How are some professionals able to get better results and to make more money, but put in the same or fewer hours than others? The answer is the “slight edge.” When you put into practice the principles of the slight edge, you will enjoy positive results almost immediately.
Doubling your knowledge, hours on the job, or personal skills is not necessary to double your effectiveness and your value to the organization. The sports world provides a clear example of the slight edge. A baseball player with a .350 batting average often commands a salary many times that of a player who bats only .250. Yet the difference between the two is only one hit in every 10 times at bat. Even a small improvement in performance may increase your effectiveness, value, and return many times over.
Seriously consider changes you can make in these areas where the slight edge increases your value as a leader:
- Relationships are vital to your success. Communication takes on many faces and is an integral component of healthy and productive relationships. Maintaining a climate of open communication and a spirit of cooperation enables you to maximize the interests and strengths of each team member. Relationships should be open and use skillful communication to help you to anticipate pitfalls or problems and to take corrective action before they become serious. Not only do good relationship skills help you prevent problems, they can help you transform potential troublemakers into team players who are personally productive and exert a positive influence on other members of the group. The ability to communicate effectively and build solid relationships can determine your overall success.
- Planning and Scheduling is critical. That work is done on time is one of your most important functions. Sometimes a 24-hour delay is serious enough to cause the loss of a valuable client for the organization. In such a case being just a little bit late is as disastrous as being two weeks late. A relatively small improvement in planning and scheduling could enable you to meet every deadline, prevent overtime, unjam bottlenecks, and reduce the frustration from working from a crisis position.
- Time Management. Controlling your time frees the critical hours required for planning and scheduling. Effective time management allows you to target your number one priority, enhances performance, increases productivity, and adds momentum to your pursuit of long-term goals. Here are some of the benefits of time management:
- Completing the same work in fewer hours per week
- Finishing more work in the same number of hours each week
- Recognition, rewards, and additional compensation for improved results
- Helping other people increase their productivity
- Reduced frustration, hurry, and stress
- More time for planning
- More time to spend with family
- Time to enjoy hobbies and recreation
- Decreased tension, improved health, and an added sense of purpose in life
- More control over your personal and professional life
- Decision Making and Problem Solving. Improve decision-making and problem-solving skills and you gain a slight edge that pays enormous dividends. A decision correctly made at the right time or a problem solved when it first surfaces is far more valuable than trying to put the pieces back together after a crisis. Preventing a fire requires far less time and effort than fighting a blaze raging out of control. Using effective processes to solve problems is also needed. There are many templates available that can help solve problems while keeping emotions at bay.
- Team Building. The members of your work group, department, or division bring a variety of talents, training, interests, and commitment to the goals of your organization. Learn to meld your team into a smoothly functioning unit and to focus the resulting synergistic force on the accomplishment of organizational goals. As your team members gain an identity as a smoothly operating team, rather than just a group of different individuals, the work accomplished will be greater, and so will the satisfaction of a job well done. Invest in professional development classes that have the focus on Team Dynamics. My favorite book is Patrick Lencioni’s “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”
- The Big Picture. When you improve your ability to think of the potential of the organization as a whole, you enhance relationships with people at every level of the organization. You make more effective decisions and increase the value of your contribution to the overall objectives of the organization. An important part of your contribution is your ability to train others and get them to accept responsibility so they become increasingly effective team members. Thinking more in terms of the whole organization is essential whether you want to move higher in the organizational structure or to continue sharpening your skills and increasing your effectiveness in your present position.
- Gaining Buy-In. Demonstrate in your words and actions an “attitude of ownership” toward your work. With an attitude of ownership, you act as if you are an owner of the business rather than just an employee. You become even more concerned with matters like client satisfaction and the profitability of the organization. When you encourage an attitude of ownership among employees, they gain a sense of belonging and importance, and the quality of their work reflects this. An attitude of ownership causes you and your staff to take pride in every aspect of your work.
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