TL;DR 8 How to Be a Leader (131 words)

Before you can lead others, you need to lead yourself: your time, your mood, your standards.

Model, do not tell. If you want people to be on time, be on time. If you want honesty about mistakes, admit yours first, and do it publicly. Your team watches what you do far more closely than they listen to what you say.

You have to be before you can do, and you have to do before you can have.

Leadership is situational. A new starter needs direction: here is the task, here is how. An experienced but wobbly colleague needs coaching. A capable, confident person needs support and then needs you to get out of the way. Use one style for everyone and you will either smother the expert or abandon the beginner.

Leadership is not a job title: it’s a state of being.

First action: For each person you lead, write down whether they need direction, coaching or support from you this week.

TL;DR 7 How to Set Your Personal Compass for the Life You Seek (128 words)

Once a month (payday is a good choice), sit down with pencil and paper and review the six points of your compass.

  1. Career. Am I offering value? Am I growing? How am I preparing for an uncertain future?
  2. Wellness. Am I using and respecting my body and my mind?
  3. Relationships. Whom have I neglected? Who needs a call this week?
  4. Finance. Did I spend according to plan? Is my net worth moving the right way?
  5. Fun. When did I last do something purely because I love it?
  6. Contribution. How am I giving back?

Pick a few points that are off course and set actions for the coming month.

On my Personal Excellence course, this was always the topic that caused the greatest shifts.

First action: Review your personal compass this week.

TL;DR 6. How to Create Fresh Ideas and Approaches

Being creative means finding a solution that isn’t obvious. The obvious arrives first, because the brain prefers familiar ways. Your job is to push past that.

Start with mindset; in my workshops, my greatest battle is getting those in the room to accept that they are creative.

Do not judge ideas as they arrive: collect first, choose later.

Hijack the linear brain: for example, write very fast, faster than you can censor, and aim for thirty ideas in ten minutes. Bounce a ball against a wall and shout ideas to a colleague at a flip chart. Change the room. Walk without your phone.

The good ones often arrive just when you think you’re out of ideas. Keep going.

I am creative; say it loud, say it often.

First action: Pick one problem you face this week and write thirty ideas for it. Go!