by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Duplicate yourself – Part 2
Duplicate yourself – Part 3
Duplicate yourself – Part 4
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 46 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Duplicate yourself – Part 1
— From Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want! By Jennifer White
Have you ever been so swamped with work that you wish you could clone yourself to get more done? Well, now you can.
How is this possible?!
In her excellent book Work Less, Make More, business guru and success coach Jennifer White states that you can (and should) duplicate yourself. But first, let’s get this straight: duplication is not delegation. “Delegating hinges on your finding the right person whose strengths are your weaknesses. A bookkeeper, for example, if you’re horrible with numbers. An assistant if you don’t have time for filing, copying and computer work.”
Duplication is not “finding the one person who is the exact replica of you.” Because, very likely, that person does not exist. You and your brilliance are unique, and White would not recommend putting your business or career into one person’s hands. That’s not effective, efficient or smart, and that is not duplication.
Duplication, the kind White is describing, is doubling, tripling, quadrupling a part (or several parts) of who you are—and thus your output in that area—without investing more of your time. This will enable you to free up time and space for you to dedicate to other things, whether professional or personal in nature, that you want to pursue.
“In order to duplicate, you must know yourself very well. You cannot just duplicate your abilities, but also parts of your personality. […] Successful duplication occurs when you find people who share similar qualities with you. Just as important, they share your brilliance.”
This last point is very important because these people will be taking over for you in certain areas, say, selling. If your clients are used to an upbeat, witty, funny you, then this person needs to share those same traits. You can hire someone who is quiet and knowledgeable, and who will share tons of charts and info with the clients to make a sale, but that is not duplication, that is just hiring another salesperson with a different approach and varied skills from yours. When duplicating yourself, your clients need to feel as is they’re dealing with you: the same chemistry needs to be there.
What are the parts of yourself that you need to duplicate? White offers the next set of questions to get started in figuring that out:
1. What do you do easily and naturally?
2. What do your customers pay you for?
3. What does your company pay you for?
4. What have other people said you’re really good at?
5. What activities energize you?
6. What consumes you? You know, the stuff that lights your fire.
7. What do you really want to do on your days off?
8. What qualities and skills do you see in other people that you know you have?
White points out that duplication can only be successful when you find people who are as good—or better—than you are. “Duplicating yourself requires that you leave your ego behind. It forces you to look at yourself and know yourself so well that you won’t feel threatened by someone who’s as good as you are.”
The question that naturally follows after this is: “if they are better than I am, why are they willing to duplicate me?”
To this, White responds with two points. First, “You bring some other incredible value to their lives that helps them become even better. You provide something they can’t get anywhere else.” And second, “You’re actually one step ahead of them because you understand that duplicating yourself comes down to finding people who are better than you are. So few people truly understand this and can see their own brilliance.”
So, how do you go about finding the right people to duplicate you? That is the topic for tomorrow. Stay tuned for Part 2!
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment to answer the 8 questions above to figure out the parts of yourself that you need to duplicate. Think about your many personality traits. Think also about the ways and the style in which you approach things. What do you need to successfully duplicate? Preferably write down 10 areas for duplication. (Don’t let the thought of 10 areas overwhelm you, and don’t think that you’ll have to hire 10 people, in a subsequent post you’ll learn that technology can also duplicate you, so if you are not in a position to hire, that’s no problem, you can still duplicate yourself.)
TOMORROW: Come back to read Part 2 and learn more about the things you need to keep in mind for a successful duplication.
Please share Part 1 of “Duplicate yourself” with someone who could use a little duplication, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 37 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Kodawari
— From Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day by Ken Mogi
I recently learned about the Japanese term kodawari (pronunciation) in Ken Mogi’s book Awakening Your Ikigai. Ikigai is loosely translated as your reason to live or the reason why you wake up every day, and kodawari is a concept that focuses on starting small and never losing sight of the details.
Kodawari per se is hard to translate into English, as it is a word that embodies attention to detail, commitment, insistence, excellence, and persistence.
Yet none of those ideas either alone or together make justice to the term. “Kodawari is a personal standard, to which the individual adheres in a steadfast manner. It is often, though not always, used in reference to a level of quality or professionalism to which the individual holds. It is an attitude, often maintained throughout one’s life, constituting a central element of [one’s reason to live or ikigai].”
“Kodawari is personal in nature, and it is a manifestation of a pride in what one does. [It] is an approach whereby you take extraordinary care of very small details […] without necessarily justifying the effort for any grandiose schemes.”
Kodawari is being the best you can be and doing the best you can do. It’s demanding a standard of excellence of yourself and others, and being committed to it passionately.
We can see examples of it all over Japan, such as in the “almost flawless operations of Shinkansen (‘bullet’) trains to the meticulously efficient and quick delivery of beef dishes in the fast-food chains.” The book tells of many more kodawari instances that range from the beautifully produced Japanese fruit, to the perfecting of ramen noodles, to the meticulous crafting of beautiful pottery for the tea ceremony. Each one has a story of incredible attention to detail behind its making.
While there are indeed hiccups, kodawari is a mindset that will fix the hiccup, learn from it and come up with a new and improved service or product. The author says that “Steve Jobs had this kind of kodawari too, although he didn’t express his ethos in so many words, when he tried to perfect the features of the iPhone, for example. In fact, one may say that kodawari was Steve Jobs’ defining characteristic.”
Kodawari goes hand in hand with curiosity and passion for what you want to do or develop. How do you apply kodawari in your life?
ACTION
TODAY: What is something that you love or are passionate about? Are you truly focusing on giving it your best or could you apply more kodawari to it? Only you know the answer, but making kodawari a part of your mindset will help you get there.
FUTURE: Make kodawari a part of your life, just as the Japanese have made a habit out of it. Your projects will be better, your work and your life will be better, your relationships will be better… everything that you apply kodawari to will end up transformed into the best it can be and will be a source of satisfaction for you!
Please share the concept of kodawari with someone today, you can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 32 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: How to build self-discipline
— From Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell
I’ve been on a roll lately reading the books from the 101 Series by leadership guru John C. Maxwell, it’s a great bunch of short books, and each one can be read in one sitting. Highly recommended! Once I’m done with all, I’ll be putting together a series for you. Stay tuned!
I was particularly struck when I read in the Leadership 101 book that each of us influences at least ten thousand other people during our lifetime. (!) “So the question is not whether you will influence someone, but how you will use your influence.”
When John C. Maxwell teaches leadership at conferences and is asked whether leaders are born, he answers, “Yes, of course they are… I’ve yet to meet one who came into the world any other way!” (LOL) After laughing, he explains that leadership is a set of skills that anyone can learn and improve.
But before we can lead anyone, we need to lead ourselves. “The first person you lead is you,” says Maxwell. And that we do by cultivating self-discipline.
“No matter how gifted a leader is, his gifts will never reach their maximum potential without the application of self-discipline.” – John C. Maxwell
Maxwell shares three action points to build self-discipline and have it work as an asset in our favor:
1. Challenge your excuses. “Challenge and eliminate any tendency to make excuses. As French writer François [de] La Rochefoucauld said, ‘Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we think up to hide them.’ If you have several reasons why you can’t be self-disciplined, realize that they are really just a bunch of excuses—all of which need to be challenged if you want to go to the next level as a leader.”
2. Remove rewards until the job is done. “If you lack self-discipline, you may be in the habit of having dessert before eating your vegetables.” Set up a system that will help you get the job done. Maxwell tells the story of a family arriving at a campground. A couple and three kids got off the car. “One child hurriedly unloaded ice chests, backpacks, and other items while the other two quickly put up tents. The site was ready in 15 minutes.” An older couple that was watching all this from the neighboring campsite said to the father, “You folks sure do work great together.” To which the father replied, “ You just need a system. Nobody goes to the bathroom until camp’s set up.”
3. Stay focused on results. “Anytime you concentrate on the difficulty of the work instead of its results or rewards, you’re likely to become discouraged. Dwell on it too long, and you’ll develop self-pity instead of self-discipline. The next time you’re facing a must-do task and you’re thinking of doing what’s most convenient instead of paying the price [of doing it], change your focus. Count the benefits of doing what’s right and then dive in.”
Lastly, I’ll leave you a quote by author H. Jackson Brown: “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” To which Maxwell remarks, “If you know you have talent, and you’ve seen a lot of motion—but little concrete results—you may lack self discipline.”
Apply these three action points and you’ll be on your way to leading yourself first and then leading and influencing the many thousands your life will touch.
ACTION
TODAY: What’s on your schedule? Do you have any regularly scheduled activities that require self-discipline? Say, exercising, eating healthy, making time for yourself, for your family, for fun, saving money for retirement… all of those things are easy to forego when we have too much on our plate, but they are important and require self-discipline. Check your calendar and focus on the benefits of these activities and habits.
FUTURE: As you plan your calendar daily, weekly, monthly, etc., include self-discipline activities to help you reach your goals. Don’t give up on them! Make them a habit. Be consistent. Remember to lead yourself first and don’t let yourself off the hook.
Know someone who needs to build self-discipline? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Posteriorities
— From The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success by Brian Tracy.
Much has been said about priorities, but what about posteriorities? In his wonderful book The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success, author and business guru Brian Tracy says, “Before you start something new, you must discontinue something old.” That is the Law of Posteriorities.
Our lives are full to the brim with many things to do and little time to do them. It’s time we examine all we do and determine whether we need to continue doing so.
“As your life changes, your priorities change as well. Certain things that were important at one stage of your life or career are no longer as important as you move to another stage of your life or to another level of responsibility. You must continually ask yourself, What activities in my life can I cut back on, delegate, or discontinue to free up more time for my most important activities?”
I’m sure you’re familiar with an organizing method that recommends giving away something when you get a new equivalent to avoid clutter. Say, you buy a new pair of shoes, then you give away an old pair of shoes. The law of posteriorities works in the same way, but with our activities instead of our closets.
“To start anything new, you must stop doing something old. We say that ‘getting in means getting out.’ Analyze your time carefully and have the courage to stop doing things that are no longer as important to you as other things could be.”
Keep in mind what we learned in this post: while “giving up” an activity sounds like a heavy sacrifice that we must reluctantly make, the truth is that it is not when we reframe it and simply see it as a choice.
Happy posteriorities!
ACTION
Note: On this post, both actions come directly from the book (instead of coming from me). After each rule is explained in the book, there’s a section called, “How you can apply this law immediately.” I liked the section for this Law so much that I’m including those actions below verbatim!
TODAY: “Analyze your work and make a list of the items that consume most of your time. Which of these activities could you discontinue or delegate to free up more time for higher value work?”
FUTURE: “Compare your daily activities against your annual income. Would you pay someone else our equivalent salary to do the things you are doing? If you wouldn’t, stop doing those things immediately and pass them on to someone who can do them almost as well as you can.”
Know someone who could use the Law of Posteriorities to free up the activity clutter in his/her life? Please share this post! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 52 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Ethics: The Golden Rule
— From Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know (101 Series) by John C. Maxwell
When leadership and business guru John C. Maxwell was approached to write a book on business ethics, he said, “There’s no such thing as business ethics—there’s only ethics. People try to use one set of ethics for their professional life, another for their spiritual life, and still another one at home with their family. That gets them into trouble. Ethics is ethics. If you desire to be ethical, you live it by one standard across the board.”
And what may that one standard be?
For Maxwell, it’s simple: the Golden Rule. This is the principle of treating others as you would want to be treated. (Wikipedia). “Asking the question ‘How would I like to be treated in this situation?’ is an integrity guideline for any situation.”
Given that there is an equivalent of the Golden Rule in every culture, language and religion, this is “the closest thing to a universal guideline for ethics a person can find.” And these are the four criteria as to why Maxwell believes so:
1. The Golden Rule is accepted by most people. If having an equivalent everywhere is not enough, “a case can also be made for the Golden Rule based on common sense. […] It is not unreasonable for any person to desire good treatment for others. Nor is it asking too much to expect others to treat people well. […] The Golden Rule can be used to create common ground with any reasonable person.”
2. The Golden Rule is easy to understand. “One of the wonderful things about the Golden Rule is that it makes the intangible tangible. You don’t need to know the law. You don’t need to explore nuances of philosophy. You simply imagine yourself in the place of another person. Even a small child can get a handle on that. There are no complicated rules and no loopholes.”
3. The Golden Rule is a win-win philosophy. “Have you met people who believe that in order for them to be winners, other people must be made to lose? […] When you live by the Golden Rule, everybody wins. If I treat you as well as I desire to be treated, you win. If you treat me likewise, I win. Where is the loser in that?”
4. The Golden Rule is a compass when you need direction. “Television commentator Ted Koppel says, ‘There’s harmony and inner peace to be found in in following a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend.’ In a world with much uncertainty, I think many people are seeking direction. The Golden Rule can provide that. It never changes, even as circumstances do. It gives solid, predictable direction every time it’s used. And best of all, it actually works.”
ACTION
TODAY: Keep the Golden Rule in mind as you go about your day: How can you apply it better in every situation? Note that the Golden Rule is not a soft approach to business—you should expect and apply excellence and high quality, and not tolerate undesirable or rude behavior.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of applying the Golden Rule in all you do. All aspects of your life, and the people who surround you, will be better for it and will respond in the same way.
If you like this post, please share it with someone who will like it too! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Planning, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 23 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Minimal effort means avoiding work
— From 10-Minute Reflections: One Month Of Daily Exercises That Will Spark Growth In Your Business by Graham Binks
This book is a very quick read of daily exercises to make us think about business in a different way. The author, Graham Binks, is an expert in helping businesses get the best out of their technology investments. He has worked with numerous business leaders, who often ask, “How do we know we’re doing enough?” To what his answer is, “Start by making sure you’re not doing too much.”
Whaaaaaat?!
Yes. To optimize processes, you and your team need to be doing the minimal effort necessary. But please note that this doesn’t mean a mediocre effort at all—on the contrary—it means the best effort without wasting any of it. Thus, avoiding work that turns out to be unnecessary and wasteful, and that could be geared to other productive efforts instead.
Binks shares that when you are planning a successful outcome and think through the steps required in the process, you’ll naturally go from start to finish. And when you’re repeating work that someone in your team has done in the past, they can vouch for the steps taken previously.
“But if you haven’t perfected this kind of work (or your team hasn’t experienced it at all), there’ll be guesswork in the plan. And with guesswork comes extraneous effort.” In his experience, Binks has seen many plans that specified work that turned out to be detached from the critical outcomes of the project.
Thus, he offers a simple review exercise for you and your team “to make sure your projects aren’t wasteful.” This works best with projects when the planning phase is nearly finished—before the actual work starts—or you can apply it as a debriefing exercise on finished projects to see what will work best in the future.
Exercise: Being Minimalist
1. List the 10 project activities that took the most effort to complete in the following way:
#1 _________________ Rank___ Skip?___
#2 _________________ Rank___ Skip?___
Etc.
2. Above, rank these activities by their importance to the project outcome—highest contribution to lowest.
3. Starting with the lowest ranked activity, ask whether the project would have been a success if this activity had been skipped.
If the answer is “Yes!”, congratulations. You’ve found an activity that is not required on the plan. Take it out and save everyone time and energy. Then repeat the exercise with the next activity up the list.
Sometimes, what seems to be a simple exercise can reveal profound inefficiencies. Hope this helps optimize your projects and simplify your effort for a better outcome!
ACTION
TODAY: Think of a project you’re about to start or one that you repeat often. Go through this exercise to find the optimal path to completion.
FUTURE: As you’re planning for projects, or as you finish them, go through this exercise to make sure you’re not doing too much (avoiding wasteful efforts) and your project is running as optimally and as smoothly as possible!
Know someone who needs to optimize their projects? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
