Effective Leadership (AKA the BS I believe in)

Yesterday I completed the first module in a rather interesting leadership course. Enrolled in the course was thrust upon me when someone pulled out at the last minute. Orientation information was available until 3pm the day before so preparations were a little hurried. I valiantly tried to get everything in shape for my absence and only failed early morning on time arrival by 10 minutes. Unfortunately 10 minutes is all it takes to be the last one in the room.... Lesson 1 learned the hard way.

I found many of the topics covered through the training quite relevant and most aligned perfectly with how I view the office and it's cheerful oddities. One of the sections that sparked a light in the grey matter I use to make my decisions was around Effective Leadership. Quotes from many successful and charismatic people adorn the now graffitied ringbound pages. Koans such as "Leadership is the mark of how you behave when no one is watching" and "Management is doing things right, Leadership is doing the right things" make me fizz with managerial pride (or perhaps the fizzing was the free milky chew candy available on each table).

When it came time for me to write my Leadership Creed I thought back over the regular sayings and odd one line comments I spew forth during meetings and in my day to day life and tried to nail them to the page using the array of supplied scented colouring pens. See below for what I came up with :

I will,

1. Help those around me to concentrate on excellent, do good and outsource terrible
2. Be an advocate for change like a leaf on the wind so all can watch me soar
3. Seek out windows of perfection and hold an optimistic light for all to see
4. Always repay a favour for any favour freely given
5. Show that relationships are a currency that can be spent more than once
6. Demonstrate that even when I can do nothing I can prove I have done something
7. See through the eyes of those around me and be the voice of those who have none

Simplified:

1. Help others become better
2. Change is an opportunity
3. Stay positive
4. Be generous
5. People are important
6. Communicate before failure
7. Interpret for others

Really simplified:

1. You :)
2. Change :)
3. Stay :)
4. Be :)
5. People :)
6. Talk before :(
7. You + Me = Us :)

I'd love to hear some more mottos, koans and other phrases to live by.

J

What is your time worth?

A number of years ago I found myself feeling time poor. Rather than dwelling on the fact that time is a human invented construct used to measure the distance between 2 things that don't actually exist I decided to do something about it.

As with any problem I set about trying to work out what I was facing and where the root cause was coming from. My average week was spent helping friends, working unpaid overtime or generally saying yes to anything that came my way (usually something horribly boring). By the time anything I actually wanted to do came up I was generally too wiped out or so financially incontinent that I couldn't be bothered.

Here is how I introduced the word "No" into my life without losing my work ethic or becoming a soulless hose-beast with no friends . I started by trying to work out what my time was actually worth. The way I saw it by putting a dollar figure on my time I would have a tangible value that I could relate to and something I could compare anything in my life to. Other people I have shown this model to have used different currency such as cake or the love of their children but as I'm rather materialistic, not a father and I'm gluten intolerant, cold hard cash just felt like the logical choice.

Start with your daily wage, divide by the hours not spent working or sleeping (usually about 6) then multiply by the amount of time you will have to give up. Now ask yourself; Is it worth this much to me in expected reciprocation, happiness or guilt? The first time you try this you may feel you have seriously over valued your time. Trust me, you haven't. The average Australian wage is about $150 a day after tax. That means the average Australian's hourly "Time Value" is about $25/hr. So that would mean helping someone move house for a few hours is easily worth a carton of beer, a good laugh or a few days worth or nagging. Likewise going to see a terrible movie by yourself is likely to incur a significant time debt so why not call a friend or do something else?

TV = $/:)

As your career moves along and your free time decreases your Time Value will start getting a little ridiculous. When that happens it's important to remember that it doesn't matter that your number is different to someone else's as long as they are valuable to you.

J

P.S. Someone pointed out to me yesterday that we are given 86,400 seconds each day to do with as we please. How are you spending yours?