I am often asked for guidance from clients, friends, and colleagues about how best to manage their increasingly heavy workloads. While I certainly don’t have “the answer” to this ongoing challenge, I do have one simple strategy and a mindset that has served me well over the last couple of years in managing all of the activities of my life.

First of all, my philosophy around time management is at the heart of this strategy; my belief is that it’s not the “stuff” of life that creates stress and frustration. It’s how you approach it that creates the feeling of challenge. The “stuff” of life is always neutral; it’s your attitude about it that makes it what it is.

This mindset is incredibly empowering, as it gives you a feeling of control over your life experiences. The reverse is that you allow your calendar and activities to have control which causes a feeling of perpetual frustration and spinning your wheels.

So, what can you do to create a feeling of control? Begin your day in a way that sets a positive tone. By starting the day in a rushed, hurried manner, focused on activities (the news, emails, packing lunches, etc.), you perpetuate the challenge of feeling out of control.

Consider this . . . upon waking, you make your way to a comfortable place in your home. In this comfortable place, you give yourself the gift of silence—allowing thoughts to rise and fall without judgment, paying attention to your breathing, basking in the quiet presence of the morning. In these few minutes (yes, just a few minutes) of quiet reflection, you are renewed and much more prepared to react to the events of your day in a positive way.

What if you did this for just a few minutes each morning before you jumped into the activities? I suspect your results would be similar to mine. By consciously starting my day in a reflective way, I have experienced the following results:

• I have little to no stress in my life and much less worry
• I feel prepared to handle whatever life has to offer
• I am confident about my ability to act in a way that represents my values
• I am less reactive and much more thoughtful about the choices I make
• I step into the day with a clear mind and an open heart
• I carry a relaxed, peaceful feeling with me

You are in the driver’s seat. Between sleep and action, give yourself time to transition and leverage the quiet of the morning as a time for renewal. You and those you influence throughout the day deserve it.

Andrea Moore is a Senior Consulting Manager at FlashPoint; Andrea focuses on leadership development, training and performance improvement solutions, and one-on-one coaching.

Image: Paul

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I can list several things that I love about my role at FlashPoint, but working in a culture that supports and encourages us to volunteer in our local community is my favorite. I have been to events where I’ve met powerful CEOs, politicians, and local celebrities—heck, I even got to chat with Peyton Manning at a Peyback Foundation event—but my passion is working with kids.

As a member of the Kiwanis Club of Indianapolis, I assist with a program called the Builders Club at IPS #56; there my fellow members and I work with middle school students to help them learn about leadership, community involvement, and service. As the business adviser for this group of future leaders, I have the opportunity to talk to them about topics that I feel are important. During the election of officers a few weeks ago, I noticed that all of the candidates referenced having “good leadership” so I decided that I’ll talk to them about leadership at one of the upcoming meetings. Choosing this topic was the easy part. What I’m going to actually say is the million-dollar question.

I plan to keep it simple by telling them of a few myths:

Myth #1—Leaders are born. In a sense, leaders are born because everyone is born. But leadership is not about talents as much as it is about your behavior. It is how you “show up” each day.

Myth #2—Leaders are charismatic. While being charismatic doesn’t really hurt you, it is more important to be trustworthy, visionary, and a good person. Remember, Hitler was charismatic.

Myth #3—Titles make you a leader. A leader is simply someone who can get others to follow him or her. It does not matter what your title is; it matters if you are respected, trusted, and followed.

I also plan to discuss what makes a good leader:

Be Trustworthy—Do what you say you will do.

Have Vision—Don’t think only about today; think about your future and base your decisions on that.

Model the Way—Set a good example for others to follow.

Set Goals—Understand that the difference between a dream and a goal lies in writing it down. If you don’t have a goal, how do you know where you are going?

Be a Good Person—Recognize that people will eventually see who is a good person and who is not. We generally do not follow bad people for the long term.

I’d like to tell these kids so much more about leadership, but I want to keep it simple with the hope that they’ll remember the lesson and think about their behavior on a daily basis.

What would you tell an 8th grader about leadership?

Jeremy King is business development manager at FlashPoint.

Image: Pathathai Chungyam

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As one of FlashPoint’s newest team members and as part of my onboarding and performance management goals, I read The Business of Consulting by Elaine Biech (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1999). The book describes success in the consulting business as deriving from the following major areas (assuming that expertise in the subject area has already been achieved):

• First—understanding the consulting environment that one is entering
• Second—developing a business and marketing plan and continually working both plans
• Third—providing excellent customer service and professionalism ALL the time to ALL clients

Approaching a consulting business by taking these steps will help ensure success.

As I relate this book to me and FlashPoint’s team, I realize that each of us plays a role in the human resource consulting business, even if we don’t have “consultant” behind our name. The pieces of the business, initiated by our two principals, are now “owned” by all the members of our team. We are all responsible for the success of FlashPoint, according to our spot on the team. My spot: marketing.

The book’s purpose is to help one decide if he or she is suited for the consulting business. My reading affirmed something that I’ve known about myself for some time now: I do not have the entrepreneurial spirit possessed by FlashPoint’s principals and some of my colleagues to independently be a consultant, let alone start a business. This is evident through choices I’ve made my whole life. For example, in high school I chose team-related activities such as choir and cheerleading versus more individualized sports such as tennis or swimming.

What I do have is the spirit to serve on FlashPoint’s team and help facilitate its success and growth. I like my spot on the team. To that I say, “Go team!”

Do you clearly know what role you serve on your team? If so, please share how you came to that understanding.

Image: Julie Elliott-Abshire

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Within our leadership development initiatives and coaching projects, we spend time helping participants to reframe and get unstuck. The message is always the same . . . rather than spending time complaining about the current situation or wishing it were something different, empower yourself to move forward with positive action. The five questions noted below work like magic . . . they shift your mindset from one of victim to victor over the current situation.

1. What do you want?

In other words, what is your vision? Use your imagination and push yourself to think beyond what is to what could be. If you want something different, you have to focus on what it is you want, not where you are right now.

2. What are you learning?

Those situations that challenge you the most truly do provide the greatest opportunity to learn something about yourself. Through the recognition of growth within the situation, the challenge suddenly becomes more meaningful and you are provided with greater confidence to move forward.

3. What support is available to you?

You are not alone. Regardless of how isolated you may feel, there is always support if you are willing to open your eyes and ask for it.

4. What’s working well?

Be gentle with yourself and remember that you are doing the best you can with what you have where you are. Give yourself credit for the progress you have made, and continually look for ways to leverage your strengths.

5. What can you do to influence the situation?

Given your answers to all of the previous questions, you are ready to take action. While there will certainly be things that are not possible for you, there is always something you can do. Continue to focus on where it is you can influence the situation (regardless of how small the action may be) and watch your vision come to life.

Image: Asif Akbar

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The following are follow-up resources to my blog post “Are you racked or on a roll: How HR and business leaders can stay connected to the deeper meaning in their work” posted July 27. Both books are strong resources that I recommend reading. The link takes you to a brief article on finding meaning in your work.

If you’ve already read the resources, what do you think? If you haven’t read them, I would value knowing your thoughts after you do.

Books

• Start With WHY by Simon Sinek

• The Why of Work by Dave and Wendy Ulrich

Article

• “Got Meaning? Creating a Why to Work” by Wendy Ulrich via Psychology Today

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