penalty Shoot-Outs: How To Be Sure Of Scoring

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The cup final whistle blows. It’s one each. Extra time is played but nobody scores. The referee signals a penalty shoot-out. Now 5 men from each side have to step up and put the ball into the net just once.

It’s something they can do in their sleep but at least one of them is going to miss. How is it possible that hugely talented and highly-paid stars can miss the vital shot that will bring them glory?

This is a dilemma that men and women have experienced for centuries.

When writing about the pressures of winning an archery contest, the 3rd century BC Taoist writer Chuang-Tzu said that, when we focus on the prize and not the job, we lose the edge to our skill. He said: “An archer shooting for a clay vessel shoots effortlessly, his skill unimpeded. If the prize is changed to an ornament, his hands begin to shake. If it is changed to gold, he squints as if he were going blind. His abilities do not deteriorate, but his belief in them does, as he allows the supposed value of an external reward to cloud his vision.”

Of course, football stars and champion archers aren’t the only ones affected by the prizes of winning.

It’s well-known that the most vulnerable moment in any business negotiation is just before the end, when, perhaps after a long and difficult process, one side sees the prize of an agreement within their reach and relaxes their guard by mentally throwing themselves over the finishing line. As an Indian proverb puts it: “Beware the tiger at the end of the fight.” That’s the moment when, appearing to walk away but sensing his opponent relax, the tiger turns round and makes his strike.

In a negotiation, one of the cleverest ploys that an experienced negotiator can use is the Salami trick. This is when an important concession is refused during the negotiation, but conceded at the end, bit by bit, because the less experienced negotiator relaxes his or her guard. It’s like a salami sausage being given away one slice at a time, until before you know where you are, the whole sausage is gone.

The reason why we fail at the last moment in all these tests is because we become distracted. In short, we lose focus.

When we focus on the task at hand, all our attention is directed on it. We let go of haunting memories from the past and tempting thoughts about the future. We open ourselves to what is happening here and now.

The word “focus” comes directly from the Latin word “focus” meaning a hearth or fire. In pre-electricity days, the fire was in the center of the home. Those lucky enough to have an open fire in their homes today know that moment when on a winter’s evening you can just stare into a roaring log fire or onto the glowing embers and lose yourself in your dreams.

In actual fact, there are two kinds of focus: hard and soft.

Hard focus is the same as concentration or tunnel vision when all you are aware of is what’s in front of you, like a 100-metre athlete looking down his track to the exclusion of everything else.

There are two ways to get into a state of hard focus. One is to be physically still. The other is to remove all the distractions. Once you blot out everything around you, hard focus is what’s left.

Soft focus has a different quality. It’s also known as single-minded immersion, zero-point arousal, and free-flow thinking.

Instead of focusing your thoughts onto your objective in a laser-like way, you expand your awareness in a dream-like way to include your whole environment. You tune in to time and place. You even become aware of yourself in a disassociated way.

A good soft focus exercise is to imagine yourself as a blue feather floating on the wind. There is no destination, no time, no obstacles. You are aware of yourself and enlarge into the sense of freedom and possibilities.

It’s that moment when time stands still and has no more meaning, when hours pass like minutes and minutes like hours.

It’s what Daniel Coleman calls “flow”: a state of forgetfulness, the opposite of rumination and worry. Instead of being lost in nervous pre-occupation, people in flow are so absorbed in the task at hand that they lose all self-consciousness, dropping the small pre-occupations health, bills, even doing well of daily life.

And that’s the secret of focus: doing the job for the sake of it, not for what it leads to.

In their book “Thank God It’s Monday”, Charles Cameron and Suzanne Ellusor describe seeing a Zen monk sweeping snow from the steps of a temple in the middle of a snowstorm. The more it snowed, the more he swept. The monk did not expect to clear the steps of snow or beat the storm. He didn’t expect anything. The simplicity of his actions was enough to make it worth doing, process rather than end result, being rather than completion.

This is what they call “zenning” and it’s at the heart of all success.

There are really only two ways you can fail in any venture. One is to give up. The other is to try too hard. If you’re at the last hurdle, the final straight, or about to take the final shot in a tied game, you simply have to learn to slow down, let go and trust in yourself. That’s when you’ll discover all the energies opening up to you and success will surely be yours.

3 Great Tips On Choosing Your Free Hypnosis Script

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Hypnosis has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent times. More and more people are finding it to be an effective method of self development, which explains why you are now looking for free hypnosis scripts. And as mentioned in my other articles, the Internet is playing a huge role in spreading awareness and knowledge on this subject.

Hypnosis scripts are a great source of ideas for hypnosis trainees and experts alike. You will be able to find many of them by searching around the Internet. This article is a simple guide on how to choose the best scripts, so that you can get the most benefit out of this fantastic method.

Emphasis:-

Just like the way we give emphasis to words and phrases while we are having a normal conversation, it must be given in a hypnosis script as well. You should make sure that these words of emphasis are clearly marked throughout your free hypnosis script.

Length:-

The length of your free hypnosis script must be considered too. There are probably many scripts that you will come across which just give you a small 2 page script and tell you that it is enough. But, an effective hypnosis session lasts for at least a half an hour or so, usually more. However, if you need one just to gather ideas for other sessions, then it would not really matter of course.

Pauses:-

During a hypnosis session, the individual will be asked to vividly imagine the positive outcome he or she desires. So during this time, the hypnotherepist should pause for a few moments to allow the individual to visualize undisturbed. Make sure that these pauses are available and are long enough. Most of them are between 5 – 20 seconds each.

So there you have it! You now know a few important features to look for in a free hypnosis script. I am sure you will find this useful while evaluating the ones you will find.

Six Ways to Prioritize your Work

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Prioritizing your work is an extremely important part of being successful. By organizing your work, you will find it less difficult to finish. You will also be less likely to procrastinate, which is a damaging behavior you should always avoid. Knowing what needs to be done and the most efficient order for finishing your tasks is the best way to begin your day. Try making a list each morning of your tasks for the day. There are several ways you can prioritize your tasks. You can try one of these six ways, or make your lists while considering all six ways. The way you decide to organize is up to you. Everyone works best in a slightly different way. If you are unsure which way would work best for you, try one way each day and see which concept you like best.

Due Date

The most common way a person can prioritize their work is by due date. When you know when something must be finished, it is easier to find the time to finish it by its due date. Making lists of things that must be accomplished for the day is a great way to prioritize your work. If you know you have a task due on Tuesday, then obviously it would rank higher on your list than one due on Friday. If your tasks do not have any concrete due dates, assign them due dates yourself. By giving yourself a time frame to accomplish the work, you will likely be more productive.

Weight

Tasks that weigh heavy on your mind may fall at the top of your list of prioritizing your work. When you prioritize your work, keep in mind that some things may need to be done first, just to get them off of your mind. If you have a task that is weighing heavy on your mind, you may not be able to accomplish much until you complete it. When you prioritize, be sure to put these tasks near the top of your list. By getting them out of the way, you will be able to get everything else done with the least amount of stress.

Length

Another way to prioritize your work is by length. This is great for students or workers who must do writing projects. You can also group items by the amount of time they will take, which is basically the same. If a task will take a long time, then you probably want to work on it for more than one day. Therefore, put it near the top of the middle of your list each day so that you will have time to work on it each day. If you must get a long project done in one day, consider doing it first. This way you can use your morning energy to get you through the task. If you save it for the end of the day, you will likely be tired and stressed with the task.

Passion

If you are a person who is controlled mostly by their emotions, then consider prioritizing your tasks by passion. This means that you will essentially put the tasks you feel strongest about near the top of your list. If you are excited about a particular task, then you should put it near the top of your daily list. Likewise, if you are dreading a task, you may want to get it out of the way first so you can concentrate on the rest of the day when it is finished.

Location

If your daily tasks involve traveling, then it is only right to prioritize your tasks by location. Grouping weekly tasks by location can save you a lot of time. It is a great way to be productive, save on gasoline for your vehicle, and get your work done. If you have a few tasks on the East side of town for one week, do them on the same day. Focus on each area of town, one at a time to get the best results.

Ease

If you like to group your work by degree of difficulty, then you probably want to prioritize your work by ease. This means that you might feel most comfortable doing your easy daily tasks at the beginning of the day to get them out of the way. You may be the type of person who likes to get the most tasks done early in the morning. If you would rather save the easy tasks for the end of the day, then plan to tackle the difficult tasks in the morning, before you are tired from the day.

Simple Steps To Beat Procrastination

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One of the better means that can be employed to beat procrastination is being aware of how to manage time in the best and most effective manner and though procrastination is a very common occurrence in our lives, there is still a need to overcome procrastination so that many of the adverse consequences of procrastinating do not end up spoiling your life. Thus, any help you can get cure your procrastination would be welcome and so there is a need to look at some of these steps that can do the trick for you.

A very simple step you can take in order to beat procrastination is to do the task that you consider is the worst at the top of all your other tasks and the advantage of taking this option is that much like swallowing a frog, once you get that into your system the rest of the tasks will pass off much better and will be easier to do. A second step that you can take if you want to cure procrastination is to break down tasks into easily manageable smaller tasks, and if you remember that the best way to climb a mountain is to take one step at a time then the wisdom of breaking down tasks into smaller tasks will make more sense to you and thus prove an effective remedy to procrastination.

Those putting off exceptionally difficult tasks can learn how to overcome procrastination by thinking of the task in small pieces rather than a large problem. Think back to other projects that were completed and relate them to the existing one. To help learn how to overcome procrastination avoid planning long projects, start with ones that can be done in five or ten minutes and do not stop until the either the time expires of the job is complete. Either way it will be a positive step in the right direction.

You can also beat procrastination by delegating work to others including friends, and once you get a task begun, the rest of the task becomes easier to perform and in the same vein you can also try and do parts of a particular task that is more pleasing to do first and then do the rest of the task later. That way, the unpleasant tasks don’t seem so unpleasant and you will have taken a step forward which often is the hardest part about doing your work on time.

Another useful method that can be employed at conquering procrastination is taking just fifteen minutes on every task that needs to be performed in which time you can get the task moved ahead and then a momentum can be built that will make the rest of the task easier to complete. Other steps that you can take to beat procrastination include tracking your goals and trying your best to keep the tasks moving ahead, and best of all you should have a system of reward and punishment for tasks completed on time and those have remained unfinished respectively. The best part of procrastination is that it is something that is not permanent and though you may be successful, procrastination can still affect you, and remember that with some of these simple tips, you can easily beat procrastination.

How To Be A Spiritual Atheist

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A spiritual atheist? Perhaps it’s a strange concept if you only think spirituality has to mean a belief in a god. Do the two have to be related? Many people think of the historical Buddha as a spiritual person, but most don’t know that he never expressed a belief in a god. He even discouraged his followers from such “speculation,” preferring that they work on their salvation in this world.

Computer Spirituality

Imagine a computer that has begun to get so complex and powerful that it starts to ask questions “outside the box.” It starts to become conscious. The first thing it would realize is that for all its computing capacity, it is still very limited. The humans who use it, most of whom can’t begin to understand it’s complicated algorithms, still are more powerful. They see the world more clearly.

The computer could recite a million facts, perhaps, and yet not know what to use them for. It could describe human psychology, and yet not understand a smile. It wouldn’t even know why it existed, or what it was being used for. If it came to understand these limitations, and to actually wonder about the world outside its circuits, and to desire to see more, and to grow – that would be computer spirituality.

Atheist Spirituality

An atheist simply doesn’t believe in a god. There isn’t sufficient evidence, so there is no belief. Contrary to what many think, there is no need for an atheist to disprove that a god exists, anymore than a Christian needs to disprove that the world is ruled by intelligent termites. The burden of proof is always with the person making a positive assertion.

An atheist can recognize the mystery of life, and marvel at how everything learned deepens that mystery, pushing “final” causes further into the distance. An atheist can recognize his or her own limitations, and seek to grow, perhaps even by developing contact with “higher powers.” This is an atheist spirituality. How is it different from “regular” spirituality?

The difference is that an atheist feels no need to pretend to understand the mysteries – no need to create gods and religions to explain them. Contacting “higher powers” can simply be tuning into subconscious resources through meditation or other means. Are these “higher powers” nothing more than electrical patterns in our brains? We don’t know, and we don’t have to know to tap into them.

Is it that atheists don’t want to know? It is the opposite. “Understanding” by forcing religious explanations on things short circuits any search for the truth. How can you understand and integrate new evidence when you are no longer questioning? Better to simply use spiritual tools like “intuition” and let them be understood – or not – with time and real evidence.

Look to the past, and we see how narrow-minded people were, and how little they understood compared to us. We will appear that way to people in the future, as they will to people further into the future. We are growing in our knowledge and power, but like that spiritual computer, our circuits are in a box that we need to grow out of. Seeking the way beyond that box is what makes one a spiritual atheist.

Finding And Overcoming The Source Of Your Fears And Stresses

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A sure way to overcoming your fears and anxieties is in finding the source of your fears and being able to manage it. In dealing with any kinds of fears or anxieties, try to learn what is the real source of your fears and anxieties. Knowing what is causing your anxieties can go a long way in finding the solution.

A person can find the source of his or her own fears by doing some self evaluation and also by talking to a professional. Asking yourself questions such as: “Why am I afraid” or “What is causing my anxiety” will lead you in the right direction in finding the source of your fears. Give it some time and eventually you will find the answers your looking for.

Once you find the true source of your fears, the next step is to find the solutions that will solve your problem. With the help of a professional, write down a list of possible techniques and solutions that you think will manage your fear and anxieties. The next step is to apply the techniques that you uncovered. Here is a brief list of some techniques you can use to help deal with your fears.

A good way to manage your worry is to challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make your fearful or anxious, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense.

When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, the first thing you can do is to break the task into a series of smaller steps. Completing these smaller tasks one at a time will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.

Sometimes we encounter a scary situation that gets us all upset. When encountering these events, always remember to get all of the facts of the given situation. Gathering the facts can prevent us from relying on exaggerated and fearful assumptions. By focusing on the facts, a person can rely on what is reality and what is not.

Many people try to get rid of their anxieties and fears without taking into consideration why they are afraid. As a layman, I learned that the best way to get rid of your fears is to find those techniques that will manage the true source of your fears. If you can do this, then you should be able to overcome your fears and anxieties.

How To Delegate: One Key Step Towards Leadership

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You’ve made an unusual discovery – there’s not enough time left at the end of the day. The corollary, of course, is your list of important things to do never gets smaller. In any company, the CEO’s to-do list has the potential to grow infinitely.

What’s a senior executive to do?

This is not simply a personal problem. Your company’s future depends on what you do next. As you drive your organization beyond its current plateau, you must change the way you relate to your work. There are three stages to making the transition from chief-cook-and-bottle-washer (CC&BW) to CEO (source of the management and direction of the business). They are:

* Understanding your highest value contribution to your company and focusing on that role.
* Recognizing your position as a leader and owning the job.
* Delegating everything else, and holding others accountable.

Previous articles, Time Well Spent, deals with transition one; Visions of Leadership addresses transition two. This article examines the problem of delegation – giving the work away.

The Issue

You have doubtlessly concluded your next level of company performance requires a managerial change. And hopefully, you have realized the changes necessary are with you. As CEO (or, on a divisional or departmental level – senior executive) your jobs include holding the vision; inspiring your senior management and your staff; fostering key relationships with customers, vendors, investors and the public, etc.

You now need to let go of some cherished things like product design, hiring, perhaps day-to-day sales – many things you handled in the past, often out of necessity – and focus yourself on your role as CEO. What about all these things you used to do? Delegate them. Assign the job to someone else. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, why write a whole article on it?

Do you delegate? Of course you do. But do you delegate the important things? The things you “know” you could do better? The things you are “best” at? Probably not. The question is, should you?

Your highest value contribution

Think about your highest value contribution to your company. Which of your activities generate the most revenue, profit, market share, etc.? Where do you get the most bang for the buck? Like most chief executives, your greatest leverage is in mobilizing the forces around you – your senior staff and your employees, plus key customers, prospects and vendors. Everything else becomes secondary to that in terms of impact.

So the answer is yes. You should give away even the things you are “best” at. And then make sure they are done right. Make sure they are up to spec and delivered on time.

The cost of holding on

Now, the thorny part. Many executives refrain from delegating responsibilities they’ve labeled “critical”. They fear the job won’t be done correctly. Or no one else can do it as quickly, and it won’t get done on time. Or the right attention won’t be paid. Or something. Or something else.

Give it up! The growth of your organization will be stifled to the extent that you hold on to critical functions. Your company will suffer in the exact areas where you think you are the expert!

Product design? You hold up the development of a key component, because you are the expert, yet you are away at a customer meeting. Staffing? Two engineers can’t be hired because you haven’t signed off and are out of town at a meeting with investment bankers. Sales? Negotiations on an important deal are held up because you are in Asia meeting with a vendor.

You become the choke point on each of these vital functions. And you feel – of course – “I have to be involved.” No you don’t. To the exact degree you have not developed your staff to assume these functions, the growth of your company will be retarded.

Aside from fear the job won’t be done as well, there is another, more insidious reason senior executives (particularly entrepreneurs) do not delegate. If you aren’t doing the “important” stuff, you become redundant. Dead weight. Overhead. If you have a great VP of Sales, or a Chief Technologist, what will you do?

You feel this way because you haven’t completed transitions one and two: you haven’t taken the trouble of understanding how you personally create value in your company, and you haven’t fully assumed the role of leader. Once you make these transitions, you won’t have time for the rest. Delegation, not abdication.

Many executives delegate like this. They say, “John, would you take on this project? It has to be done by next Thursday. Thanks.” That’s it. Then, when the job comes back incomplete, they are infuriated. What happened? They left out accountability. They neglected the structure for making sure things happened according to plan.

There are five components to successful delegation.

1. Give the job to someone who can get it done.

This doesn’t mean that person has all the skills for execution, but that they are able to martial the right resources. Sometimes the first step in the project will be education. Maybe your delegate has to attend a seminar or take a course to get up to speed.

2. Communicate precise conditions of satisfaction.

Timeframe, outcomes, budget constraints, etc.; all must be spelled out. Anything less creates conditions for failure. It’s like the old story about basketball – without nets the players don’t know where to shoot the ball.

3. Work out a plan.

Depending on the project’s complexity, the first step may be creation of a plan. The plan should include resources, approach or methodology, timeline, measures and milestones. Even simple projects require a plan.

4. Set up a structure for accountability.

If the project is to take place over the next six weeks, schedule an interim meeting two weeks from now. Or establish a weekly conference call, or an e-mailed status report. Provide some mechanism where you can jointly evaluate progress and make mid-course corrections. This helps keep the project, and the people, on track.

5. Get buy in.

Often timeframes are dictated by external circumstances. Still, your delegate must sign on for the task at hand. If you say, “This must be done by next Tuesday,” they have to agree that it is possible. Ask instead. “Can you have this by Tuesday?” To you this may seem a bit remedial, but the step is often overlooked. Whenever possible, have your delegate set the timeline and create the plan. You need only provide guidance and sign off. As General Patton said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

If you skip any one of the above steps, you dramatically reduce the likelihood things will turn out the way you want them to. On the other hand, if you rigorously follow the steps, you greatly increase the odds in your favor. Isn’t this more work than doing it myself, you ask. No – it isn’t.

The time it takes to

1) establish the goals,
2) review the plan, and
3) monitor the progress,

is not equal to the time it takes to execute. That is how you gain leverage. This is how you multiply your efforts.

(Occasionally it does take longer to communicate something than to do it yourself. Delegate it anyway. The next time will be easier.)

Above, I’ve referred to projects. This is not to say delegation is reserved for discrete tasks and problems. You also delegate ongoing functions. The process is the same in each case.

As an exercise, ask yourself, what am I unwilling to delegate? Make a list of the reasons why not. Identify the best person in your organization – not you – to take on this project or function. Then call a meeting. Begin the meeting with step one, above.

If there is no one to whom you can give away key functions, you have to look carefully at your staff situation. It may be time to hire the right people. If you don’t have the revenues to support the staff additions, consider what is restraining your growth.

Review your relationship with your assistant or secretary. Have you let them take on there fair share of the workload? Are you giving them sufficiently sophisticated work to do? Are they ready to upgrade?

Some situations call for you to dive back in. Perhaps you are the only one in your company with some particular technical knowledge, or your insight will accelerate the design process, or you have the long-standing relationship with a vendor or customer. Go ahead, dive. Do your thing – briefly, complete the project and resume your leadership position.

Oh, one more thing.

The only point to delegating something is if it frees you for things which create greater value for your company. Don’t give away the hiring function if you are spending your time fiddling with the corporate web site. Don’t hire a Sales VP, if you are spending your time on purchasing. The greatest leverage you have is in leading your company. Lavish your time on that.

What Are Your Debts?

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This is a time of year when many people take stock of all that they are grateful for — or at least when we should do so. But this should also be a time when we take stock of all those people who contributed to those gifts — especially the intangible ones. Those gifts such as our self-esteem or confidence, our love of sports or music, and our spine. What person or group do you owe the greatest debt? Was there a special person or group that really helped you become the person you are today?

Was there someone who helped you believe in yourself and your ability? Was there someone who taught you to appreciate life in a new way? Was there just someone who was there so you could count on them no matter what?

Most of us have been fortunate to have not just one person but a whole team of teachers, coaches, and mentors who helped us grow and reach our potential. We should remember to thank those people again and again as we live the lives they helped us shape. Even more important we need to repay that debt — not to those individuals but to society. How is your debt? Have you paid it yet or are you still pretending it doesn’t exist?

We often hear the expression as it relates to criminals. It is sometimes used as a euphemism for incarceration. The truth is though that we all owe a debt to society. Not because we have done some harm to the community but instead because we have benefited from someone else doing good.

I am a Presbyterian and our expression of the Lord’s Prayer includes the phrase “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”. Obviously no matter how good we are and how exemplary our lives we can never repay our debt to God or his son so that part of the meaning is rather clear. I also think this means that we should do good for goodness sake rather than any potential benefit we may reap from the act.

I also think there is another level of meaning and this comes back to the central idea of our debt to society. I think when it comes down to acts of kindness there cannot be a one-to-one relationship. Obviously in many cases when a person is in need of help they may never be in a position to return that help in kind. But it isn’t really what we want or need when we offer help or kindness in any case.

Whenever I do something charitable, helpful, or kind, I tend to view the act as contributing to a vast fund of kindness. Many times in my life I have profited from this fund and very likely I will continue to profit from it.

One of the reasons I like this concept is that I do think of it as a sort of fund or bank. The value grows exponentially rather than incrementally just as money would do if similarly invested. We should all be grateful for this because the truth is that we usually don’t pay our debt to society.

Most of us will write the occasional check, buy a ticket for some raffle, and/or spend a few hours working here and there on some pet project. There are a few who will go much further than this and spend a large portion of their time, energy, and/or money for the greater good but they are far too few.

Often whenever we face pressure on our time or finances then it is our philanthropic activities that are the first to be sacrificed. I have been all too guilty of this myself. I wonder what would happen if we reversed this and instead put helping others first rather than last?

My challenge to you this week is simply to find a way to add to our goodness fund. Borrow from the concept of “Pay It Forward”. When someone offers you a helping hand then be sure to pass the favor along at the first opportunity. Don’t pick and choose. Don’t balance your checkbook first. Don’t take the easy path. Do what is right. You will know it when you see it.