HOW TO DO ANYTHING YOU NEED TO DO --------------------------------- Have you ever met someone who's able to sift deftly through a mirage of activities and seemingly always choose the most effective ways to reach his goals? What is it that directs these people? What radar are they turned in to that guides them like a bat through a cave at midnight? Whether these superstar individuals carefully plan their progress or just instinctively do the activities that produce results, they all do some similar things. Here are some of them: * The achievers have one immediate purpose. And they focus every effort on achieving that purpose. Each successive immediate purpose leads directly to a longer range objective. It's like climbing a staircase. Their long-range goal sets the direction, but their attention is zeroed on getting to the next step. * They are focused on their goals that every communication -- words and activities -- reinforce or help them achieve their objective. There is rarely a time that they aren't thinking about their goals or doing something to reach them. Some of the questions they ask that help them zero in on their goals are: 1 - Why am I going to this place? This saves all kinds of wasted trips. 2 - What do I need to accomplish when I get there? This narrows the conversational visits and re-focuses attention on the purpose of the visit. 3 - Why do I want to talk to this person? Ask this to focus your thoughts back on the reason why you are interrupting this person's day. Small talk is vital to showing personal interest in business, but you do want to remember why you're in this person's office when there's a break in the small talk. 4 - Why do I need to write this letter (memo)? This will decrease your paperwork load as few thing will. When a telephone call will do just as well, forget the extra paperwork. Phone calls show immediate effort, personal interest and quicker, result-oriented thinking than letter writing. If you choose to strive for leadership in your business field, here are a few leadership traits the best leaders share: 1 - Never-failing courage. The only sound way to build courage is to have such a knowledge of your work and of your abilities that you genuinely know how to effectively respond to nearly every crisis that could arise. This requires constant and attentive mental practice and learning daily. Nobody wants to follow a leader without courage. 2 - Decisiveness. This grows out of courage based on knowledge. You can only be decisive when you thoroughly understand your work. Again, a follower want to follow someone who's sure of himself. Even when a leader's decision isn't the best choice, the followers will accept it and continue following him if he's sure of himself. They figure it's part of his plan and he'll find a way to make the decision good. 3 - A clear sense of fairness for your employees, customers, your competition and yourself. 4 - A well-laid, definite plan. If a person doesn't have a plan, he's a guesser only occupying a leadership position. And a plan takes definite work and clear thought. The plan has to be achievable. It's your road map for action and achievement. 5 - A leader has to assume full responsibility for the outcome of his own choices and the outcome of any choices made by his people, with or without his knowledge or concent. Placing blame or shifting responsibility isn't an option for a leader. 6 - Cooperation and getting others to cooperate with you. Without giving and receiving cooperation there's no power in leading. There is a lasting power only in voluntarily cooperative effort of a people led by a leader of their choosing. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Resource Box - The following books are available at your local library: LEADERS by Warren Bennis and Burt Navis; WINNING STRATEGIES IN SELLING by Roger Staubach; EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ON THE JOB by Marting, Finley and Ward. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1994 Strictly Business!BBS - An Information Exchange Service for Entrepreneurs, Managers & Business Professionals. BBS: 614-538-9250 UNICOM Information Services