By Paul Clip - @p4ul

Ice cream is cool! (Literally J)

http://bit.ly/18mQz6v

AND SO…

(Rather Boring) Definitions

� Leadership� “The state or position of being a leader”

� Leader� “The person who leads or commands a group,

organization, or country”

� Surely we can do better!

http://bit.ly/1LJj38B

Some of my favorite definitions

� "Leadership is stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risk to create reward." – Katie Easley

� "Leadership is the behavior that brings the future to the present, by envisioning the possible and persuading others to help you make it a reality.” – Matt Barney

� "Leadership is employing your skills and knowledge, leveraged by your attitude to get the results you desire." – Philip Gafka

http://bit.ly/1JzYGI9

Clear Themes

� Leadership is about delivering against a goal, a vision

� It’s about doing what’s right� It’s not about telling others what to do

� It’s not necessarily even about leading people, just leading by example can be very powerful

LET’S LOOK AT TWO TYPES OF LEADERSHIP

DISCLAIMERIn the advice & ideas that follow…� I do a few of these things well� Most I only aspire to� I believe strongly in most of this advice

� The rest I think I believe in strongly and am testing it out

� Your mileage will vary: Explore, Choose, Adapt� This is definitely not the only way

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Walk your talk

� Deliver on your commitments� If you can’t, let people know (and ask for help!)

ahead of the deadline� This applies to everyone but in particular to

people in management positions (you set the example!)

� It also applies to the commitments you make to yourself

How?

� Commit to achievable goals� Understand how a new task impacts your existing

commitments before accepting it

� Drive for clarity: What are you delivering by when?

� Once you commit, own it� Take pride & pleasure in doing a good job

Manage Your Tasks

� Now you’re in demand because you get things done

� So you end up with lots of things to do! J� Your next challenge is managing those tasks

� Because missing tasks you’ve committed to means you’re no longer in demand L

How? By using at least one of these

Super brain(perfect recall)

Notebook(or equivalent)

If you’re like me you only have the second option J

I’m not going to help you pick a Task Manager – There are loads

Best practices regardless of choice

� Capture your thoughts – immediately� Clutter up your task manager not your brain

� Pick a tool on multiple platforms� At least mobile app and web or desktop

� Categorize tasks by project or, for GTD’ers, by context (I prefer by project)

� Focus on today’s tasks only, remove future work from your view. You generally only want to look at what you need to get done now

Example: My (Current) Task System

I have many scheduled,

recurring tasks at various intervals: Daily, weekly, etc. They are hidden until they come

due

Email and its challenges

� Getting Things Done has worked well for me� All email notifications turned off� Keep your inbox at zero emails� My Outlook system (basic version :-)

� Folders for every day of the week� Labeled 1-5 for speedy keyboard

shortcuts� If I can’t process, delete or archive an email

immediately, it gets moved to the dayI want to work on it

� Forget about it until that day comes!

Tasks. Email. Information?

� Whether you chooseOneNote, Evernote, *Note

� Having a single tool� Accessible on many platforms� For your own notes� And any other relevant information� Is really really useful!

How I use Evernote for People Interactions� Every person I meet with regularly has their own

note� Any topics I want to share with them get added to

the top of the note� Any todos come out of the meeting either get

tracked at Evernote checkboxes or in 2Do� A saved search shows me all work notes with

undone todos� I still feel like I should be using tags, but don’t K

It’s all about… Clarity: Knowing what you want to do next

Knowing where key info isFocus: Devoting your attention to it

http://bit.ly/17Zp4if

Decision/Planning Loops

Weekly

Key goals for the week

Am I ready for next week?

Daily

Top 3 things I want to get

done

Am I ready for key

meetings?

Multiple times / dayMaintain inbox zero,

pick top priority task, work on it

http://bit.ly/1FuAVAf

Complexities

� Tasks don’t end up in just one location� 2Do, Outlook, Evernote, Trello� Pick core tools & use them to remind you to look at

the others� In my case: Recurring 2Do tasks remind me to check

Evernote & Trello multiple times a week○ Yes, I use todos to remind me to check other todos○ Don’t judge ;-)

� Walk your talk� Explore the most effective ways to manage your tasks� Unclutter your mind� Focus on a single important task at a time� Plan on daily and weekly cycles

� Forgive yourself when you fail (and then learn from it)

http://bit.ly/1alPNrl

Where I struggle

� Priorities� Where to spend my time to drive the biggest benefit?

� The tyranny of the Now� Urgent, Important drowns out Important� The addiction of accomplishing small things� Direct accomplishment vs. enabling others

� Seeing the bigger picture� Winning the battle of today vs. the war of the month

or year

Further Reading

� Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (First three habits) http://bit.ly/1Bwp7A0

� Getting Things Done http://bit.ly/17zKnqP� So Good They Can’t Ignore You http://amzn.to/1eizgTw

� What are the most underrated skills most employees lack? http://bit.ly/1FXWcpy

� Essentialism http://bit.ly/1d7153g

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What is a strong leader?

� What makes for a good leader?� How do you define “good”?� With some professions it’s easy

� An athlete wins medals� An author sells books� Your output is tangible and your feedback loops are

rapid: You know if you’re doing well� How do you define your value if you sit in

meetings all day? K� How can you tell if you’re doing well?

I’M STILL SEARCHING FOR SOME OF THOSE ANSWERS

Job dependent

Job dependent

Job

depe

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A Simple Model

People

Technology

Product

Bus

ines

s

Operations

Example: Engineering Lead

People

Drilling into the inner cores

People� Establishing & sharing

vision and strategy� Aligning it with

execution� Growth, mentoring,

recognition� Performance &

change management� CULTURE

Process & Tools� Clear, effective and

well understood processes

� The right tools to support them

� Automation wherever appropriate

� Continuous improvement

http://bit.ly/1vAaMzY

You & your team need clarity on

Why to work on something?

How to work on something?

http://bit.ly/1vAaMzY

Value is created at the edge, enabled by the core� Value is created when your team can focus on that

outer ring, or edge� If the inner cores aren’t strong then value creation

takes a hit as your team compensates� The team must participate in establishing the

inner cores� You can delegate Process & Tools but you must

own People� Remember that your core in someone else’s edge

Loops Revisited

Every  3-­6  months

Are  we  working  effectively?  How  

can  we  improve?

Do  our  goals  still  make  sense?  Which  ones  

need  to  change?

MonthlyWhat  do  we  need  to  accomplish  this  month?  Next  

month?

How  are  we  tracking  to  our  yearly  goals?

WeeklyKey  team  goals  for  the  week Are  we  ready  for  next  week?

http://bit.ly/1FuAVAf

Further Reading

� Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Last four habits) http://bit.ly/1Bwp7A0

� After creating the model I realized it mapped well to Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” http://bit.ly/1gpvgUs

� Barely covered in this presentation but change management is critical. I liked this intro: “Change Management: The People Side of Change” http://bit.ly/1AsJImk

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ILLERS

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Self-Imposed Barriers

� “I’m not good enough”� “Others know way more

than me about this”� “I’m not the

manager/director/lead/person in charge”

� “No one will want to do this”

� “I don’t dare”

� Yes you are� Likely wrong but you can

always work with them� You don’t need to be,

you can still lead a way forward

� More likely they’re thinking the same thing

� What if no one dares?

What is the one common theme?

In a word… CLOWNS!

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FEAR!Fear of trying holds us back!

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Yoda claimed:

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That quickly leads us mortals to “do not”.

“If try, you do not.Do, you will not.”

-Paul.

Yoda was wrong!You have to try…

So give trying a try Jhttp://funny.pho.to/yoda/

http://bit.ly/1FuCON2

http://bit.ly/1LFeYAq

True(ish) Facts about Lemurs

� Lemurs have opposable thumbs

� They live up to 18 years� They eat their own

weight in consumer electronics every day

� Their name is derived from the Latin word ‘lemures’, which means ‘spirits of the night.’

http://bit.ly/1alSb17