according to your needs. It’s like brushing your teeth. You never forgo brushing your teeth because you need to call a plumber because of a broken pipe! You always brush your teeth before going to bed! If you can do it for brushing your teeth, then you can also do it for planning and scheduling time for strategizing.
With these three steps, you can hunt like a lion and focus on those issues that are the most important for you. Are you disappointed because you would rather do every single little thing yourself? Well, then you had better read the beginning of this chapter again, with the example of the three bottles of orange juice and the two glasses.
Distractions happen
‘What should I do?’ a leader asked last week during leadership training. ‘My office has a huge glass wall. Everyone can see that I’m at my desk. I am constantly being interrupted.’
Are you creating or are you just reacting?
Where there’s a will, there’s a way! A café on the way to work. A meeting room. Scheduled appointments or set times in which you commit to doing only quiet, concentrated work. This is all down to your organization and leadership.
For me, it’s the kitchen. Several times a week, actually almost every day, I sit at my kitchen table for one task, to which I devote my full concentration. And then I sit on the train on the way to meet clients and think. My phone is in flight mode. The Wi-Fi is off. Or sometimes in the morning, still in bed, with a pen and paper. It doesn’t matter where, what matters is your attitude.
Routines create success. What routines enable you to regularly do your thinking, your deep work, your highly concentrated work? This is the basis for your success as a leader.
By doing this, you will immediately belong to those who answer the question ‘Do you have enough time for strategy, planning, and conception?’ with a resounding ‘Yes! I do because I hunt like a lion! I have someone else do the hunting and I focus on the essentials.’ Be proud of this new ability because most leaders cannot do this. Thus, you will have created the basis for doing your job 90-100%.
Doing or not doing?
You now have a simpler, safer way to effectively set priorities. If you have not done this within the next five working days, then read this chapter again. Or listen to Episode 1 of my German podcast Führen wie ein Löwe. Perhaps you need another push in the right direction.
And if you need a sure-fire tip to sharpen your discipline in terms of putting things into practice, then read the Establishing New Habits section in the last chapter of this book.
Want to practice more successful delegating and focusing? Then I recommend my book Letting Go for Leaders, which was awarded Trainer Book of the Year. Anyone who wants to intensify their ability to concentrate deeply and focus on work should also dive into Cal Newport’s’ Deep Work – an excellent book.
2. Shaping Change through Your Leadership – 3 Challenges
What is your job as a leader? What does leading mean in times of constant change? Above all else, digitalization means change. Transformation. Reconstruction. Because the markets are developing faster than they ever have. And things are only going to speed up, never slow down.
How do these changes work?
When studying for my business degree in the ‘90s, I learned about the Austrian national economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950), who coined the phrase ‘creative destruction’. We used to joke ‘Schumpeter lives’ as the Schumpetric spirit still touches us decades later. Technological advances and innovation go hand in hand with the destruction of old structures that no longer fit.
What has happened in the last 20 years? Where we once had to worry about being pushed out of the market by direct competition, change and competition now come from all directions.
The most prominent developments:
• Airbnb, which is taking millions of guests from the hotel sector every year.
• Uber, which is not a taxi firm.
• The electric cars of Deutsche Post. Deutsche Post ended up developing and building its own model because car manufacturers were not fast or flexible enough.
We now take these things for granted, but no one would have believed in this future 20 years ago. And we could lament about how helpless we are because we have so little influence on these seismic changes. Not every leader is an entrepreneur or CEO who could have made decisions with such a far-reaching impact. Nevertheless, we stand at the center of these changes. The demands of all sectors are changing.
Structures are changing. The needs of your external customers are changing.
A question to you as a leader is this: ‘What are you shaping?’
Many leaders say: ‘I am happy if I can get by with a reasonable amount of overtime and if my email inbox is not overflowing. How am I supposed to find time to shape anything?’ Yes, you could see it like that. But this sort of thinking is not enough for truly good leadership.
The three great challenges – concerning shaping an attractive environment for current and future team members – for leaders are:
1. Keep good employees. What are you as the leader doing to keep good people on your side? What are you doing to make sure that they are not tempted by the attractive offers of other companies?
2. Create an environment in which your employees are happy to put in all their energy. This includes empowering your employees to take on the challenges brought about by change.
3. Finding good employees. This is not solely the job of the HR department. What is your personal contribution to making your team and your department more attractive, for both external and internal applicants?
How to lead yourself and your employees with excellence is the focus of this book. How do you shape your daily work so that you fulfill all three tasks with brilliance? Because if you tackle the constant change with plenty of good energy and side by side with your employees, then you are on the right track towards a successful business.
Your attitude decides
Not only your methods but also your mindset and your attitude are crucial. Do you take on the challenge and the daily task of leading your employees as your very own? Or do feel that they hassle you with constant questions and consultations? If you want to be a leader, then this includes wanting to lead your people, wanting to spend time with them in order to make them better. This job is not taken over by the monthly salary transfers or bonus payments your employees receive.
Invest time and effort in careful employee leadership
Do you take responsibility for the mood of your team? You are the leader, so you are the organizational representative from your employees’ point of view. So, create an environment in which your employees are happy to come in each day and put their shoulder to the wheel.
How should you do this? It looks like a huge mountain to climb, and it is certainly difficult in the beginning. We don’t know what will happen. But, guess what? It keeps on getting better and better! The first episode of my podcast Lead Like a Lion was difficult. Composing and recording a jingle, finding a speaker, choosing the technique, finding technical support, using an editing program.but now it’s great fun. Is it fun every time? No, not every
