What Are Your Points of Leverage?

What Are Your Points of Leverage?
By Bob Moore, CMC, MCC, The Effectiveness Coach®

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he Greek mathematician, Archimedes, is often quoted as saying, “Give me a lever, a place to stand and I will move the world.” I frequently use this metaphor in my presentations to illustrate the importance of investing our energy where we can get the most return. The principle of leverage applies in many arenas and here, we are going to apply it to personal and organizational effectiveness. The late Peter Drucker, in his classic book, The Effective Executive (1966) pointed out to be effective is to contribute to results and that effectiveness is a set of habits or practices.

The five primary habits that effective executives and everyone attempting to contribute to results must master are:

1. Time: Used wisely.

2. Target: Clarity and focus on contribution and expected results.

3. Talent: Apply their strengths to the primary task.

4. Priorities: Concentration on first things first.
5. Decisions: Choices which can be converted into action.

Which of these provide the most leverage for you to accomplish more with less effort? Since time use is our most limited resource, most agree that is the place to begin. Rate yourself in wisely using your time on a scale of 1-5 (5 very effective) in the following categories:

___Attitude: What are your beliefs about time use?

___Planning: What are your habits about deciding in advance what you intend to accomplish?

___Prioritizing: Are first things always first?

___Scheduling: Do you consistently get the time for your priority activities on your calendar?

___Managing Interruptions: What habits help you to keep focused?

___Delegation: If you have a staff, are you optimizing them in the pursuit of your priorities?

Which are your strongest? Which are your weakest—representing opportunities for improvement? Want to dig a little deeper? Request a free Time Management Diagnostic questionnaire to help identify specific behaviors or habits that could improve your effectiveness. Send an Email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with TM Diagnostic in the Subject line.

Awareness of the need to get better is the first step to improvement. Next, discover the most relevant issue for you to act on. Then, take action to apply your discovery. This may require some assistance from a “buddy” or a professional coach. Finally, your action plan needs to related to your primary areas of responsibility or job accountabilities; will your action steps make it easier or less difficult to achieve them?

Enthusiastically,

Bob

Bob Moore, CMC®, President
Effectiveness, Inc/The Effectiveness Coach®
Aligning Human Capital with Strategic Objectives

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