Do you ever feel like you're being ineffective? Here's what to do about it...
Posted on March 01, 2022 by Cassa Grant, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
When you get this right, you’ll understand exactly what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to be done to make the most impact.
Do you ever have that back-of-the-neck feeling that you’re being ineffective?
You know the one:
- When a project didn’t turn out even CLOSE to how you’d envisioned it
- When you look at your calendar from the past week and wonder what you actually DID with your time
- Or even being told by your supervisor that they think you’re ineffective (this one isn’t really so back-of-the-neck)
I think that there are a couple of things going on here when you feel like you’re being ineffective:
- You really ARE being ineffective
- You’re letting your Imposter Syndrome dominate your thoughts. (And I go over ways to deal with this in other articles).
So, if you’re ACTUALLY being ineffective, what’s the reason behind it?
For a lot of people, it’s because they can’t identify key value-adding initiatives (needle-movers) and then focus on them.
Super simple, right?
But not really. There are a number of reasons why they struggle to identify the needle-movers:
- They’re not clear on the overall vision of the organization, so don’t know how to prioritize their department’s activities accordingly
- They’re overwhelmed by day-to-day minutiae (because of poor time management/ delegation skills or a need to feel “in control”)
- They don’t take the time to be strategic in how they structure their resources
And at the root of all of these is a lack of self-reflection- it’s pretty hard to know which one is the cause if you don’t sit down and reflect.
Because sometimes, the overall vision of the organization HAS been made clear, but you haven’t taken the time to understand how to apply it to your department.
And sometimes, you feel important when you’re always “busy” so can only react, NOT respond effectively.
Sometimes, (especially if you struggle with the first two causes) you don’t have structures in place to ensure that the key initiatives are being focused on relentlessly.
Stephen Covey famously wrote that we should “Begin with the end in mind.”
So that’s the first question I challenge you to reflect on: Am I beginning with the end in mind?
Often, you’ll find that you’re not. And that’s why you’re feeling ineffective.
You may have tried new time-management strategies, read books to boost your self-esteem, and to-do lists up the wazoo.
But until you sit down to reflect on what the most appropriate path will be, you won’t be able to become a more effective leader.
And when you get this right, you’ll understand exactly what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to be done to make the most impact.
In my 6-week intensive, Wonderleader, effectiveness and identifying key needle-movers is one of the main things that I help offbeat leaders to work on in order to go from Freaked-out Doer to Confident Boss.
We also work on skill-building, subconscious blocks, and ownership/ self-responsibility. DM me if interested and we’ll have a quick chat to see if it’s fit.
