Mooseocracy

TIME AND TASK MANAGEMENT Master your energy to deliver effective results Spoiler: Leaders will never have enough time or resources to accomplish everything perfectly… but you can manage your time and resources wisely and still deliver amazing results. ENERGY ●       Early Bird vs Night Owl - Which half of the day do you feel you can be most productive? ●       Communicate your preferences to your teammates - Carve out one hour every day to stay focused on your assigned tasks. ●       Sprints and Marathons...know how to run both of them - If everything is a priority task, none of them are. And if you wait until the last minute, it will only take you a minute. RHYTHM ●       Build one that makes sense for the team, not you - Define purpose, audience, and in/outputs of every team event. ●       “We have an event for that” - Avoid creating ...

Everyone Has A Superpower In recent weeks, there has been a lot of discussion about diversity, equality, and bias. As I reflect upon these events, the stronger my conviction becomes in the power of diversity. Not just in race or gender, but in a larger sense... every person is special in some way. In other words, I believe everyone has superpower. This means that the strength of a leader can be measured  by   their ability to find or develop the superpower of everyone in their team. What is a superpower? I firmly believe that everyone is good at something. That something is our superpower. For some people, it is readily apparent what their superpower is, but for others we may have to give them opportunities to show it or develop it. It is then our job as leaders to empower them to discover or develop these powers. “Every [person] I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from [them].”  - Ralph Waldo Emerson I love this qu...

Follow The Friction Instead of using a results‐driven methodology, this article will introduce a process‐driven technique to identify points of friction. This technique is based on the premise that there is no perfect process or team, so there will be points of friction. For example, when entering into a new position, there is usually an observation period where all of the processes and policies from the previous leadership stay in effect. During this period, there will be a steep learning curve, but beyond learning how the office runs take note of any friction points: Personnel friction points can manifest in many different ways, but there may be: Low morale Underperformers  Relationship conflicts  Fiefdoms  Lack of ownership  Lack of communication  Poor working conditions Process friction points may include: Assumptions Risks  Difficulty  Complexity  Overload  Underload  Redundancy  Single‐points...

Grow Where You Are Planted “Grow where you are planted” is the best advice anyone can receive. Most people understand this concept right way, but when our careers go in a direction that is not anticipated or planned it can create self‐doubt behind whether or not we are “growing.” Understandably, we feel anxiety when we are thrown in into positions that we did not request or anticipate, but the good news is that there is no set path or template to success. We define our own success and ultimately everything hinges on our performance. To put things into perspective, Gen. Holmes mentioned in Leadership as a Domain Podcast #9 , he thought the military was trying to signal to him that his career was over when he was selected as a Training Squadron Commander because typically high performing fighter pilots are assigned a flying squadron for command. But, this was not the case and he continued to grow where he was planted, which translated...

You May Already Have A Mentor “To leave the world a bit better… To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ‐ Ralph Waldo Emerson I loved Capt Lewis and Lt Hines in LaaD Podcast #11 because they have already achieved success!  This article will build on one of the common themes in the podcast – people lack mentors.  If you need a mentor, I will offer some places to start because you may have already met your mentor: Any person who has taken time to offer you constructive criticism Co‐worker – supervisor, peer, friend, unit influencer (regardless of rank) Someone you look up to or want to emulate (eg. Capt Lewis or Lt Hines) “Time is the most precious commodity” ‐ Capt Russell Lewis Time is the best indicator. If someone has spent time to help us be a better person they are already half a mentor. For example, when I was a lieutenant, I publicly corrected an instructor during his b...

Eliminate Financial Stress This article builds upon the previous article, “Not Satisfied – The Good, Bad & Ugly,” and provides an introduction to eliminating financial stress by: 1) creating a budget; 2) using credit responsibly; and 3) saving for retirement. This is important because finances are one of the major stresses in life. CREATE A BUDGET The first step is to create a budget and use the following principles: 1) Don’t spend more than income 2) Pay bills on‐time 3) Have an emergency fund 4) Save for retirement 5) Use credit responsibly USE CREDIT RESPONSIBLY Technically, it makes the most financial sense to pay cash for everything because it costs money to maintain good credit and pay interest on loans. For example, a $100,000 30‐year home loan with 3.92% interest rate, will have a total cost of $170,213. If you paid cash for the same home then you would save $70,213. However, making large purchases in cash may not be ...

Corona Burnout We are all trying to figure out what our ‘new normal’ is going to look like. Initially, we thought that this was just temporary, but a lot of businesses have transitioned to operating remotely, so working from home may become the new norm. The unintended consequence is our homes are no longer a sanctuary and have also become our office, daycare, school, and gym. This intensifies the stress we feel because of the loss of our usual coping mechanisms and causes mental burnout. “Mental health is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you are going.” – Noam Shpancer, PhD  Mental burnout is real. I know someone who works night shifts, but has to take care of his kids during the day because his spouse is busy working remotely from home. Therefore, he sleeps very little which causes fatigue both at work and home. No amount of advice will completely remove his stress, but there are some techniques that can help relieve s...