Kenny Rogers Was on to Something: How to Decide when Persistence is Worth the Effort

Kenny Rogers sang a song in the 1970s that gave some great advice: “You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.” The song was about a gambler but you can apply this to leadership as well. Major projects usually produce change and change can bring resistance that makes you question your efforts. Some projects just take a long time to see results. How do you know when a project isn’t working out and should be scrapped or when it just needs some persistence to get through to the payoff? Rosabeth Moss Kanter provides us with 12 ways to know when to persist and when to give up on a hopeless project. The entire article is worth reading but here are her 12:

1. Are the initial reasons for the effort still valid? 
2. Do the needs for which this is a solution remain unmet, or are competing solutions still unproven or inadequate? 
3. Would the situation get worse if this effort stopped? 
4. Is it more cost-effective to continue than to pay the costs of restarting? 
5. Is the vision attracting more adherents?
6. Are leaders still enthusiastic, committed, and focused on the effort? 
7. Are resources available for continuing investment and adjustments? 
8. Is skepticism and resistance declining? 
9. Is the working team motivated to keep going? 
10. Have critical deadlines and key milestones been met? 
11. Are there signs of progress, in that some problems have been solved, new activities are underway, and trends are positive?
12. Is there a concrete achievement – a successful demonstration, prototype, or proof of concept? 

After thinking through these points, as well as anything else relevant for your particular setting, you will likely be clearer on whether to “hold ‘em or fold ‘em.”

Your Turn

This blog is dedicated to providing you with information about leadership and management in a brief format suitable to busy people.  But this week, I’d like to hear from you. 

What leadership or management topics would you like to know more about?

What leadership problems or barriers would you like solutions for?

Do you see yourself as a leader, whether at work or in your personal life?

If not, what keeps you from seeing yourself that way?

Thanks in advance for your input in the comments section below.  The feedback will be put to good use to bring you information that you can use!

Your Morning "Ritual"

I recently listened to an interesting podcast called “Become More Productive by Reengineering Your Morning Ritual” by Michael Hyatt.  Michael’s point was that everyone has a morning ritual or routine that influences what comes later and intentionally creating this foundation will enable you to get what you want out of your day.  He recommends seven steps that I’d like to summarize for you here.  His entire 40-minute podcast is worth a listen because he provides more detail and answers to some very good questions that will flesh out what I’m providing.   (Full disclosure:  Michael is a Christian and discusses his faith practices when describing his personal morning routine, but he doesn’t proselytize or dictate that this be part of your routine.)

Step one: Acknowledge that you have a ritual and be intentional about it.

The first step in changing anything is becoming aware of what you do currently.  It’s the first step in becoming more intentional about the connection between what you do to start your day and what comes after that beginning.

Step two: Document your ritual. 

Write down the things you do every morning.  Be honest about the positive parts and the not-as-positive parts, so write down, for example, that you eat breakfast every morning and also that you hit the snooze button three times before getting up.  This will help you see and understand what you currently do.

Step three: Evaluate whether your ritual is getting you what you want.

Take some time to think about the rest of your typical day and see if you can see connections.  Do you commonly feel rushed and stressed as you get to work?  Could it be because you only allow enough time to do the bare minimum of preparation and allow no time for unexpected realities?

Step four: Determine what you want and what you don’t want.

This step corresponds to Stephen Covey’s Second Habit, “Begin with the end in mind.”  Think about what you do (or don’t) want to get out of the beginning of your day before you make changes to what you're currently doing.  So, do you want to feel relaxed or connected spiritually?  Do you want to have a clear idea of the priorities for the day or be organized? 

Step five:  Reengineer your current ritual.

Once you see what you’re currently doing and what you’d like to be getting, brainstorm a list of alternative activities that help you get there.  So, if you want to feel calm and centered, you could add ideas to your list about taking time to be still, meditate, listen to calming music or sounds, etc.  Next, you will need to identify how much time each part will take and then arrange the order of the parts, so that they make sense – you don’t want to shower before you work out, right? -- and flow naturally.

Step six:  Implement the ritual.

In the words of the iconic Nike ads, “Just do it.”  You will need to practice the new routine for awhile in order to give it a chance to work and overcome the initial resistance to change that many of us feel. 

Step seven: Tweak the ritual as necessary.

Your life will change depending on your life stage and other realities.  Don’t get stuck in something if it is not working the way you thought it would or has stopped working for you over time.  Add new practices, delete old ones, rearrange the order, expand some parts or shorten others, and make other tweaks to change what you do to get the results that you want.  

In the podcast, Michael answers questions about what to do if you are a night owl, get distracted by other things, experience a disruption, and so on.  I encourage you to take some time to look at how you set up your day to get more of what you want from it.  

Five Leadership Lessons from James T. Kirk

Most of us in leadership positions, or aspiring to them, take leadership pretty seriously.  It’s also important, however, to have fun and today I want to point you to a witty blog post that teaches some good leadership lessons:  Five Leadership Lessons from James T. Kirk.  Trekkies will, of course, enjoy this but the author provides good food for thought -- including why you should play poker instead of chess in leadership terms, the importance of being a part of the "away team" -- whether you like Star Trek or not.  Enjoy!