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www.HartfordBusiness.com January 18, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 21 BIZ BOOKS Conscious, daily reflection key to improving leadership "T ake Your Soul to Work: 365 Meditations on Every Day Lead- ership" by Erica Brown (Simon and Schuster, $24.95). With the start of 2016, Brown's 365 medi- tations are timely reminders about making good decisions rooted in character, honesty, trust, respect and courage. The daily dose of inspiration reinforces the habits of effective leaders. Here are some that you should keep in mind every day: Day 22: "Are you work- ing hard at the right things in your leadership?" While every leader has goals, it's easy to lose sight of them when you're in a hyper-connected workplace with many things demanding attention. Problems can cause your commitment to wane; stay on track by seeing them as part of the learning pro- cess that leads to achievement. Lead by example and others will follow your lead. Day 39: "Let go of your control over one thing today." Leaders seeking to con- trol everything fail to acknowledge that the actions of the marketplace and many stake- holders are beyond their control. Internally, letting go of control shows that you trust your employees to make deci- sions and solve problems. This encourages the creativity and innovation needed to achieve goals and create opportunity. Day 57: "What is the most productive hour of your day, and how can you leverage it better?" Recognizing when you're most productive allows you to squeeze more into that period. How? Short lists with time limits force you to concentrate on individual tasks. Leveraging produc- tive time also involves tak- ing short breaks to recharge your batteries. Day 84: "Name one area of your lead- ership that needs to be simplified now." Be honest. Are you trying to do too much? Look inward to find better ways to use your talent and skills, and those of your staff. Sep- arate the musts from the would be nice of today. Important should not take a long-term backseat to urgent. Day 111: "What can you do to lower your defensive wall right now?" To be effective, leaders must be approachable. People don't want to speak to someone who's always on the defensive? Why? They know that the defensive party won't listen to them. When someone criticizes, don't fire back or go into "Yes, but … " mode. Instead, hear them out and think about their perspective before responding with "Yes, and … ). Day 137: "As a leader, when has a change in your expectations helped you better negotiate reality?" No plan ever goes as planned; there are always things beyond your control and unforeseen obsta- cles. By altering your short-term expecta- tions, you can deal with today's issues and still keep a commitment to tomorrow's outcome. Day 173: "Make an intentional effort at transparency and overcommunica- tion today?" Employees cite the lack of communication as a major reason for disen- gagement. Not telling them what's going on (the good and the bad) doesn't help them do their jobs better. Fill in their blanks or they'll fill them in themselves through gossip and the rumor mill, which have an adverse, death-spiral effect on their productivity. While transparency doesn't always make the situation better, a lack of information always makes things worse. Keeping employ- ees informed helps create a "we're in this together" culture. Day 250: "Name a leadership moment that required real bravery on your part?" Maybe it was a decision you made. Maybe it was a decision you decided not to make. Maybe it was your response to criticism. Regardless of the reason, think how your choice affected the way you lead. Key takeaway: Make the time to meditate. Set aside five minutes when you awaken to read the day's meditation and decide how it could affect your actions, and those working with you, that day. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak EXPERTS CORNER How to get ahead faster — and stay there By John Graham N o matter what you do, getting ahead shouldn't depend on lucky breaks, favoritism or even hard work. It should be in our control. To make that happen, cer- tain behaviors will help you stand out from the crowd. Here are some of them. 1. Be suspicious. No one likes getting blindsided, yet it's all too common in busi- ness. More than anything else, a little para- noia helps avoid the sucker punches. Even when some coworkers are brac- ing for a layoff, others are shocked when it happens. "I didn't see it coming," they say. Is it possible that we can get so wrapped up in ourselves that our awareness evap- orates, so that we can't read customers, anticipate problems or see opportunities? Getting ahead means keeping your anten- nae up. It's not being afraid to ask, "What does this mean?" It takes being suspicious. Just keeping your head down and "doing your job" doesn't work. Remember, Beagles never make it across a busy street alive. 2. Make it easier. Complexity means con- fusion and that kills sales. It drives customers away. A woman arrived at the dealership to pick up her car after a recall repair. Even though she followed the signs, at first she couldn't find the right counter since it was blocked from view by an open door. "You'll have to go upstairs and get the paperwork and bring it back here," the clerk told her. Not very customer friendly to say the least. But her experience isn't unusual. Why do companies put up with such nonsense? Coming up with ideas to improve processes, particularly those that make it easier for cus- tomers, is a great way to get ahead. 3. Express ideas clearly. What we write and say creates a legacy that stays with us — and one that influences how we're perceived. Our emails, text messages, presentations, proposals, letters, memos and conversations say something about us. "What's she talking about?" "I couldn't follow him." "It didn't make sense." "What's it mean?" "Who cares!" They all tell a story. In "To Sell is Human," Daniel H. Pink notes the comments of a former professor. "Don't get lost in the crabgrass of details, he urged us. Instead, think about the essence of what you're exploring," which he called the "1 percent." Great messaging comes down to always coming up with the one idea that makes sense to your recipients. If you do, you'll be noticed. 4. Challenge assumptions. "I assumed … " are the most dangerous words in busi- ness, since they can derail companies and drive careers off a cliff. Yet, we hear them everyday. Why? Assumptions save time by short-circuiting the thinking process. For example, common sense may tell us that young people spend the most on Apple products. If so, it's way off the mark. It turns out that men over 65 are the big Apple spend- ers, averaging $976, according to Slice Intel- ligence. Make it a rule never to get pushed into doing something before making sure it's supported by the facts. 5. Find your "sweet spot." It's where you're an expert — where you're known as the go-to person. To put it another way, it's where you can showcase your competence. Jason Fisher is an example. He went to work for a major life insurance company after college. After four years, he went out on his own. Selling life insurance is a tough business, particularly when starting out. To get the attention he needed to succeed, he decided to focus his business on clients other agents avoid, those who find it tough getting life insurance for medical or other reasons. As Lori Widmer of LifeHealthPro points out, prospects "come to him via his website and not through lists and referrals." A sweet spot can offer the sweet smell of success. 6. Cultivate creativity. Everyone has a creative potential, but most of us are afraid to let it show. We hold back, not sure what someone might think. When college senior Meredith Parolee was getting ready to run the New York City Marathon, she wanted to do something that would help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Hav- ing worked for We Are Knitters, she lit onto the idea of knitting a scarf while running. At first, everyone, including Parolee, saw it as a joke. It wasn't. She let her creativity go to work, she attracted attention for We are Knit- ters with more than 49,000 Facebook "likes," and raising 101 percent of her goal. n John Graham of GrahamComm is a mar- keting and sales strategist-consultant and business writer. Contact him at jgraham@ grahamcomm.com, 617-774-9759 or johnr- graham.com. John Graham ▶ ▶ Meditations are timely reminders about making good decisions rooted in character, honesty, trust, respect and courage. ▶ ▶ 'I assumed …' are the most dangerous words in business, since they can derail companies and drive careers off a cliff. Yet, we hear them everyday.