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BLAME IT ON YOURSELF; NOT ON OTHERS
Every man is the architect of his own life. He builds it just the way he wants it. However, after he has built what he wants, he sometimes decides that he doesn’t like what he has built, and looks for someone or something to blame, instead of changing himself – Sydney Madwed
Quite a number of goal setters are only annual or timely ritualists; not go-getters. They merely set goals but are hardly ever able to get near the margin of attainment. Funnily enough, they blame this inability on others. Amazingly, many of them are either gainfully employed, run their own businesses, or both. And they vacillate between “average” and “just okay,” in terms of performance. Some inch towards good, but get to a point that instead of plainly soaring higher, they stagnate.
While looking at them from the outside, with their well-maintained relics of success, many view and label them “high achievers” and “industry leaders” in their field. Shockingly, however, an opportunity to get close to them, especially on official turf, reveals a stark contrast to previously held opinions of excellent or great achievers.
Why is this so? Some form of assessment should do justice to this:
▪ Poor time management
Many a time, I have worked with different persons on different projects, and these persons happened to be simultaneously engaged in other projects. The condition of being engaged in more than one project at a time must have been an earnest desire that they had; many or quite a number of us are like that. But when these desires come to fruition, the problem of proper planning and application of oneself based on the personality types, relationships and priorities rears its head, such that many things become unattended, and they just assume that things would fall in place.
The word delegation is strength in leadership and the earlier leaders exploit this concept, the better for them. Also, it is most instructive to note that you cannot delegate your core assignment and, whatever tasks you delegate to your subordinates, you must also oversee. This suggests that there’s no excuse for your inability to read a report you are supposed to read, when you are supposed to read it. There’s no reason you shouldn’t respond to mails of high priority. In a similar vein, there’s no reason to justify your lateness to meetings by heaping the blame on traffic, because you are no stranger to the space or terrain. The solution is simple: apply effective activity management concepts in order to use your time judiciously: know and own your activities, reflect on them, evaluate their impact on others when deployed, be sold to continuous improvement.
▪ Poor personal organisation
An unorganised person is an ineffective person. You may be rich or think yourself a success, but wait till you discover that crisis of any magnitude can almost run your business aground. True success includes the ability to weather storms and emerge stronger. It is the power of resilience. I often admonish people: “That your business is making money doesn’t mean it’s well run.” You may need to look at your clime and locality. Meritocracy, a system where people acquire wealth, power and influence based on their abilities, may not be a culture, and that will be counterproductive. A lot of factors come into play. The same applies to individuals. How well organised you are will determine how long you will last in the premium position in your industry. This includes the management of time, money, people and other resources...
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By Cerebral ThrustEvery man is the architect of his own life. He builds it just the way he wants it. However, after he has built what he wants, he sometimes decides that he doesn’t like what he has built, and looks for someone or something to blame, instead of changing himself – Sydney Madwed
Quite a number of goal setters are only annual or timely ritualists; not go-getters. They merely set goals but are hardly ever able to get near the margin of attainment. Funnily enough, they blame this inability on others. Amazingly, many of them are either gainfully employed, run their own businesses, or both. And they vacillate between “average” and “just okay,” in terms of performance. Some inch towards good, but get to a point that instead of plainly soaring higher, they stagnate.
While looking at them from the outside, with their well-maintained relics of success, many view and label them “high achievers” and “industry leaders” in their field. Shockingly, however, an opportunity to get close to them, especially on official turf, reveals a stark contrast to previously held opinions of excellent or great achievers.
Why is this so? Some form of assessment should do justice to this:
▪ Poor time management
Many a time, I have worked with different persons on different projects, and these persons happened to be simultaneously engaged in other projects. The condition of being engaged in more than one project at a time must have been an earnest desire that they had; many or quite a number of us are like that. But when these desires come to fruition, the problem of proper planning and application of oneself based on the personality types, relationships and priorities rears its head, such that many things become unattended, and they just assume that things would fall in place.
The word delegation is strength in leadership and the earlier leaders exploit this concept, the better for them. Also, it is most instructive to note that you cannot delegate your core assignment and, whatever tasks you delegate to your subordinates, you must also oversee. This suggests that there’s no excuse for your inability to read a report you are supposed to read, when you are supposed to read it. There’s no reason you shouldn’t respond to mails of high priority. In a similar vein, there’s no reason to justify your lateness to meetings by heaping the blame on traffic, because you are no stranger to the space or terrain. The solution is simple: apply effective activity management concepts in order to use your time judiciously: know and own your activities, reflect on them, evaluate their impact on others when deployed, be sold to continuous improvement.
▪ Poor personal organisation
An unorganised person is an ineffective person. You may be rich or think yourself a success, but wait till you discover that crisis of any magnitude can almost run your business aground. True success includes the ability to weather storms and emerge stronger. It is the power of resilience. I often admonish people: “That your business is making money doesn’t mean it’s well run.” You may need to look at your clime and locality. Meritocracy, a system where people acquire wealth, power and influence based on their abilities, may not be a culture, and that will be counterproductive. A lot of factors come into play. The same applies to individuals. How well organised you are will determine how long you will last in the premium position in your industry. This includes the management of time, money, people and other resources...