Mastering the art of execution in leadership

We will all agree that we have been in situations where we had every good intention to accomplish what we set out to do.

However, because of one obstacle or distraction we end up with the intention instead of the action. I am learning that when I find myself in such situations, it may be due many reasons. For example, when I do not take the time to create a plan of action, I usually end up doing what interests me instead of heeding the advice from William James when he said, “The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.” 

In addition, as I create a plan of action to enable me to execute my leadership, I often remind myself of the 3 Rs that John Maxwell writes about in his book Developing The Leader Within You.

The first R calls for answering the question what is required of me? Remember that here we are tackling the tasks that we have decided must done by us and no one else.

It is the non-negotiables. It is also those things for which you are expected to give direction. 

The second R question is, ‘what will give me the greatest return?’ We all know that as we lead the bottom line will always be one of the things for which our leadership is gauged.

It is, therefore, imperative that we establish what will bring us the greatest investment on our time, energy, and the other resources we use as we lead.

Lastly, we also need to answer the question, ‘what is most rewarding?’ We will all agree that what the four Ds of do it, delay, delegate or delete bring us is peace of mind since what is left on our plates are things we not only have to do but also enjoy doing. I try to ensure that these are things that bring me joy and are in my strengths.

In fact, Maxwell advises us thus, “Find something you like so much that you would gladly do it for nothing. When you do something and you think to yourself, I was born for this then you are on the right track.”

I know what some of you may be thinking that this is an ideal situation and does not often happen.

True, but if we are going to enjoy the journey of executing leadership then 80 percent of the time, we need to be doing what we are strong or gifted to do and request that 20 percent of the time we make use of the other three Ds.

Finally, as I master making use of the four Ds and then asking the 3R questions, I am also learning that there are some things that I need to always keep in mind to ensure that I effectively execute my leadership and get the results I crave.

These include; maximising my time and to do this, I use time blocking. I will share more about this next week. 

Another tool is minimising distractions. Again, we will also look at simple ways to do this in a world where we are often bombarded with different issues pulling us in different directions.

The last thing I am also working on growing is mastering the decision-making process. Whether I have to make a courageous decision, especially when others are depending on me to decide or it is a creative decision where I need to decide what must be done differently in order to stay on track with set objectives, I am learning that in some situations, creative decisions call for focusing on tomorrow’s opportunities instead of thinking of how to creatively resurrect what is already dead.

What about you, in what ways are you ensuring that you effectively execute as a leader? I would love to read from you.  We look forward to welcoming you to the Africa Women Leadership Summit. Read about it at www.awlsummit.com

Ms Rosette Wamambe is a transformational leadership coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team, [email protected]