Getting optimum outcomes

A leader needs to maximise each situation they find themselves in, in terms of moving towards their vision and purpose in life.

That’s not to say they should be relentlessly focused on every situation forming some sort of ‘push’ towards getting what they want, or relating everything specifically to that end goal. There will of course be sub-goals, or changing goals along the way anyway. It’s more about that in everything they do they need to be consistent towards that vision.

Situations could be thought of as directly relating to the leader’s purpose, indirectly related or not really related.

If not really related, then as a leader you simply need to keep your integrity and not do anything contradictory to your vision or purpose. If indirectly related then you will be revealing your focus and end goal somewhat. And if directly relating to your purpose then you will be wanting an explicit result out of the situation, in most cases. If we think of those situations where you need to get the result you are looking for to move forward in your purpose, then there are a number of things we already talked about throughout this series of three courses on leadership in terms of strategy, e.g. building trust and strong relationships, bringing people with you due to your integrity, authenticity and even tenacity, and understanding others’ motivations as well as your own.

Looking now at some practical advice, I learnt from David Meade, a brilliant mentalist and speaker, the following two ‘tips’:

1) people find it much easier to say ‘no’ than say ‘yes’, so formulate any request you may have so that a ‘no’ is what you are out to achieve; for example, instead of saying “Can I have a new computer?” you might say “Do you want me to waste on average two hours a day struggling with this old computer, and not being able to get my work done?”

2) giving options is always appealing to others, as they feel they have choice. If you are giving options, then position your preferred outcome as number three; number one will always be too early for a decision, number two they are just warming up, but by three, if you have a good proposal, they will be ready to receive it; later than three won’t be helpful, however many options you have.

Think about bringing these tips into your toolkit, so you can have more impactful outcomes, quicker.

When working with new people, in new situations, we can see there could be a progression in your actions and approach which will ensure you get the outcomes you are looking for. It might look like this:

1. build trust, initially by being helpful to others in terms of e.g. a piece of simple advice such as what the weather is going to be like later
2. build trust by finding something in common with others, such as a similar hobby, pet or family situation
3. demonstrate integrity and talk about it in an explicit way where that seems appropriate
4. take opportunities to show your honesty, and your understanding of the difference between right and wrong
5. remain authentic to yourself, so only ‘exercise different muscles’ rather than changing your values and who you are
6. don’t forget tenacity can be a valuable quality or trait, and ensure your resilience levels are kept topped up at all times
7. use the tips above in specific situations where looking for a positive outcome.

I hope you can see from this and other readings in this final week of the third course in the series that many of the concepts I have been presenting you with are interrelated, and, as you build the various leadership competencies, they will compliment each other. For this reason it may be worthwhile to go back through the course (or courses) again, to reinforce what you have learnt and see how interconnected things are.