10 Things Effective Leaders Do
By Arlin Sorensen, O and Founder of the Heartland Companies which includes HTG Peer Groups
Here is a list of things I find effective leaders doing — and doing well. See how many make your list of accomplishments.
1. Set and review a long-term plan.
If you don't know where you want to go, you'll probably never arrive. Think about that for a moment. It is easier to act strategically when you have thought about where you want to go. Some call it a BHAG. Others call it a 3-5-10 year plan. But you need to know where you are aiming. Without that, any road will take you somewhere.
2. Examine plans daily.
Whether they have written it down or not, most people have a to-do list. The important thing is to ensure you are utilizing your time for highest and best use, doing the things that only you can do. If you don’t take time each day to prioritize that task list, you’ll spend time on the urgent but unimportant stuff. Nobody is 100 percent productive, and that is okay; it is reality. Yet we can all do more to be intentional about using our time.
3. Invest in someone.
Effective leaders spend time with others and pour themselves into them. Again, it requires intention or it won’t happen. We all need to identify a person or two with whom we can spend regular time to help them grow. While we are at it, we should be on the receiving end of that with someone as well. We are never beyond the opportunity of giving and receiving value from other people.
4. Write down what happened.
Life is a journey, so write it down. If I were to identify one thing that has most changed my life and leadership, it would be this: having a daily discipline of writing things down. Since 2008 I have written six mornings a week. I have not missed one morning over those seven plus years, and that discipline has revolutionized my life. I will be the first to admit that it takes work, requiring both commitment and time, but it is well worth it. (I send my daily thoughts out each morning to over 1000 people currently, so if you are interested in joining the morning list, just drop me an email at arlin@arlinsorensen.com and ask to be added).
5. Say Thank You.
Gratitude is such a simple thing but so powerful. Showing appreciation is a wonderful way to make a difference in the lives of those in your patch. It takes little effort but has a significant impact. Words can be enough but a small token of appreciation really makes a statement. And a written thanks — well, you know how many hand written cards you get these days. It is powerful.
6. Focus on legacy.
You are creating your legacy as you live. You will leave one, whether intentional to do so or not. Now is the time to define what that legacy should look like and live life in a way that creates it. There is no more important task for a leader than to create the legacy of the future. No one else can do it for you. This is your own assignment and has many considerations for the immediate as well as the future.
7. Balance the tension in life.
Life work balance does not exist. It is a myth. The best you can hope for is to manage the tension between the two. There are only 168 hours in your week — that is the bad news. There are 168 hours in your week — that is also the good news. Keep track of where you spend your time. Make sure you have a life plan to help manage the hours outside the workplace. There really are enough hours to do far more than most of us accomplish on the things that really matter. We waste too much of our precious time. Get intentional — get a life plan and live by it.
8. Say no.
The enemy of great things is good things, and we often say “yes” to a lot of good things which leaves no white space in our lives when a great opportunity comes along. We have to learn to say no. A life plan can help with that as it gives us some parameters around what we have identified as important.
9. Sleep.
Get enough shut eye. It seems like a little thing, but it really does matter. Lots of leaders struggle to shut off their minds and really rest. The other related discipline we need is quiet time to just think and clear our minds. It has to be intentional and scheduled or it will not happen. Solitude is hard — particularly for entrepreneurs who often feel guilty. But it is a powerful discipline we need.
10. Get a hobby.
All work and no play makes ... well, you know the rest. We have to find something we love and then spend time on a regular basis actually doing it. Far too often hobbies get pushed aside. For me, it is photography that usually involves taking pictures of my grandkids in all of their various activities. We all need something we can pour some energy into that revitalizes us and refreshes us from the drain of our hectic business lives.
It is easy to just ignore the things on this list as they will not necessarily drive any bottom line profit or top line revenue. But if we ignore these ten things, it will have a negative impact on our lives. In the peer groups we facilitate one common issue I see is members who are pouring themselves so completely into their company that they are not taking time to really live. Unfortunately, in far too many cases, it seems to take something serious such as the collapse of a marriage or the death of a loved one to awaken people to the need to be intentional in taking care of themselves and living in the way they want to live to impact others.
We need to do things that make us effective as leaders. And often those are not the regular business functions. How are you doing living life as a leader?