12 CRITICAL STRATEGY QUESTIONS

Strategy is all about shaping the future and how it can bring value to the organisation and the real world.

1. Less is more  -  In less than thirty words, describe what your organisation strategy is?
   
   
2. What sort of company do you want to be?
   
   
3. What sort of leadership style do you want to adopt?
   
   
4. What are the most important objectives to the organisation?
   
   
5. How will you explain to all your people how each of them can contribute to achieve these objectives?
   
   
6. What do you think is possible?
   
   
7. What do you need to do to achieve your goals?
   
   
8. Is your existing market growing, stagnating or shrinking?
   
   
9. Where are the markets that are growing faster than yours?
   
   
10. What changes have to be made?
    
    
11. How should the changes be made?
    
    
12. How shall we measure progress?
    
    
    
    
    
    

WHY MULTI TASKING CAN BE TOXIC TO LEADERSHIP

Do you ever speak on the phone to clients when driving the car?  
Do you have your iPad on your knee as you watch television at home with the family?  
Do you write and look at emails during conference calls?
Do you text your daughter or son when they are only in the bedroom upstairs and you are downstairs in the office?
We all think that we are good at multi-tasking but we are not...

Multi-tasking can be toxic for business and life.  Too often today we make knee jerk reactions and decisions because we are over functioning and later when we pause, we often regret whatever we over promised at the time.


TIPS ON HOW TO STOP MULTI-TASKING

1. Instead of a 'To Do' list... create a 'Why' list.
   
   
2. Start at number one and continue in sequence until the list is finished.
   
   
3. Throughout the day, keep pulling your mind back into the present moment.
   
   
4. How you start your day is how you will live and be in your day.
   
   
5. Learn to slow down and focus on one thing at a time.
   
   
6. Stop between tasks and pause.  Learn to distinguish between reaction and response (well thought out).
   
   
7. Remember you will never get this day back again.
   
   
8. Shift from being a human doing to a human being.
   
   
9. When you have a clear mind you will be also able to observe old patterns of behaviour and the hooks that try to pull you back. Watch, pause and let go.
   
   
10. Lead in the moment, be in the moment.

11 TIPS ON HOW TO DEVELOP MENTAL TOUGHNESS

1. COMMIT 
   From this day forward, commit to what you have been putting off until now and do it.
   
   
2. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
   You will never out-perform your self-image, and self image is all about belief in yourself.
   
   
3. ZEN LIKE FOCUS
   Get into the zone and focus on one thing at a time.
   
   
4. AWARENESS
   Stop and pay attention to what distracts you mentally.  Is it emails, computer, phone, etc?  Turn off the outside noise.
   
   
5. CLEAR UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT
   It is hard to develop mental toughness if your office or house is a mess.  Clean up and clear out.
   
   
6. TIE UP YOUR MESSES
   Make a list of all the unfinished projects or unfinished promises, then delete or prioritise your list of actions.  Do it one step at a time.
   
   
7. COME TO THE EDGE
   It takes courage to leave your comfort zone and live on the edge.  Yet that is the only place you are truly alive.
   
   
8. DO SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU
   What if every day for the next 30 days you did something every day that scares you?
   
   
9. REPETITION IS THE KEY
   Repetition of great habits every day is the key to outstanding success.
   
   
10. IT TAKES TIME
    Know that sometimes you will feel bored and fed up and won’t feel like doing whatever you have set in front of you.  As Mother Theresa once said “Do it Anyway”.
    
    
11. WORLD CLASS FITNESS
    The more physically fit you are, the more mentally fit you will be.  Make a decision today to exercise a minimum of 20 minutes per day, every day.

12 TIPS ON HOW TO LEAD AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE

1.  KNOW WHY YOU ARE HERE
   What’s your purpose?  What have you got to do before you die?  Find it and spend the rest of your life crafting it.
   
   
2.  START EACH DAY WELL
   
   The way you begin each day determines how you will live each day.
   
   
3.  BE GRATEFUL BEFORE YOUR FEET TOUCH THE FLOOR EACH DAY
   
   Once you awake each morning spend a few minutes being grateful for the body you are in and the chance to live another day.
   
   
4. HAVE A BUDDY JOURNAL
   A buddy journal is a journal which has all your dreams and aspirations written in.  Look at it each day and live it.
   
   
5. TIME IS A DIAMOND
   Appreciate time, you will never get today back again.
   
   
6. NEVER WHINGE
   Turn your whinges into possibilities and you will have lots more energy.
   
   
7. BE PRESENT TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY
   Switch off the iPad and turn off the phone and revel in the art of conversation.
   
   
8. CHUCK WORRY OUT OF YOUR LIFE
   Too often we waste too much time thinking about the past and worrying about the future that is not here yet...  Let it go and focus on what you can influence today.
   
   
9. WALK EVERY DAY
   It doesn’t cost anything, it clears your mind.  Imagine if you walked 1,000 steps per day, every day for a year.  I bet you would be mentally and physically fit.
   
   
10. RUN TOWARDS YOUR FEAR
    When we get the courage to run towards our fears, we then look at fear as feeling excited and ready.
    
    
11. TELL PEOPLE CLOSE TO YOU HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM EVERY DAY
    Let love be your greatest weapon.  Love is not soft, love is real, love matters, love is everything.  Stop for a moment and capture that feeling of being loved. L O V E are the four most important letters to living an extraordinary life.
    
    
12. WHEN THE PAST CALLS LET IT GO
    I recently saw a quote that I just loved and it really does help you live an extraordinary life.  “When the past calls, let it go to voice mail, it has nothing new to say.”