THE KEY TO LEADERSHIP: PRIORITIES
“There are two things that are most difficult to get people to do: to think and to do things in order of importance.” I also believe that thinking ahead and prioritizing responsibilities mark the major differences between a leader and a follower, because:
- Practical people know how to get what they want.
- Philosophers know what they ought to want.
- Leaders know how to get what they ought to want.
Success can be defined as the progressive realization of a predetermined goal. This definition tells us that the discipline to prioritize and the ability to work toward a stated goal are essential to a leader’s success. In fact, I believe they are the key to leadership.
Many years ago, while working toward a business, I learned about the Pareto Principle. It is commonly called the 20/80 principle. Although I received little information about this principle at the time, I began applying it to my life. I find it is a most useful tool for determining priorities for any person’s life or for any organization.
THE PARETO PRINCIPLE THE 20/80 PRINCIPLE
The solid lines on the illustration of the 20/80 Principle on the attached pic represent a person or organization that spends time, energy, money and personnel on the most important priorities. The result is a four-fold return in productivity. The dotted line represents a person or organization that spends time, energy, money and personnel on the lesser priorities. The result is a very small return.
Every leader needs to understand the Pareto Principle in the area of people's oversight and leadership. For example, 20 percent of the people in an organization will be responsible for 80% of the company’s success. The following strategy will enable a leader to increase the productivity of an organization.
- Determine which people are the top 20% producers.
- Spend 80% of your “People time” with the top 20%.
- Spend 80% of your personal developmental dollars on the top 20%
- Determined what 20% of the work gives 80% of the return and train an assistant to do 80% less effective work. This “frees up” the producer to do what he/she does best.
- Ask the top 20% to do on-the-job training for the next 20%
Remember, we teach what we know; we reproduce what we are. Like begets like. I teach this principle at leadership conferences. I am often asked, “How do I identify the top 20% influencers/producers in my organization?” I suggest that you make a list of everyone in your company or department. Then ask yourself this question about each individual: “If this person takes a negative action against me or withdraws his or her support from me, what will the impact likely be?” If you won’t be able to function, then put a checkmark next to that name. If the person can help you or hurt you, but cannot make or break you in terms of your ability to get important things done, then don’t put a checkmark next to that name. When you get through making the checkmarks, you will have marked between 15 and 20% of the name. Those are the vital relationships that need to be developed and given the proper amount of resources needed to grow the organization.
IT’S NOT HOW HARD YOUR WORK; IT’S HOW SMART YOUR WORK
A man was told that if he worked the very hardest, he could he would become rich. The hardest work he knew was diffing holes, so he set about diffing great holes in his backyard. He didn’t get rich; he only got a backache. He worked hard but he worked without any priorities.
Prioritize Assignments
High Importance/High Urgency: Tackle these projects first.
High Importance/ Low Urgency: Set deadlines for completion and get these projects worked into your daily routine.
Low Importance/High Urgency: Find quick, efficient ways to get this work done without much personal involvement. If possible, delegate it to a “can-do” assistant
Low Importance/Low Urgency: This is busy or repetitious work such as filing. Stack it up and do it in one half-hour segment every week: get somebody else to do it: or don’t do it at all. Before putting off until tomorrow something you can do today, study it clearly. Maybe you can postpone it indefinitely.
Evaluate or Stalemate
A veteran of many years of decision-making gave me this short, simple advice: Decide what to do and do it; decide what not to do and don’t do it. Evaluation of priorities, however, is not quite that simple. Many times, they are not black or white, but many tones of grey. I have found that the last thing one knows is what to put first.
The following question will assist your priority process:
What is required of me? A leader can give up anything except final responsibility. The question that must always be answered before accepting a new job is “What is required of me? In other words, what do I have to do that no one but me can do? Whatever those things are, they must be put high on the priority list. Failure to do them will cause you to be among the unemployed. There will be many responsibilities of the levels under your position, but only a few that require you to be the one and only one who can do them. Distinguish between what you have to do and what can be delegated to someone else.
What gives me the greatest return? The effort expended should approximate the results expected. A question I must continually ask myself is, “Am I doing what I do best and receiving a good return for the organization?” Three common problems in many organizations are:
- Abuse: Too few employees are doing too much.
- Disuse: Too many employees are doing too little.
- Misuse: Too many employees are doing the wrong things.
What is most rewarding? I attempted to teach this principle. The title of my lecture was, “Take This Job and Love it.” I encourage the audience to find something they liked to do so much that they would gladly do it for nothing. Then I suggested they learn to do it so well that people would be happy to pay them for it. When you are making a success of something, it does not work. It’s a way of life. You enjoy yourself because you are making your contribution to the world. I believe that! Take a minute and write down what is most satisfying in your job.
Success in your work will be greatly increased if the 3 R’s (Requirement/Return/Reward) are similar. In other words, if the requirements of my job are the same as my strengths that give me the highest return and doing those things brings me great pleasure, then I will be successful if I act on my priorities.
PRIORITY PRINCIPLES
- Priorities never “stay put”
- Principle: You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.
- The good is the enemy of the best.
- How to Break the Tie Between Two Good Options
- You can’t have it all
- Too many priorities paralyze us.
- When little priorities demand too much of us, big problems arise.
- Time deadlines are emergencies that force us to prioritize.
- Too often we learn too late what is really important.
