SkillInside

  No matter how audacious, your goal is doable if you follow these steps. When most of us civilians hear about  Navy SEAL's  capturing terrorists or pulling off hair-raising rescue missions, we stand in awe of their  toughness . But according to Rob Roy, a 25-year veteran of the SEALs and author of  The Navy SEAL Art of War , being a SEAL "is not about being the toughest guy. It's about being the smartest guy." In a  recent Big Think video , Roy explains that while SEALs are clearly incredible warriors, they rely on careful planning and battle-tested approaches to leadership, as much as sheer strength and bravery. Accomplishing jaw-dropping things, Roy explains, is less about innate  grit  than you probably think, and more about process. Roy lays out the seven-step approach SEALs use to tackle even the most daunting missions, so you can adapt it to achieve your own biggest, scariest goals. 1. Ask clarifying questions. Clearly, in military situatio...

  Most people think the key to being valued at the office is putting in long hours. In reality, the secret is working smarter, not harder. In my experience at all levels within large organizations as well as small ones, the team members valued the most are the ones seen by others as  indispensable  or "go-to" people. The challenge we all face is how to be one of these without  overworking , while still getting the  right things  done. I've been trying for years to net out the key elements of this answer, and I was pleased to find some real help in a new book,  The Art of Being Indispensable at Work  by Bruce Tulgan. He has long been an advisor to business leaders all over the world, so he brings a global perspective, as well as his own to this issue. Here's the key principles that he observed that I find valuable as well. 1. Build real influence by doing the right thing for others. You get influence by facilitating success in o...

  Being liked is fleeting. Here's what matters more There's nothing wrong with wanting to be liked at work. According to Tim Sanders, author of  The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams  when your colleagues, direct reports and bosses like you, you have a better chance of getting promoted, being assigned special projects that interest you, having people go above and beyond for you, getting timely responses and feedback, and having the kind of social capital that you draw on to get what you want and need from others. So, when does wanting to be liked become a problem? When it comes at the expense of being respected. According to scientist Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, overall happiness in life is related to how much  you are respected  by those around you. Nevertheless, when we sacrifice what it takes to be respected for the quicker, and often...

  Results without a process are luck. Process without results is  waste .  How are your processes driving the goals you work to achieve? The need to have people gain value through the process of working to achieve goals as opposed completing the goal itself may nudge change and innovation. The goal  is not  and  should not  be ignored. The challenge is that the processes being used to achieve the goal need to be evaluated to ensure you are working to achieve the goal. In both the Exponent Leadership Development and Project Management Processes, the focus is on developing a series of repeatable processes and steps that can be tested; evaluated; changed; re-worked, and celebrated. Created this chart above to examine and make some sense of what happens when we achieve: Results Without A Known Process LUCK  –  somehow we got lucky and achieved the needed results. The chance of the luck lasting is rather small. The chance of sliding...

For Managers THE NOISE ANALYSIS The most important part of developing a business is mapping out strengths and weaknesses through  strategic planning.  A common method project leaders gravitate towards is SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  In one of my High-Performance Team Building classes, a smart friend of mine, Brian Pagkos, brought up the SNOT method: Strengths, Needs, Opportunities, and Threats. I liked the idea but wanted to take it a step further as I prepared for a strategic planning meeting. I felt teams would benefit from  solution-focused  language that helps build upon their knowledge and goals. That’s when I came up with  NOISE : Needs Opportunities Improvements Strengths Exceptions Objective When planning a project, you must map out your team’s wants and needs and understand the roadblocks ahead. The NOISE analysis is a planning technique that looks at what works and what should improve. It’s also a format that allows yo...

  Most brainstorms fall short of generating strong ideas. "Painstorming" focuses on what matters: fixing customers' pain points. Brainstorming is simple. You come up with a lot of ideas, use meaningful criteria to prioritize, and then select the cream of the crop. But there's a problem--brainstorming is just a process. Just because you brainstorm doesn't mean you'll get good ideas that elevate your business strategy. Unless you give your team a tangible focus and relevant data to clearly understand the problem you're trying to solve, ideas will fall flat. That's where painstorming comes in. Painstorming is the process of uncovering pain points to create bigger and better ideas. Unlike many brainstorms that jump to ideating solutions, painstorming reveals the fundamental drivers of new opportunities: customer pain points. Ascension, for example, once had a big patient pain point--lots of patients were missing appointments because they couldn't alwa...

  Why feeling like a fake can be a sign of growth Authenticity has become the gold  standard for  leadership. But a simplistic understanding of what it means can hinder your growth and limit your impact. Consider Cynthia, a general manager in a health care organization. Her promotion into that role increased her direct reports 10-fold and expanded the range of businesses she oversaw—and she felt a little shaky about making such a big leap. A strong believer in transparent, collaborative leadership, she bared her soul to her new employees: “I want to do this job,” she said, “but it’s scary, and I need your help.” Her candor backfired; she lost credibility with people who wanted and needed a confident leader to take charge. Or take George, a Malaysian executive in an auto parts company where people valued a clear chain of command and made decisions by consensus. When a Dutch multinational with a matrix structure acquired the company, George found himself working with peers ...