March 2008

Paper

There's an Irish quote, "questioning is the door of knowledge", so I ask you, why are you hanging onto all those piles of papers or emails?

There are 4 D's of decision that will simplify your processing of paper and/or email.

Ditch it - it has no value to you.

Deal with it - if you can in 2 minutes or less

Delegate it - to anyone who is more qualified or cost effective to follow through.

Deal with it - you are the expert, it's part of your life's or business' purpose, plan the time purposefully in your calendar.

You will find, by applying the 4 D's regularly to your routine, that productivity and piece of mind will be the result.



People

About 6 months ago as I was dealing with recovering from my car accident I started working with a coach, La Rue Eppler. One of the first things I needed to address was hiring a new assistant. My needs were a little unique, more personal/domestic in addition to the business activities. From my DiSC profiling training I knew that by using the Role Behavior Analysis what kind of behavior and communication skills I was seeking, but there was also a more integral human quality that I was looking for in an assistant.

La Rue had me write down 10 qualities that I wanted in this assistant, so I took out my pad and paper and wrote down my 10 ideal qualities, ie., honesty, integrity, flexibility, etc.. When I was finished, La Rue wisely asked: "now Anne, are you all of these qualities?" It was so clear to me that we can only hire what we know and are able to recognize in others, and that when building a team we need to hire those qualities we have ourselves - it's the skill set that should be unique.

As it's March , think about the shamrock. Some have suggested it derives from an earlier Celtic tradition of using it as a metaphor representing a "trust in your soul," "belief in your heart" and "faith in your mind." When it comes to hiring people, we need to do some consider those Irish ideas and take your time,


Process

Recently I had dinner with a gentleman who has spent the last 40 years (no kidding) as an employee/company advocate for the Mountain States Employer's Council, Tom Siratovich.
He said something that really stuck with me and is related to what everyone is dealing with. We were talking about all the wonderful cultural activities available to us in Denver, like the Ballet, the Symphony, the Opera.

I asked him if he went to all of the events and he said, "If I purchase the season tickets, I put it on my calendar and it gets done, I just go. If I don't plan the purchase of the tickets and say I'll get around to it, the season just seems to fly by."

Lesson learned -- we do what we plan and the more we focus in on what we want to accomplish, the more we get to enjoy the results of the activity.

If you're having trouble putting things on your calendar, attend one of our open Get Organized Seminars, you'll get an idea or two how to start enjoying the things in life that are important to you.