6 Critical Areas of Decision Making for Leaders
By Maxwell Leadership with Insights from Michael Griffin
5 minute read
This blog post has been adapted from Dr. John Maxwell’s leadership book, The 360 Degree Leader. John Maxwell has been one of the world’s foremost personal and professional leadership experts for more than 40 years, and his insights here instruct you on how to influence others no matter their title, position or relationship in the organization you work in.
Bill Hybels once said, “You are the most difficult person you will ever lead.” And he is right.
Leading others isn’t exactly easy. But when we lead ourselves, we take on the role of leader and follower – we face the challenges of both sides of the equation. We must be dedicated to focus, discipline, intentionality, and purpose. Self-leadership is the foundation of leading and maintaining healthy relationships. It’s absolutely necessary if we ever want to lead anyone else. Let’s look at a specific area of self-leadership: how we make decisions with six insights from Dr. Maxwell. If you’re interested in improving your self-leadership to make better decisions, focus on these six areas:
1. MANAGE YOUR EMOTIONS.
There are many factors that contribute to auto accidents – lack of sleep, inclement weather, and driving intoxicated among them. But one of the most common culprits is distracted driving – and one of the most common distractions? Emotional problems. Researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute have found that “emotionally agitated” drivers are not two, not three, but more than ten times more likely to experience a crash. WOW!
There are times to let our feelings show – after all, in the right context, people relate to and connect with emotions. And it’s not healthy for anyone to deny or bury what they’re feeling. But in the wrong time and place, an outburst of emotion can cause more harm than good. Awareness and control of our emotions is one of the first and most powerful steps of self-leadership.
2. MANAGE YOUR TIME.
Time is valuable. Psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck said, “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” In What to Do Between Birth and Death, Dr. Charles Spezzano says that people don’t pay for things with money; they pay for them with time. After all, we earn money by investing our time. “The phrase spending your time is not a metaphor,” said Spezzano. “It’s how life works.”
Instead of thinking about what you do and what you buy in terms of money, think about them in terms of time. Think about it: what is worth spending your life on? Seeing things in that light just may change the way you manage your time.
Mike’s suggestion here is do a time usage analysis. Create a sheet of ½ hour segments of your time and document how you are “spending your time.” Do this for a couple of weeks, analyse it, and then adjust how you spend, waste or invest your time as a self-directed leader.
Read Brian Tracy’s book on time management
3. MANAGE YOUR PRIORITIES.
In today’s world of shorter and shorter attention spans, many people in the personal growth community are searching for “secrets to success.” And while there are no formulas for instant growth, we can accelerate the process by working smarter, not harder. And one of those smart ways of working has every bit as much to do with what we don’t do as what we do. In Good to Great, American writer and researcher Jim Collins wrote: “Most of us lead busy, but undisciplined lives. We have ever-expanding “to do” lists, trying to build momentum by doing, doing, doing—and doing more. And it rarely works. Those who build the good-to-great companies, however, made as much use of “stop doing” lists as the “to do” lists. They displayed a remarkable amount of discipline to unplug all sorts of extraneous junk.”
You must be ruthless in your judgment of what you should not do. Just because you like doing something doesn’t mean it should stay on your to-do list. If it is a strength, do it. If it helps you grow, do it. If your leader says you must handle it personally, do it. Anything else is a candidate for your “stop doing” list.
“The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey
4. MANAGE YOUR ENERGY.
Some people have to ration their energy so that they don’t run out. But even the Energizer Bunny himself can have the energy sucked right out of him under difficult circumstances. Often, leaders in limiting situations have to deal with “the ABCs energy drain.”
Activity Without Direction—doing things that don’t seem to matter.
Burden Without Action—not being able to do things that really matter.
Conflict Without Resolution—not being able to deal with what’s the matter.
If you’re in an organization or situation where you’re navigating these ABCs, you must manage your energy well (and don’t forget to account for the energy it takes to do that!).
Managing your energy is the synergy of your physical, mental and emotional well-being. Make sure you refill to keep your energy tank full with these reminders from Mike:
Get enough sleep.
Practice mindfulness or meditation.
Eat healthy foods and regular meals.
Exercise 3 times a week.
Cultivate loving relationships.
Put boundaries around unhealthy relationships.
Keep learning.
Develop a hobby you enjoy.
5. MANAGE YOUR THINKING.
Poet and novelist James Joyce said, “Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it.” The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness. If you find that the pace of life is too demanding for you to stop and think during the day, then get into the habit of jotting down the three or four things that need good mental processing or planning that you can’t stop to think about. Then carve out some time later when you can give those items some good think-time. That may be thirty minutes later that same day, or you may want to keep a running list for a whole week and then take a couple of hours on Saturday. Just don’t let the list get so long that it disheartens or intimidates you. Mike’s suggestions to do this include:
Do not work on Sundays.
Date your spouse on a regular basis – s/he is your advisor.
Schedule one day off a quarter to just chill and think.
Schedule your holidays or vacation in advance.
Make it a joy to read books or novels that stimulate your thinking.
Get a coach or mentor you can meet to discuss, reflect and think with.
6. MANAGE YOUR WORDS.
In The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business Life, French journalist and politician Emile de Girardin is quoted as saying, “The power of words is immense. A well-chosen word has often sufficed to stop a flying army, to change defeat into victory, and to save an empire.” If you wish to make sure that your words carry weight, then weigh them well. The good news is that if you manage your thinking and take advantage of focused think-time, you will probably see improvement in the area of managing your words too.
Mike has found that managing your words can mean just keeping quiet and listen. Asking questions is more rewarding than telling others what you think. When you speak to others, make it your intention to “edify” others to keep relationships healthy. You will be amazed by what you learn from listening! Sometimes telling it “like it is” can be very damaging.
“Words can be medicines; they can also be poisons. Words can heal; they can also kill... It all depends on how, when and where they are use and against whom! Let us not abuse our words. It's a misuse of the tongue!” Israelmore Ayivor
Here they are, Maxwell’s advice on making better decisions that positively impact your relationships and success. Which ones do you excel in and what one may you have to focus on and improve?
Hey, it is already October…..have you taken your holiday vacation time yet? Or are you the chancellor of the universe who thinks the world (or your organization) cannot survive without you working your “you know what” off?
Michael J Griffin
CEO and Founder of ELAvate
Maxwell Leadership Founding Member