Schedule A Call

Professional Leadership For Sustainable Performance

SUMMARY

A lot of times, you'll hear the term 'high-performance' get used. There's even a whole movement of high-performance coaches out there. And that's okay. High performance is a good thing. However, continuing to burn the midnight oil to hustle and grind – and all these new things that people talk about to get more done and to ensure that you stay on top -- doesn't work long term.

From my experience, I know that doing what you need to do over long hours of not just physical but emotional and mental energy being expended doesn't really put you in a state to get the most output.

This week, I want to unpack the three areas to make shifts as you develop your Professional Leadership.

1. Performance

2. Positioning

3. Productivity

When you become more proficient in what it is that you can produce, then you can move into being able to help others to do the same.

 

TRANSCRIPT

Have you arrived at where you're going in your professional life? Or, are you ready to continue to upskill, looking for areas for development where you could enhance your capability to serve at a greater level?

Well, stick with me because, in this week's episode, I'm going to talk about the area of your leadership that will help you do just that.

Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Emotional Intelligence Master Coach Trainer and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to continue our conversation around the three facets of leadership by helping you to develop your Professional Leadership.

We started a conversation a few weeks ago, and I had a break in the middle because of CoViD. I talked to you about my understanding of what leadership is -- how it has changed and developed, and how there needs to be a shift in your mindset as to what it is before you look at the skills that you need. Indeed, leadership is more than just a set of skills you need to get people to do what you want them to do if you’re running a team.

Last week, we started a conversation around Personal Leadership, those foundational competencies of you as the leader.

This week, I want to unpack the shifts you can make in your professional leadership.

When I use the word 'professional', it does not mean that you have to work in professional services or see yourself as a professional.

To be honest, I like alliteration, and we talked about personal; now we've got professional, and next week we're going to talk about ‘people’. So when you hear the word ‘professional’, I want you to put that into your context no matter your career, vocation, or business.

The skills we will talk about will make you get the results you want in what it is that you do.

The three shifts we want to make in this area start with "Performance". The shift I will help you make is to go from high performance (hustle and grind) to sustainable performance, where you can perform but still have your health.

A lot of times, you'll hear the term 'high-performance' get used. There's even a whole movement of high-performance coaches out there. And that's okay. High performance is a good thing. However, continuing to burn the midnight oil to hustle and grind – and all these new things that people talk about to get more done and to ensure that you stay on top -- doesn't work long term. From my experience, I know that doing what you need to do over long hours of not just physical but emotional and mental energy being expended doesn't really put you in a state to get the most output.

So, the first area in professional leadership that I help people work on is how you can take your high performance, mold it, adjust and tweak it, and look at the areas within it to have sustainability.

Sustainable Performance says that you will be able to do it for longer. It says you're going to have enough energy left to do other things as well, not just what you're doing in your career.

The second shift I will help you make in this area is around your Positioning.

Positioning is a term that gets used a lot in marketing, putting you in a certain position in front of a particular market. I will also use those concepts to help you do that. However, I want you to broaden your understanding of what we are doing in any context of your career and what you do for a living.

The shift that I will help you to make is to go from invisible to being in demand.

Your 'invisibility' is often caused by having so many people doing what you are doing. So you need to figure out what it is about you that's different. You need to figure out what it is about you that makes you stand out.

Figuring these out and doing something about it will make you shift from being invisible to being in demand. Doing so will enable you to stand out for good reasons, whether you are going to an interview or are already involved in an organisation and looking to advance your career.

During my military and my corporate career, I stood out a lot. However, most of the time, it was for wrong and unhealthy reasons. Although I wasn't invisible, it did not always make me in demand.

When you are in demand, you can make choices. You can decide and choose to do what you want rather than settle for what's available.

Doing this requires a new set of skills.

It's being able to look at brand "YOU" and position yourself in the RIGHT place and at the RIGHT time so that the RIGHT people can hear, see, and notice you. Instead of scrolling along and just going straight past anything that you might be saying, you stand out, and people say, “oh, that got my attention. Let me have a little bit more of a look at this person.”

The third area and shift I want you to make in professional leadership is in that old chestnut: Productivity.

Who would like to get more done with less?

I believe most of us do.

However, the challenge here is that we are still employing, and some people are still teaching techniques that no longer work in today's marketplace and fast-paced, ever-changing environment.

This shift is going from looking at the time to outcomes.

I totally don't believe in time management. Time management is not something that exists because unless you're God or Mother Nature or whoever you believe is in control of time, you cannot change time. You cannot wind the clock back and get more hours in a day.

What you do have the ability to do is to shift in three key areas so that the time that you have gets the most return.

The first key area is Priority Management.

Priority Management is something like this:

Although there are things that you could do in your day, it doesn’t mean you should.

So, what are your key priorities?

As we discussed last week on Purpose and Intention, our key priorities should be based on your purpose, plans, values, beliefs, and what is truly important to you. If you put those priorities first and invest in those areas, you will get a greater return in every area of your life.

The second area is Environment Management.

Environment Management is knowing where everything is and ensuring that your minimalist environment helps you rather than a cluttered environment with everything everywhere.

It is being able to ensure that you can put your finger on things when you need to.

It is creating an environment of noise or lack of what you need.

It is being able to remove distractions and procrastination because you clearly understand who you need to be at any particular time of your day.

The third area is Energy Management.

As I get older -- particularly over the last ten years of going through some health issues and particularly over the last couple of weeks going through CoViD -- I understand the priceless value of energy.

I understood the importance of having enough energy left at the end of the day to be who you need to be in every area of your life instead of expending all your energy on your work, career, business, or whatever it is for you and then being physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted.

So, productivity needs to be looked at in a different way.

Let's get rid of the antiquated 20th-century teachings around time management and the like. Instead, look at the world you’re living in now, optimise the environment and energy levels, and look at what it is that you're doing so that you can get more done with less.

There you have it, the three areas with the shifts you need to make in your Professional Leadership. When you become more proficient in what it is that you can produce, then you can move into being able to help others to do the same.

Next week, I want to continue this conversation and help you to look at (where most people think it starts) the area of leadership that helps you work with others.

Well, that's it for me for another week. Join me again next week as we look at the third area of leadership: People Leadership. I'll see you then.

Join the Conversation

Get Access To Proven Strategies That Will Help YOU Take Back Control of YOUR Life, One Week at a Time.