Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajving. This
Speaker 1: is the Seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavaledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Seven Minute Leadership Podcasts,
Speaker 2: Episode five O four. There's something I tell my team
Speaker 2: all the time, and today I want to share it
Speaker 2: with you because it applies in every business, every industry,
Speaker 2: and every level of leadership. I tell them this. As
Speaker 2: an executive leader, I'm already thinking about next year, and
Speaker 2: as a mid level manager you should be thinking about
Speaker 2: next quarter, and entry level management should be focused on
Speaker 2: the current core. Now here's the problem. All the small
Speaker 2: fires that we deal with every single day keep all
Speaker 2: three levels of leadership stuck in today. So let's break
Speaker 2: this down. Executive leaders are supposed to be visionaries. If
Speaker 2: you're an executive, your responsibility is not to fight over
Speaker 2: today's parking lot drama, who called off this morning or
Speaker 2: why a supply order didn't come in. Your job is
Speaker 2: to think about where the organization is headed, What does
Speaker 2: the next twelve months look like, What partnerships, innovations and
Speaker 2: strategic moves need to happen. If you're not already looking ahead,
Speaker 2: your organization is going to get blindsided by change. Mid
Speaker 2: level managers, your world is tactical. You should be planning
Speaker 2: and adjusting for the next quarter. What projects are wrapping up,
Speaker 2: what goals need to be hit. Where are the gaps
Speaker 2: in your team's performance. You're the bridge between the vision
Speaker 2: of the executives and the day to day of the
Speaker 2: entry level managers. If you're stuck in today's chaos, you're
Speaker 2: not building the runway for your team's next ninety days
Speaker 2: and entry level management, your focus is the here and now,
Speaker 2: this quarter, the schedule, the immediate goals, the team's performance
Speaker 2: this week and this month. You are the boots on
Speaker 2: the ground. But here's the trap. Too many times you
Speaker 2: get pulled into the daily fires that should be handled
Speaker 2: by your team, not you. You end up reacting to
Speaker 2: today instead of managing the quarter. This is why leadership
Speaker 2: feels over one. We are all working in the wrong
Speaker 2: time zone. So how do we fix it? I'm going
Speaker 2: to give you three actionable steps. Number one, know your lane.
Speaker 2: If you're an executive, block time every week to only
Speaker 2: think about the future. If you're a mid level manager,
Speaker 2: set aside time each month to review the upcoming quarter.
Speaker 2: Entry level managers, make sure that you're mapping out this
Speaker 2: quarter with clear, simple priorities. And Number two, stop letting
Speaker 2: fires dictate your leadership. Fires will always exist, but if
Speaker 2: you handle every single one, you're robbing your team of growth.
Speaker 2: Train them to handle what they can, empower them, hold
Speaker 2: them accountable. The best leaders don't rush to every alarm bell.
Speaker 2: They teach their teams to use the extinguisher. And number three,
Speaker 2: communicate your time horizon. When your team knows that you're
Speaker 2: focused on next year, they'll bring you strategic ideas, not
Speaker 2: daily complaints. And when your managers know you're focused on
Speaker 2: the quarter, they'll learn to solve daily problems on their own.
Speaker 2: Clarity drives alignment. So here's the truth. If all three
Speaker 2: levels of leadership are stuck in today, dealing with the
Speaker 2: same fires over and over again, the organization will never
Speaker 2: move forward. Someone has to be looking ahead, someone has
Speaker 2: to be steering the ship. So ask yourself this, what
Speaker 2: time zone are you working in and is it the
Speaker 2: right one for your role. In one of the new
Speaker 2: free PDFs I created and uploaded to my web site,
Speaker 2: pertains exactly to this episode. It's called the time horizons
Speaker 2: template and will help explain this concept to your team
Speaker 2: with more clarity. I hope you'll check it out at
Speaker 2: Paulflovalito dot com. This has been the seven minute Leadership podcast,
Speaker 2: and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fello Alito podcasts, visit Paulfellowalito dot com