Name: Doing the Right Things Right
Rating: 4.2 (69 reviews)
Author: Laura Stack

What’s in it for me? Become the leader you’d want to follow.

Are you a leader? Perhaps you’re in charge of a team or a department, or maybe you’re convinced that you could be a leader, but aren’t sure which next steps to take?

Well, in any of those cases, these blinks are for you. They explain what it takes to become an effective leader – that is, someone who achieves his or her goals and who excels at solving difficult problems, not by any means necessary, but by doing the right thing.

They also explain how to become more efficient in doing the great work you already do so you can achieve the same results in less time and with less effort.

There are twelve concrete measures that will help you achieve superb results; these blinks introduce you to nine of them.

You’ll also discover

about a top company that didn’t invest in a young start-up called “Google”;
why sleep makes you a better leader; and
what the medical term “triage” has to do with excellent time management.

Leaders must set the right kinds of goals and communicate them effectively to the team.

Being the leader of a company is like being the captain of a ship: It’s your job to get your company and its crew to the desired destination while steering clear of any iceberg-like disasters. And just as there are guidelines to help captains effectively navigate ships, there are simple practices that can help leaders stay on the path to success.

The first practice is to set clear goals for your team that align with the overall mission of the company.

With the right kinds of goals, you can do a number of important things. Goals give focus, and by focusing your team members you provide them with a sense of purpose. And purpose leads to productivity.

A tangible goal is the engine driving your team. It gives meaning to their work. It allows them to see the big picture, which will motivate them to continue working even if they’re stuck with a difficult or boring task. In short, meaning will imbue your team with determination.

But remember: make sure the goal is perfectly aligned with the company’s strategy. This alignment will prevent people from wasting time on projects that don’t advance the company in the right direction.

This brings us to the next practice: communication.

If you’re not clear and specific about what your team should be doing, there’s a good chance you’ll waste time and money on ineffective workers who are unsure about how they can be useful.

One company was handling a job for a client who needed a specific spelling for a certain word. But due to a communication breakdown, the team was never told how important this request was and hundreds of copies of material had to be revised and reprinted.

Obviously, you don’t want to end up in a situation like that. So, to practice good communication, remember these three things:

Remind your team of what’s expected in a simple and straightforward way.

Make sure everyone knows exactly how they’re contributing to the goal.

And provide both written and verbal instructions to ensure there’s no misunderstanding.

A leader must be willing to adapt along with the changing marketplace and act on their ideas.

Change: some people love it and some people hate it. There are those who can’t wait to get their hands on the newest gadget and those who prefer to do things the old-fashioned way.

But whatever your personal preference might be, as a leader, you need to be willing to adapt and change with the modern world if you hope to keep your company profitable.

To do excellent work, a team must have the tools they need and be properly motivated.

When you hear the word culture, you probably think about art and literature – or perhaps a biological sample. Yet there is such a thing as business culture; it refers to the social environment of a workplace, which is something every leader must tend with care.

So another practice for successful leadership is to create an open work culture that allows your team to be as efficient as they can be.

There are many ways to motivate your team, and it’s also important to establish mutual respect.

In the previous blinks, we touched briefly on motivation, but the importance of being a motivational leader can’t be understated.

Motivation is what gets your team to be passionate about their work. It’s what will make them dedicated workers who can tackle the most difficult tasks.

To be efficient, prioritize your work, don’t overload on data and remember to take care of yourself.

One of the most challenging aspects of being a leader is finding the time to manage your team without neglecting all the other work you have on your plate. This challenge is compounded by the fact that multitasking increases your chances of spending too much time on something that is ultimately unproductive.

This is where prioritizing comes in. To sort out your work and make sure you’re doing what really needs to be done, adopt a triage mentality and rank your tasks by how important and productive they really are.

Key ideas in Doing the Right Things Right