A meeting with yourself

As we continue venturing into uncharted economic waters, how can you keep your job on track and continue to deliver your best? Schedule a weekly meeting with yourself.

26 March 2009

As we continue venturing into uncharted economic waters, how can you keep your job on track and continue to deliver your best? Schedule a weekly meeting with yourself. No matter how busy you are, this is not a luxury, it's essential. Every week, take a quiet hour or so to reflect on recent critical events - conflicts, failures, opportunities you exploited, observations of others' behaviour and feedback from others. Consider how you responded, what went well, what didn't, and what might be more effective in the future.

There's nothing like a new job to test and expand your leadership skills, but such opportunities don't come around that often in today's economic climate. So look for ways to grow as a leader in your current job.  What qualities and responsibilities will define the most effective leaders of tomorrow? And what skills and knowledge should you attain to become one of those leaders yourself? Having done some research, and with permission from and with acknowledgements to www.askten.co.uk, I can quote the following:

Reshape your current job to find new challenges within it. Rethink your approach to a current responsibility: trade tasks with a colleague, or take on a role that is needed but currently left undone. Take on a temporary assignment that offers fresh challenges, and seek out projects, task forces, and events that you can participate in for a short period of time. You'll learn new skills and widen your perspective on how your company operates. Consider volunteering for a task you've never done before in a community or professional organisation, such as organising a fund raiser or moderating a panel discussion. You'll gain solid leadership experience, without increasing your workload at the office. As markets and technologies shift and advance, organisations and strategies must continually change and adapt.

Tomorrow's leaders will need to identify and seize the new possibilities created, and develop a deep familiarity with emerging markets as they take centre stage in the global economy. In a future marked by constant change, the ability to inspire and motivate others to work together to achieve common goals will be critical. Without alignment, change initiatives stand little chance of success.

They will need to create flexible and lean management organisations that optimise efficiencies without sacrificing quality. Leaders of today have weekly meetings with themselves - so include some of these ten items above on your first agenda.

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