Executive Coach, Lifelong learner, Dad, Bass player, Outdoor Enthusiast, Former Apple Worldwide Director of Finance.
[ROM] Increase Your Impact in 5 Min/Week
|
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. —Søren Kierkegaard Being a leadership coach is like being a Center of Excellence. I learn new tools weekly, and I get to share them with clients. Sometimes I even learn from my clients. That’s what happened this past week with Steve. He had a particularly challenging meeting with his boss. The kind where the boss interrupted him 60 seconds in. Steve’s boss told him he was way off track, that none of what he brought for discussion was important. Steve shifted gears and made it through the meeting, but the rest of the day was a blur. He kept ruminating about the meeting. He examined where he went off track, wondered what it meant for his credibility, worried it was a setback. In short, he had a hangover from his bad meeting. And it lasted all day. The brilliant move Steve made was to recognize the hangover and address it. He didn’t ignore the bad meeting, try to impress his boss another way, or lose sleep that night. He took 5 minutes at the end of the day to reflect.
These simple questions helped him integrate the learnings and be at peace with a difficult interaction. Steve’s action was an example of a bigger principle at work. Growth and learning is a process of trial, evaluation, and adjustment; and Reflection is how you evaluate and adjust your actions. It’s why studies regularly show that taking time to reflect is one of the simplest and highest impact actions you can take. It requires no more than 5 minutes per week. If you don’t have a reflection process already, start with these questions:
Take 40 seconds right now to accelerate your growth. Before you go back to email, meetings, and slack, Schedule a brief meeting with yourself Friday afternoon to reflect on the week. Use the questions above, jot down some notes, and make a plan for the following week. Repeat this every Friday and see how it accelerates your progress. To learning & growth, P.S. Working with a coach means built-in reflection, plus feedback, expertise, new perspectives, and proven tools. If someone on your team could benefit from that level of support, forward this message to them. Initial consultations are always free. |
Rusty Gaillard
Executive Coach, Lifelong learner, Dad, Bass player, Outdoor Enthusiast, Former Apple Worldwide Director of Finance.
Open, frank communication is the linchpin to teamwork. —Patrick Lencioni I ordered a new coffee maker last month. It arrived yesterday. Two months from order to delivery. During those two months, I considered cancelling the order at least 10 times. Not that I could even cancel the order. My email requests for an update went unanswered by the company. For weeks I heard nothing from them. Then a single update, then more weeks of silence. I had no idea when… or if… the order would ship. I...
It's an essential exchange in the world of work to be seen and heard. —Lisa Bragg My son is 17. If you’ve ever had a teenager in your house, you know… It’s hard to keep the refrigerator full. Two full plates of food is normal at a meal. Then I can hardly believe he’s hungry again a few hours later. I’m finally starting to adjust to the reality. Three meals + multiple snacks every day are required just to get him enough calories. With meals and snacks on my mind, I was discussing self...
When you argue with reality, you lose. —Byron Katie Grace told me her workplace is toxic. There seemed to be no respect for her or her time. Over and over again, she had to incorporate last-minute feedback. The night before leaving for an international trip, she was asked to update a document she had circulated for review weeks earlier. Others hadn’t responded for weeks, only providing their feedback at the 11th hour. And this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Every time she pushed to...