PatientProgress

The road to betterment is fraught with fits and starts. And that path toward improvement has way stations aplenty manned by the negative, the fearful, and the recalcitrant.

Some Dos and Don'ts for the journey toward betterment...

DOs:

• Stay focused
• Smile incessantly
• Listen a lot, to a lot 
• Ignore the negative
• Insist on improvement
• Monitor toward the desired outcomes
• Articulate the mantra, pound the drum of continuous improvement

DON'Ts:

• Appease
• Argue
• Settle
• Decelerate
• Tolerate the toxic

If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Getting better. Every day. On purpose. 

Bifocal

The people I admire most have a twofold view of the world; they pragmatically see it as it is while at the same time viewing it as it might be.

The optimistic side of their bifocal worldview compels them to ...

• Act instead of whine.
• Dream instead of wilt.
• Be bold instead of sissie.
• Build instead of tear down.
• Pull together instead of tear apart. 
• Make progress instead of excuses.
• Expect mistakes instead of steady wins.

While they have the bifocal view, they spend a lot more time looking through the "might be" lens.

QuestionMaestros

The most impactful people I know are intentional and voracious learners. They are extremely disciplined at pursuing and achieving the very best versions of themselves possible.

Almost all those folks whom I watch, read, and listen to have mentors.

The best of those mentors are not wizards with all the right answers. They're maestros of asking the right questions. 

Got mentor?

GoldenSilence

Careful thought. 

     Intense analysis. 

          Deep consideration.

               Vigilant forecasting.

                    Thorough reflection.

All pay premium dividends. All yield better understanding and decisions.

All are best done in silence -- especially our own. That's why it's golden.

CynicismBattle

When I have had opportunity to teach Graduate Research over the years, I admonish my students to be unashamedly skeptical. Question everything. Ask for evidence. Challenge assumptions. Accept nothing that includes a lot of handwaving, diversion, evasion, smoke, mirrors, unverifiable promises.

At the same time, I remind them to NOT let their skepticism bleed over into cynicism. We must fight the urge to become cynics with every fiber of our being. 

Why? Cynics have no hope. They can't (or won't) consider the prospects of a better future. 

And.....cynics aren't much fun to be around.

developMEnt

Development -- growth, learning, improvement -- starts with ME. Before I can ever ask others to do those things I must be the first to jump in feet first in the continuous improvement process. 

Making ME a better person, better employee, better follower, better leader is the first goal.

Some strategies that help in the continuous improvement of ME:

• Judge dimensions of improvement on continua rather than YES/NO scales.
• Invite someone to join me in the journey. Or several.
• Be willing to drop what's not working and add something new ad hoc (not on a time table).
• Make improvement efforts incremental, rather than whole hog.
• Calendar regularly time for assessments of progress, and revise as needed.

Team continuous improvement works the same, starting with ME.

MatteringMatters

The late Dr. Stephen Covey oft advised us that "the main thing is to keep the Main Thing the MAIN THING." One of the most impactful of my mentors over the years -- Gary Harrell -- reminded me regularly to remain focused first and foremost on the things of "eternal significance." 

Calendars fill. Schedules get busy. Urgent overtakes important. "Now" crowds out the consequential. UNLESS.......................we discipline ourselves to remain steady, to prioritize that which is important, to fashion our day in ways that keep the MAIN THING at the forefront of....

• Our effort.
• Our planning.
• Our attention.
• Our decisions. 
• Our engagements.
• Our conversations.
• Our hiring (or firing).
• Our allocation of resources.

We can't always ignore the "other stuff." What we can do is remember that it is "just stuff."