#367 from Innovative Leader Volume 7, Number 10          October 1998

Improve Effectiveness and Achieve a More Peaceful Life
by Sandra Donovan, Ph.D.

Dr. Donovan, president of Donovan Associates, is a consultant to senior management on increasing profits and growth through improved leadership, strategies, operations, collaboration, and teaming.  You can reach her at ssdonovan@aol.com; (609) 936-1880.

As a former senior executive in industry and now as a consultant, taking the pulse of business and business people is second nature.  The pulse has been concerning me for the past couple of years.

So what's wrong?  The economy is in a long expansion, business is generally excellent, inflation is low, jobs are plentiful.  Many organizations are doing all of the right things to create shareholder value, achieve better and more cost-effective products and services for customers, and improve employment opportunities.

The tab for all of these improvements is being paid by people.  Many people work so hard that they’re becoming strangers to their family (the very ones they’re working so hard to benefit).  Many people often neglect their exercise, health, and relaxation regimens.  Some don’t have time to think and plan; they just react.  People are feeling frazzled and helpless...like trying to bend over and tie your shoelace while being dragged along in a large crowd.

It's impossible to fully apply your talents and skills if you feel frazzled or distracted.  The following are ten hints to improve effectiveness and to achieve a more peaceful life:

1.  Focus on the critical.  For your personal and professional life, understand your values, what's important to you, and where you want to go. Focus your energies on those few activities that have the most leverage on achieving your goals.  For your job responsibilities, identify and understand the few activities that are paramount to successful completion of these job responsibilities (see "Profitability Mechanism and the Competitive Edge," Innovative Leader, Vol. 7, No. 1, 1998).

2. Simplify.  Get rid of all of those "nice to do, but not critical" activities.  Negotiate with your boss to reach an agreed-upon list of high-priority/critical activities.  Agree to eliminate the rest, or to put them on the back burner, pending a change in priorities or time and resources.  When new requests are made, negotiate which of the current activities the new requests will replace.  When you delegate to subordinates, don't do their jobs for them.  Collaborate with your family to learn how everyone feels about the best way to spend family time and resources.  Be honest and realistic, and reach a joint decision.  And when you eliminate activities, eliminate them! Don't let them nag at you.

3.  Avoid others’ problems and monkeys.  Don't let others impose their problems, tasks, stress, and agitation on you.  I'm not talking about supporting real needs of family and close friends.  I am talking about not letting others delegate or impose their jobs, duties, and deadlines on you.  Be especially wary of individuals who put added stress on you because they cannot meet their deadlines and cause you to, in effect, clean up their mess.  Learn to say "no," and don’t feel guilty about it.

4.  Minimize annoyances.  Identify the people and situations that annoy you. Find ways to minimize the problem.  Most people find that once they put their finger on what’s annoying them, they can eliminate the majority of these annoyances.

5.  Don’t be a perfectionist.  Working with care so that you can take pride in your accomplishments is one thing.  Recycling work to fine tune it indefinitely is a waste of your time, and only increases stress.  It's been said that the difference between a professional and an amateur is that the professional knows what's good enough; but the amateur keeps refining the situation.

6.  Expect the unexpected.  We live in dynamically changing times.   Be flexible and adaptive.  There are numerous routes to objectives.  Find the routes that balance your needs with the circumstances of the time, and be willing to change tracks when necessary.

7.  Take care of yourself.  Be good to yourself.  You need your rest, relaxation, exercise, and healthcare.  Getting away from your duties, and doing something more pleasurable will clear the cobwebs, give you fresh energy and perspective, and new ideas.

8. Find a position or career that you love.  The ideal position is one that you would be willing to have just for the fun of it.  If you can fulfill your deep interests within a job that compensates you financially, your job will feel more like play than work.

9.  You create your own heaven or hell.  Once your basic survival needs are met, you mentally create your own sense of happiness.  A positive outlook, some close family and friends to share it with, activities you enjoy, finding time for a laugh and a hug each day, and physical well-being can go a long way towards creating your own heaven.

10.  Learn from the past, and don’t relive it.  We all make mistakes.  Learn from yours, make peace with yourself about the mistake, and move on.  Forget guilt. 

All indications are that our work and social environment will become even faster paced and more hectic than they are today.  Try applying these hints to help manage and balance your own life and restore some sense of control. If you master yourself, you can better triumph over your personal and professional challenges.  

©1998 Sandra Donovan