TAKE ACTION

First Reaction/ First Glance
Imagine yourself just waking up from a 30-minute to 1-hour nap and you’re refreshed and ready to tackle whatever is in front of you.

Now imagine that instead of waking from a short nap, you oversleep and it's one year later. In this case you hardly remember what has happened in the past and you’re so refreshed you throw off your covers and you’re ready to use all your knowledge and skills from the past, but then you walk outside and everything appears different.

What causes you to think that? Is it just a dream? Are you ready to explore? Or are you fearful?

Of course all of these questions are valid as well as the evidence that you find to support your beliefs.

The Learning Process
I would like to take you back into history and share a short story I just recently read.

It was during the battle at Gettysburg in the Civil War when a young soldier by the name of Colonel Joshua Chamberlien was leading a group of men that started with over one thousand soldiers in a battle to take over and defend this famous landmark.

With his army depleted and down to 300 tired, battered men and with only one or two rounds of ammunition left, he gathered his troops and decided to take action. Full of confidence and with two of his brothers by his side he yelled out, "Charge!" and with that all of his men jumped the wall, which seemingly was their only chance of survival, and charged General Lee and his Confederate Army.

Even though they were greatly out numbered and with little ammunition their sheer action caused General Lee and his Army to retreat giving Colonel Chamberlien and his Union Army a key victory in the war.

Moving Forward Today

Why is this relevant to you and the people you lead? Just like Colonel Chamberlien, we are faced with an outcome none of us can predict. We can choose fear, we can talk about that dreaded "E" word, or we can take action by looking and finding new ideas that will allow us to continue to "deliver excellence" in a fearless environment.

Managing your team today is probably different that any other time period you have experienced in your life time. More than likely you have had to make many tough decisions, decisions that perhaps caused frustration and anxiety in your work place. However in times like these we must prepare for the future so your teams are prepared for the even better times that lie ahead.

So when you awake tomorrow take some time to think differently than you have in the past, step out of the normal and take action.

Your Team will become stronger and more united than ever, I'm sure of it.

Have you dusted off your Crystall ball lately?

First Reaction/ First Glance

Predicting the future has been tried by many, only to find out that change disrupts where the great minds envision where we are going and what we want to accomplish.

Many certainly have claimed stake in their future predictions and justifiably so, let’s explore further.

The Learning Process

You have heard many times in the past that you must plan with the end in mind and I couldn’t agree more. However planning and envisioning are two different leadership characteristics.

Suppose you close your eyes for a minute or so and ask this questions to your self about a current project or task you are working on. What will this look like to me and or to others when this is complete? Why are we doing this and how will this help us in the future?

Improving for the future

This is where you paint a picture of exactly how it will look, imagine the outcomes of your efforts, and assemble each of the tasks to create a sculpture of your vision.

I promise if you exercise your mind in different ways these visions will become reality, in fact I’m even more confident that they will exceed your expectations.

So get your dust rag out shine that crystal ball and look inside, there is some incredible things you will discover.

THE FOUR CORNER OFFENSE

First Reaction/First Glance
In the 1970's and early 1980's the North Carolina Tar Heels developed and perfected the Four Corner Offense in college basketball. This technique was developed to stall the game against their opponent after a sizable lead was established in order to preserve the win.

At work do you find yourself in the stall mode when a daunting task is at hand? Let's go to the white board.


The Learning Process
There have been many times in my career that I have stalled my own progress by letting lingering tasks go uncompleted. I allow excuses like, not enough time, too time consuming, this is out of my comfort zone, or it just doesn’t motivate me.

I have found over the years that when I breakdown any assignment/task into smaller segments then the completion seems more achievable and less overwhelming.


Improvement for the Future
As challenging tasks are assigned to you here are some suggestions in helping you complete them:

Seek guidance and help from a fellow employee who has more knowledge and can provide valuable insight.

Write down the task and the segments and keep it in your view or add to your task list in Microsoft Outlook with reminders.

Give yourself goal dates to complete each segment and discipline yourself to meet them.

Present your information to a friend, co-worker, or family member for positive feedback.

GOOD LUCK AND REMEMBER TO TURN ON YOUR SHOT CLOCK SO YOU CAN WIN MORE GAMES!!!