Welcome to the August issue of The Total Leader® Newsletter from LMI UK, The PRIORITIES issue.
With the summer holidays in full swing and the British weather doing its best to frustrate many an outdoors plan, this month we are taking a look at PRIORITIES, how they change dependant on circumstances, how to integrate whole-life priorities and the challenge of managing working life in the context of seasonal disruptions, whether you’re responsible for school-age children or not!
What’s most important right now?
What should I be doing?
What’s our highest priority?
What do we say no to as a consequence of our choices?
Simply put, become world-class at setting priorities and ensuring that what you do actually aligns with those priorities, and you’re well on the way to success!
To know and not do is to not yet know.
The quote above is variously attitubed (inc, Aritstole, Confucious, Goethe, Covey etc) and makes a tremendously important point. Our work with leaders in all kinds of industries and cultures highlights one universal truth.
Human beings have an uncanny ability to ‘know’ what our true priorities are and yet live as if we do not!
The job of the leader – leader of the team, leader of the business, leader of your own life - is to continually interpret what’s going on in the world around - things that can be controlled and things that cannot – and determine what is most important right now.
Is that customer ‘emergency’ something we should divert all available resource to tackle, or is it nothing more than a distracting red-herring?
Should time in the diary each day for prescribed exercise whilst I rehab from a recent operation be a non-negotiable, or is it OK to sacrifice to fit in one more urgent meeting?
Do I really want to spend some extra time with the children in the few weeks left of the summer holidays? If so, when, and instead of what?
You could certainly add your own questions, and the answers are entirely yours too. Consider the image below - The Total Person® - a tool for considering priorities across all areas of life and helping you to answer the question, ‘What’s most imortant right now?’
What we know is this – when you make it an imperative action to review, plan and determine priorities on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, you’ll inevitably find yourself making better decisions and feeling the benefit both in and outside of work.
Leaders & Net Zero
We recently hosted a LinkedIn live event focused on the subject of leadership and the race to net zero. A challenge to all leaders when it comes to weighing local and global priorities. You can watch the discussion below.
Thank you to Michael Stock for generously sharing his time and insights with us.
Bite-size Total Leader®
Leaders are faced continually with multiple, diverse situations and developing in all four core leadership elements gives a distinct advantage - like an actor who can convey the whole range of emotions, or a golfer who is brilliant from the rough or a bunker as well as off the tee.
In this section you’ll find practical bite-size ideas across the four elements of the Total Leader® that can help sharpen your own leadership skills in line with the topic discussed in this edition of the newsletter.
1. Personal Productivity
Productivity is not simply a case of getting as much done as possible. Determining what activities have the greatest value and ensuring that sufficient time is prioritised and protected for these activities is the essence of productivity. Adapting accordingly in a fast-changing world is important but without being blown off course by the ever-present urgent demands of the day.
2. Personal Leadership
It’s common to have conversations about priorities at work, however any true prioritisation exercise must take into account all aspects of life. There are countless stories of those who excelled in their work at the expense of other [greater] priorities. See the Total Person graphic above and choose the top two areas that are most important for you to focus on at the moment.
3. Motivational Leadership
In his excellent book Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman coins the phrase, the joy of missing out. In other words, having chosen priorities carefully, selecting the most important thing above all other possible options, you experience the joy that comes from that choice. “I could be doing a thousand other things right now, but I’ve chosen this.” Good prioritisation, with associated action, is incredibly motivating!
4. Strategic Leadership
As discussed already, the challenge of priorities is to balance immediate requirements with the bigger picture aims that form the longer-term plan. To adjust wisely but not be derailed. It requires a robust strategic plan, based around purpose and values, to enable good decisions about when to flex and react, and when to resolutely stick to your path.
Leadership development is not a one-off event and leadership is not simply a role or title, rather it’s a way of thinking and behaving. The best leaders are Total Leaders® and the most successful organisations develop leaders throughout the entire organisation.
Upcoming events
Foundations of Success Workshop
(2 hour online - goals / planning / time management / communication)
16th August & 14th September
“very motivational and applicable to any element of business. I would highly recommend to anyone!”
“really informative and interactive…provided solutions that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine. A really worthwhile session for anyone wanting to become more efficient.”
(July 2023 delegates)
FIRST TWO PLACES FREE FOR ANY UK ORG.
Total Leader Part 1: Effective Personal Productivity kick off (Online open programme)
Next start: 22nd September 2023 - Total Leader® Part 1
Life-changing productivity improvement for you and the team you lead.
We trust you have enjoyed this edition of the LMI UK newsletter. If you’d like to share any feedback or discuss anything raised, please contact us at info@lmi-uk.com.