38 / 50
Women who are scattered, overbooked and
overwhelmed can’t be effective and will never
enjoy the respect of their co-workers or staff.
I haven’t always been powerfully productive, here
are some of the strategies I incorporated into my
business to help me shift from frantic to focused.
Guard your time and stop being accessible to
everyone.
If your door is open to everyone then
everyone will come through it. Don’t hesitate to put
a “DONOT DISTURB” sign on your door. Try to block
off two hour chunks at a time. There is not a lot
that can happen that will require your immediate
assistance during that time period. If people have
to wait an hour to ask you a question, they’ll often
find the solution on their own.
Stop answering the phone.
Most of the time,
people who are calling you are people who
want you to solve THEIR problems. Give them
some time to solve their issues without you. Put
your ringer on mute when you want to focus on
your tasks. Check your messages several times
during the day and return important phone calls
promptly.
Stop solving problems that can be solved
without you
.
If your staff has a problem that needs
solving, avoid the temptation to solve the problem
for them. Instead, ask, “What solutions have you
tried?” They may not have a response for you. You
can reply with, “Let’s try this. I have a deadline
that I need to focus on right now. Try to come up
with two possible options and we can discuss this
again tomorrow. I can talk to you for ten minutes at
8:45am.” It won’t take them long before they begin
to solve problems without you.
Shift to shorter meetings.
First of all, ask yourself
if this topic even requires a meeting…and secondly
stop scheduling the traditional 30 or 60 minute
meetings. In fact, don’t even call them meetings.
Instead call them briefings, and schedule them for
By Beth Caldwell
Tips for Influential Leaders
SOAR TO SUCCESS
/
O
ctober
2016
/
Business Acceleration Strategies