Walt Disney

If you want to be the best – invest.

We often use the words spend and invest interchangeably. But the action created by these two words leads to very different outcomes.

According to Dictionary.com the difference between spending and investing is this: When you spend you “Use up, consume, or exhaust,” but when you invest you, “Put to use in something offering potential profitable returns.”

There three areas where leaders need to invest to be the best: Time, Talent, and Treasures.

Time – don’t spend your time, invest it. Warren Buffet has a great quote on financial investing that I think applies to how we should view our time as well, “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.” If you want to be the best, you should only spend your time after you have invested your time in generating a return.

Every activity has the potential to generate a return. Investing your time means setting a goal for the outcome. Some of this can be subtle as you may well say you’re spending time reading. I prefer to think of my reading time as an investment in my education. With that thought in mind I am particular in what I read and I take notes so that I have something more to take with me then when I started. We may also say we spend time exercising. Again, I invest my time in exercise with a certain goal of improvement expected and being measured. Once those investments are taken are of I may indeed spend time reading a book only for pleasure, or take a bike ride only for the sights.

Talents – don’t use your talents, invest in them. We all have innate talents that if developed and applied properly could place us ahead of many in that specific area. Without the proper work investing in their development, many talents are just being used as opposed to making a difference.

Author of the Harry Potter series of books, J.K. Rowling said she “Would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.” Note the focus on being the best she could. J.K. Rowling invested her time from a young age writing fantasy stories and reading them to her sister. As an adult, the idea for Harry Potter came to her on a delayed train ride. She immediately began writing and continued through her mother’s death, the end of her first marriage, and being on welfare to support her and her daughter. After twelve rejections from publishers, the book was picked up and the rest is history.   Rowling never wavered in her work on developing her talent and most would agree did her best in this area.

Treasure – don’t hoard your treasures, invest in them. When we hear the word treasure we usually think of money, jewels, gold or other valuable possessions. While those are indeed treasured for many, I like the other ideas of treasures listed below that should be invested in if we want to be the best.

“Treasure your relationships.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Knowledge is the treasure of a wise man.” – William Penn

“Treasure the love you receive above all.” – Og Mandino

“Contentment is the greatest treasure.”– Lao Tzu

“There is more treasure in books than all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”– Walt Disney

 

 

Not for show but for showing

not-for-show-but-for-showingWhat example are you showing by how you lead? Leadership is not to show others how good you are, it’s for showing others how good they can be.

Do you tell your team what to do, or sell them on where to go and let them figure out how to get there? Do you step out yourself or expect others to move first? Leading can be tricky business. How do you balance letting people make mistakes and grow, while you demonstrate the way to success? Both can be accomplished if your focus is on showing others how to succeed.

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions.”– Harold S. Geneen,

Here are three practical areas for showing others how good they can be:

No better way for showing the way than going the way.   Giving speeches, reading books, studying your industry. These are all very important steps in showing the way. Your team can learn what to do and what not to do from your tutelage. But there’s a difference between reading the owner’s manual of a car and getting behind the wheel and driving. Your actions demonstrate the proof that your words will lead to success. Get out there and do what you say others should do.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”– Walt Disney

Stop doing something and start doing the right thing. Mistakes happen. Wrong choices are made. These are part of a successful career – if you rebound. Once again, your example here is priceless. Be willing to open up and share your missteps and how you overcome them in real time, not just the history but as they happen.

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road.” – C. S. Lewis

Don’t just look forward, look back to see if anyone is following. Ok, so you are out front demonstrating everything you are saying. You’re like the drum major in a marching band, leading the way forward. Have you ever noticed though, that everyone once and a while the drum major turns around the see that everyone is in step and marching in the right direction? In the same way, you need to check in with your team to make sure they understand your examples and are having success of their own.

“Thinking good thoughts is not enough, doing good deeds is not enough, seeing others follow your examples is enough.”– Douglas Horton

 

Lead Through Stories

Story tellingThere are two ways to share knowledge; you can push information out to people, or you can pull people in with stories. Whether you are speaking to hundreds or coaching one person, if you want your message to resonate, if you want the listeners to take action, tell it with stories.

In his book, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Jonathan Gottschall takes a scientific look at storytelling and says, “Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” This is how we learn.

Why are stories so important in leadership? Stories paint pictures. Stories connect facts. Stories bring success.

Stories paint pictures

The beginning of every successful project, team, or company is a picture of what it looks like when it is done, built, or running. Leaders paint the picture of success so their team has hope for the future. The best way to do this is through stories that describe what the future will look like when you get there.

Great stories come from great storytellers. One of the best was Walt Disney who said,

“That’s what we storytellers do…We install hope again and again and again.”

Stories connect facts

Some say we are on data overload in business today. We have enough facts to make every decision that is possible – several times over. The challenge is in connecting all those facts in a way that leads to the right answer for the right question. Stories can do that. Leaders need to weave the facts together so their team can see how it all connects.

“Storytelling is about connecting to other people and helping them see what you see.” – Michael Margolis, CEO and founder of Get Storied

Stories bring success

No matter what business you are in, your product has to sell for you to be successful. Sales happen when the customer can see themselves benefiting from what you offer. This only happens when the story you tell helps the customer see the benefit of using your product. In sales it is said that, “You sell the benefit, not the feature.”

“You can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything.” – Beth Comstock, leads GE Business Innovations

Want to make an impact? Shift your focus.

focus to impactThe human eye has an amazing ability to shift its focus from far in the distance to right in front of us in an instant. Touch screens use “Pinch to Zoom” to shift the focus of a picture, document, or webpage in and out using two fingers.

Whether we focus on the eye or touch screens, the ability to shift your focus is paramount to having an impact on anything.

Repeat these three steps continuously to have successful impact:

 

Start with a distant focus

In leadership we often talk about setting a vision. Vision is where you paint the picture of success that allows you to build the plan to achieve it.

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”­ – Vincent Van Gogh

Zoom in to a near focus

If you want to impact the world, start with impacting your company. If you want to impact your company, start with impacting your team. If you want to impact your team, start with impacting one individual.

“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.” – Walt Disney

 Expand back to the distant focus

Once we get involved in the day to day plans it’s easy to forget why we are doing what we do. The road to success is often long and winding. Unless you expand your focus once in a while you won’t know if you are still on track.

“Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal.” – Mario Andretti

 

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