It’s ten days into 2010 and I’m guessing enough time has passed for you to forget all the resolutions you made for the coming year.  Losing weight, stopping smoking or teaching a child to read, you know, all the non-essential stuff has finally taken a back seat to the more important issues in your life, like Facebook.

Well, thank goodness for Facebook. Some genius came up with a great way to use the millions, if not billions, of people on the social networking site to remember a great cause.

If you haven’t heard, all you have to do is update your status with your bra color and you will raise awareness of breast cancer.  Even the Susan G. Komen Foundation said the idea is a great way to keep people from forgetting about the dangers of breast cancer.

What I do like about the campaign is its simplicity.  All you need to do to become an “activist” is logon and up-date your status with your bra color.  The idea is so good that all the major television stations, like ABC, CBS and NBC picked up the story.  The idea is so good that not one of the stations actually told women to do anything besides up-date their status.

But that is the one small problem with Facebook.  The problem with Facebook and all the social media websites is an inherent lack of action.  Yes, I want to be an “activist” and fight for a cause.  Perfect, now I can become an “activist” from my couch.  I don’t even have to get dressed; I can just update my status.

Did I miss something? In order to be an activist, I thought you needed to take action.  I do not care how aware of breast cancer you are, if you do not take action it all means nothing.  Stop and think for just a minute, think about the words activism and activist.  Both words imply that some action will take place.  What action are you going to take to become a true activist?

Women, make an appointment today to get a mammogram. Take action, men ask the women in your life questions.  Everyone, go grab your mom, daughter, sister or wife and physically take them to the doctor. It is not as easy as updating your bra color, but highly more effective.

The bottom line: Facebook awareness is useless without action.

Comments welcome.

Post the date and time when you scheduled your mammogram.

This is part four of a four part series on the importance of practice.

Just because practice is simple, do not overlook its importance. Here are the four basic rules of practice:

You must practice to become better.
What you learn first is what you remember.
How you practice is how you will play.
You must have a simple practice plan.

Rule Number Four:

Plan Your Practice

When you train for your sport, do you train with a purpose or just to have fun? The question sounds like a quiz but the answer does matter. Actually, you should be training with a purpose and having fun.

If you stay engaged in the sport without both fun and practice you probably will not get better. I can guarantee you, if you are not having fun, you will not be training or engaged in the sport or activity very long.

Remember, practice, play and compete to have some fun and to improve your skills. Take the time to develop and follow a simple practice plan. Make sure you are improving and that you practice on a schedule.

The practice plan does not always have to be detailed. Break down the activity you wish to practice in to separate parts. Then schedule practice on each of these parts separately and with simple lessons.

For instance: In flight simulators, professional airline pilots place importance on and thus practice two things. They practice take-offs and landings.

Take the same approach as a pilot and practice the most important, most critical or most difficult aspects of your game or sport. If you play golf for example, practice your short, medium and long game. If you are a football wide receiver, practice the basics like running pass routes and catching the ball.

Do not forget to track and measure your progress. It is a waste of time to practice without a system in place to measure your progress. An easy way to insure you are getting better is to grade your performance during practice and to debrief or think about what you did correctly and incorrectly.

Complete a simple feedback loop such as: think, plan, brief, practice, debrief/correct, and then think, plan, brief, practice and correct again in a continuous loop. Follow this feedback loop and you will improve and refine your skills.

Practice is just like the other important aspects of your life. You must prioritize and schedule your practice in advance. This might mean to schedule a practice once a month or once a day, but the goal is to stay consistent in your training. Consistent practice insures two things: First, the repetitive action reinforces the action learned and second it ingrains good habits until the motion becomes subconscious.

I cannot make it any simpler than that. Take the time to develop an easy to follow, basic practice plan and follow it.

When you practice on a schedule, have a plan with measurable goals, you will become better at your game or sport and definitely have more fun. By the way, you have more fun when you are good or great at something.

On a side note about the video: I could find a lot of videos that had a practice lesson, but none of them fit the message nicely. Most videos were planning overkill and diluted the message. Like we preach “K.I.S.S.” Which stands for “Keep It Simple Stupid.”

Then, I happened to find a video of Allen Iverson “AI.” I’m not quite sure why he is talking about practice, (please read with sarcasm) but listen and watch him carefully.

For some reason, I don’t think the reporters are commenting on his great work ethic at practice. I’m not an NBA fanatic, but I don’t think AI or his teams have ever won a championship. At this moment, I think he is having trouble finding a team.

Oh yeah, also watch the second video. It’s a great sequel.

This guy is a Hall-of-Famer, can someone please tell me what is going on?

This is the third part in a four part series on practice.

Just because practice is simple, do not overlook its importance.

Here are the four basic rules of practice:

You must practice to become better.

What you learn first is what you remember.

How you practice is how you will play.

You must have a simple practice plan.

Rule Number Three:

How you practice is how you will play.

In the last lesson, we finished up with the law of primacy or what you learn first is what you will know and do forever.  The law of primacy leads us into rule number three perfectly.  Rule three is “how you train is how you will play.”

When I was in the Air Force, we had a saying,  “Fight like you train and train like you fight.”  Meaning, how you practiced everyday was how you would perform in the heat of the battle or during an emergency. In a nutshell, this is called the law of exercise.

When you practice you should be doing everything exactly as if you were in a game, race or battle.  From the way you put your socks on to the exact motions you will make as you run, catch or ride, everything should be the same as game or race day.

If you build good habits from the beginning and train like you want to play, the physical motions of your sport will become second nature.  This way, you will be able to free up valuable brainpower to think, compete and win.  Usually, if you out-think your opponent, you win.

The Hero of the Hudson, Capt Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger saved the day along with 155 lives on January 15, 2009 because he flew like he trained.  In simulators, pilots train for hundreds of hours how to deal with emergencies and the unexpected.  In a crisis situation Sully fell back on his training and years of experience.  He saved the day because he flew like he trained.

How do you practice like you are going to play?

Tell us.

This is the second part of a four part series on practice.

Just because practice is simple, do not overlook its importance.

Here are the four basic rules of practice:

You must practice to become better.

What you learn first is what you remember.

How you practice is how you will play.

You must have a simple practice plan.

Rule Number Two:

What you learn first is what you remember.

There are two basic laws of learning that comprise the next two rules of practice.  I will cover one in this lesson and one in the next lesson.

First, we will cover the law of primacy.  This law states, the way you learn a lesson, a behavior or skill the first time is the way you will remember it and how you will perform the task forever.

That being said, you can see the importance of learning to perform a task correctly from the beginning.  Bad habits learned in the beginning will be habits that will be hard to break in the future.  Take the time, slow down and focus. Make sure you learn a technique or skill correctly. Work hard to develop good habits and techniques in the beginning.

There are basic building blocks that must be learned in any sport.  Great basic techniques will pay off dividends and serve you well in the future.  Do not skip learning the fundamentals.

This summer, I had the privilege to attend the Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy (DHMA).  Needless to say, Donnie had his work cut out with this old guy.  It’s a good thing Donnie has taught thousands.

Like any great instructor, Donnie started with the basics.  After a brief introduction and warm-up, the first lesson was on riding position. While on the bike, he asked the class to demonstrate the basic riding and attack position.

From novice all the way up to the expert racer, all skill levels were represented in the class.  Each and everyone in the class had some form of improper body and riding position.  For the next two days Donnie and I struggled to break my old bad habits, as did the rest of the class.

Learning the basics from the start will make it easier to learn more complex techniques later on as you become more advanced.

Your mom was right, “Bad habits are hard to break”

Tell us your stories.

This is the first of a four part series on practice. The importance of the basics is easy to forget.  The sad part, it is the basics that have the most direct effect on performance and outcomes.  From peewee to the major leagues, practice is the one thing anyone can do to dramatically improve his or her performance.

You say you don’t care about outcomes and just want to have fun?  Remember, as you practice and become better, you will enjoy doing any activity more and more.  From simple math to riding a bike, the practice effect is the same.  As you get better, any activity will become more enjoyable.

Sounds simple, but do not overlook its importance. Here are the four simple, basic rules of practice:

You must practice to become better.

What you learn first is what you remember.

How you practice is how you will play.

You must have a simple practice plan.

Rule Number One:  You Must Practice.

Today, everybody thinks just because “I watch the pros play on Sunday” or  “I got the high score on Madden 10″ that they are ready for the NFL.  Well, think again junior. When was the last time you were outside or even played a game of catch?

The pros make it look easy.  What they are not showing is the thousands of hours of practice behind the scenes.  The game winning catch or tackle has been done a thousand times.  A simple throw and catch is rehearsed over and over, before it was ever attempted in a game on Sunday.

Before the first snap is made on Sunday, the football was thrown and caught hundreds of times away from the lights, crowd and glamour. The quarterback and receiver practiced all week in relative pain and obscurity.

This is the basic repetitive nature of practice and it something that must be done.  It is repeating the simple and mundane tasks until they become habit.  It is concentrating on the basics all the time, not just when you are starting out.

Take the time to continue practicing the basics like throwing, catching, blocking and tackling.  The Super Bowl in all its complexity can be broken down to four basic things.  The team that performs the basics best is usually the victor.

All sports can be broken down to the basics.  Want to ride a motorcycle faster?  There are only a few basic things you need to master.  Practice acceleration, braking, jumping and turning.  Get better at them and you will ride faster.

Practice the basics.  Concentrate and practice everyday and your performance will improve dramatically.

Go watch the pros practice the fundamentals.

Remember, practice.

Do you really listen? Can you withhold judgment until all the facts are in?

Is your conduct measured and controlled?

Do you really listen for concepts and solutions?

This also means for YOU to stop talking, for YOU to be silent.

To draw your people out, ask questions.   To encourage others to talk, yield the floor to them.

Everybody must know that you value his or her opinions. They must know that you are fair and open to reason. They must know that you conduct yourself with discipline, precision and restraint before you act. They must know that when you do act it is from a factual position.

Your people will talk to you because they know that you verify and confirm facts before moving to action. Phrases like: “I think,” I believe so,” I was told,” “He said,” “I’m not sure but,” and other similar phrases must be verified before action is taken.

Your subordinates must know that you do not listen to gossip, rumor or innuendo. You must show them by your conduct that you are patient and moderate in your response to information.

False moves based on inadequate facts or faulty information is costly to repair in terms of time, effort and subordinate good will.

Finally…being out of control, angry, foolish, sophomoric, or quick to judge…is a sure fire recipe for failure.

Certainly not the behavior or the type of leader you aspire to be.

Best of luck and remember,

Leadership starts at the top with you.

Are you accessible to your troops? Does your manner invite communication?

Leadership starts at the top with you. Leadership is influencing your people. This is accomplished by treating people fairly and with respect. It is you establishing a trusting relationship with your subordinates.

You must get to know your people.  Be seen often. You must get out in the field where the work is being performed. Listen to your subordinates with your eyes and your ears.  Be careful what you say and how you say it.

Remember you set the style and tone of your organization by your behavior. By your thoughts, words and deeds. What you say and do is important.  Your personal and professional conduct impacts everyone.  Tell your subordinates that their work is important at every opportunity.

Keep them informed, and give them an input into decisions. Your subordinates must know that they can come to you anytime with any problem and that you will listen with respect.

The day your subordinates stop talking to you, is the day you lose the ability to lead.

Are you willing to take responsible risks to allow your subordinates to grow and become more productive?

This question speaks to the heart of leadership and to the 21 leadership character traits. Character is demonstrated through behavior. It is your values, your discipline and your “will to win,” that exemplify leadership.

Think how many character traits you need to have as “a leader” to take responsible risks.  Risks like nurturing your students so that their productivity, efficiency and effectiveness increase. This means that productivity increases are directly proportional to your effectiveness as a leader.

Your  “responsible risk taking” greatly contributes to the success of the organization, school or team. Give your subordinates responsibility and the management tools to accomplish their assigned goals. Give them enough space to prosper and watch for results.  You will be pleasantly surprised as your subordinates flourish with their new responsibilities and then grow professionally right before your eyes.

Good leaders give people purpose and reason to excel and achieve. Good leaders see excellence when ever and where ever it is. Good leaders move other people to action to achieve excellence. Good leaders do impossible deeds to accomplish goals. Good leaders take care of the welfare of their people.

The ultimate “win-win” situation.

Try it, you’ll like it, and they will to.

Give people the opportunity to perform and excel and watch them achieve goals.

Over supervise and watch them whither on the vine.

Are you willing to let your subordinates be creative?

I am sure you know how many smart and talented people you have in your organization. From top to bottom, the people where you work have the day-to-day experience and the expertise to get the job done.

Think back, you have probably heard, seen or actually worked in an office or been on a team that gets the job done in spite of the boss.

Do not be that boss.

Listen to your people, especially the people who are the experts in their field.  This means, listen to the people who get the work done day-in and day-out.

Remember get out and go to them.  They maybe the furthest removed, but are usually the ones directly affected by your bad policy or procedures at the front lines. These are the people who usually have the fastest, smartest and most efficient solutions to your (their) pressing problems.

Creative solutions and new ideas, no matter how far fetched may be just the thing a difficult problem needs to be solved.

Let the people with the problem find the solution.  Build your teams self-esteem, give them the freedom to make changes, implement solutions and be creative in their work.

Solicit input, let people talk and listen to their solutions.  Never ridicule a new idea. This might stifle a thought that could lead to the idea that saves you the most time, money and material.

Leadership is having the wherewithal to know that someone else is better suited to solve a problem, implement change or institute policy than you.

Listen, Listen, Listen!

And then stay out of the way!

Are you flexible when dealing with changing situations? Are you willing to risk new ideas?

Only one thing is certain in life, change.

Think how the computer, cell telephones and the Internet have changed our lives and the way we operate.  Then, think about how your life will change over the next two to ten years.  To survive and to succeed, you must be able to adapt to change.

Now is the time to think strategically. That means to think three, four or more years into the future.  Think about your decisions, advances or technology today that will affect the outcome of the future and your plans.

By thinking strategically and planning ahead, you will develop a clear picture of where you want to be and how you will get there. This will give you a reference or roadmap for the tactical (smaller) decisions that you will make day to day.

A clear strategic vision of where you want to be does not mean that you still cannot be flexible. Being a leader means that you must develop the ability to adapt, respond and act, often in a rapidly changing environment.

If you have a clear, calculated vision and give it direction, change becomes easier to manage and it becomes easier to take calculated risks.

The same is true for your people.  Go out and instill this vision in your people, and listen to their ideas of how to get there. They may know a better way to complete the mission or accomplish the task.

People always do best when carrying out their own ideas. This way, they have a vested interest in making the idea or solution work.

This also shows people that you have confidence in them and that you expect them to do their best.  Do not be upset by new ideas and do not become a victim of “the not invented here” philosophy. (Meaning, not invented by you)

Do not become extinct like the dinosaurs.

Anyway, why would anybody need a computer?

Do you really want to command? Are you sure your motivation is more than simply having the command experience entered into your record?

This is a critical question you must ask yourself.  Nobody can predict how you will react to the pressure of command.  Only you know if you are ready and willing to accept the responsibility of command. As Gen. Colin Powell says, command is a “lonely place,” and you must be ready to “suffer greatly” for your unit.

What is your motivation? Take a good look at yourself, and find out what is your motivating factor.  Could it be money, power and recognition? These are a few of the very powerful benefits to being in charge.

Think about your career progression.  Is a leadership position a simple line added to the top of your resume? Although powerful, this too is not the only reason to be in charge.  Look deep within, see what motivates you and then go for it.  Because, when you are in command, you usually get what you are asking for.

Here are some other related questions to consider.

Do you manage yourself effectively?

Are you proficient in all aspects of your job?

Do you have the drive and energy to accomplish difficult tasks?

Do you think in terms of long-range goals?

Do you think about what is best for your team or organization?

Do you like working with people?

Do you really want to be the person responsible for results?

Tough questions that only you can answer.

Are you confident that you can produce a superior unit from average people?  Can you inspire people to achieve outstanding results?

As a leader, your role is to get everyone to “want” to achieve organizational goals and outstanding results.

In order to get outstanding results, you will need the support of everyone and you must use them effectively.

Inspiration and people skills are a must. Average people will do outstanding work for a leader they “want” to follow.

Notice, I said “Want” twice.

People only do what they “want” to do, the trick is to get them to want to perform exceptionally. When you motivate and inspire your people they will “want” to perform exceptionally.

To be a great leader, you must understand what people want.  You must learn what makes each person tick. Learn about their needs, desires and expectation.  Get to know your people and about their personal history.  Take time to understand their hopes, dreams and aspirations.  Talking, and more importantly, listening to your students will give you insight on how to lead and motivate them.

Respect and give everyone the opportunity to be outstanding. Gain insight on what your people want.

You may be surprised at the results; average people are constantly accomplishing extra-ordinary tasks.  All over the world, a little leadership and the right motivation can inspire anyone to achieve greatness.

Are you willing to do your best with what seems inadequate means?

Life is not perfect and neither is your school, athletic department or organization. Understand this reality now.  The sooner you get over worrying about what you do not have, the sooner you can succeed with the things you do have.

Use the available talent and resources you have…and press on.

Even when the means are inadequate, do your best, keep a positive attitude and do not quit.  As a leader, you must make a commitment to the success of your people and organization. You must be able to use the available resources you have to fulfill that commitment.

Even if you think you are lacking the basic necessities, you most likely have a resource second to none.  Look around you.  Your people are a source of skill, talent and answers.  Your students are ready and up to the challenge and not at all inadequate.

Remember, talented people, given guidance, leadership and proper direction can overcome anything. Enlist and trust in your team’s talents, skills and strengths to help you overcome inadequate means.

Use your leadership skills. Go ahead, this is a perfect opportunity to give kids a sense of direction, encouragement, and goals to reach. Encourage their participation in problem solutions.

“Are you willing to leave a comfortable office to check or supervise training, maintenance, and other activities of your unit?”

Leadership requires movement, you must get out from behind your desk. You cannot insulate yourself from your responsibilities, you must go out to meet them head on.

Leave your air-conditioned office and find out where the action is.  Then go spend some time there.

Get to know everybody by name.  Find out what makes your people tick and get to know their problems. In order to influence, you must let your leadership be seen and heard.

Remember, communication is a two-way street. As an open and accessible leader, you will encourage open, frank and constructive communication.  Only by being there, can you actively seek new ideas, implement appropriate solutions and get complete follow up.

Get out there, be seen, get dirty, earn respect, supervise and then listen, listen, listen to your people.

If you don’t believe me, look leadership up in a dictionary.  To be a leader, you must be in front.  Even less, you cannot lead anyone from behind a desk or in an air-conditioned office.

Sorry, yes, that means, sitting at your desk is not action.

Can you remain enthusiastic and cheerful when you are confronted with seemingly impossible tasks?

This is a tough one.  When was the last time you were confronted by a seemingly impossible job, overwhelming task or no-win situation? “Everyday”, you say.

These days, everything seems like an impossible task.  From the mundane trip to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles, to the daily grind of day-to-day work, we are all being asked to do more with less.

Understand when confronting difficult tasks, your first step is to remain enthusiastic and cheerful.  Decide and commit now, to the idea that you are in control of your response.  If you do not, you actually give up control of yourself and your life to others. Do not allow situations and/or people to ruin your day. Not even at the DMV.

Focus on the good aspects of your life, not the negative. Remember the lesson of the man who complained that he didn’t have shoes until he met the person that didn’t have feet. Stay positive.

Spread cheer and good will. Just like in the movie “Pay It Forward.” If you are cheerful and enthusiastic to someone they in turn may be nicer to the next person.  Your positive attitude will be contagious and it will make tasks seem easier and the day go by faster.

Always work toward solutions and goals with a good attitude.  Remember, if you remain positive, cheerful and enthusiastic impossible tasks are easier to conquer.

Apply this same attitude to your business at hand. Respect, motivate and lead your team or class. Be enthusiastic and cheerful, and show that you care about them.

Your students are working hard for you.

Better grades and more wins means more cheer all around.

“Are you and your family willing to live in a “gold fish bowl” open to observation and criticism by both subordinates and supervisors?”

Leaders, especially in today’s world, are under constant scrutiny and review of their performance. Being in a leadership position means that people will criticize you if you fall short of achieving your goals.  Perhaps, they will even criticize you when you succeed.

One thing is for certain people will review your conduct and performance at all times.  Be aware, this is one of the burdens of leadership or of being in charge. To accomplish great deeds, you must have thick skin, a strong vision and be open to criticism.

Remember your friends and family. The criticism will come from almost each and every direction.  At times, such criticism may become public knowledge and may affect your friends, family and your children’s lives.

Even though you may be trained or prepared to withstand this criticism, your friends and family may not.  Ensure your family is well informed; make sure they hear information from you first. They are entitled to know what is going on so they can be properly prepared to respond.

“Can you stand stiff competition from similar units and still retain a spirit of cooperation and teamwork with them?”

Do you recall the competition between the Texas cities on the television series “Friday Night Lights?” In Texas High School Football competition is stiff.

Healthy competition may come from within your unit or team or it may come from outside entities.   Both will serve your unit well. A spirit of competition raises the level of performance of both your individual team members and your team as a whole.

Just like in the show “Friday Night Lights,” it is important to maintain good professional relationships with friends as well as foes.  This means that you should try to conduct yourself well at all times regardless of the level of competition.

Remember, you and your team should thrive on competition and the performance enhancing qualities that good, healthy competition brings out.

If you do not have a rival, go and get one.  If you have a rival, go out and challenge them.  Both of your teams will be better for the effort.

Be a good neighbor, competitor and have some fun. Your reward is more friends and a more efficient, better run team.

“Can you carry out orders as well as give them?”

Get this straight from the beginning. You may be in charge, but there is always someone you will have to answer to. You might have to answer to your organization, a supervisor or “just” to yourself, but it will be someone.

In order to please your boss, you must be willing to carry out their orders as well as give the commands to get those orders accomplished.

Now is the time to be a leader, act like one!!!

Not only are your subordinates counting on you, but your superiors are counting on you as well. To achieve the organization’s success, you must make the right decisions and give the proper directions so that everyone is going in the right direction.

First listen. Be certain you understand the organization’s goals.

Understand your boss and develop a keen understanding of the overall goals. Learn to get your boss’ point of view, regardless whether you agree with the policies or not, you have an obligation to be on the team. Teamwork is important. All people, from top to bottom, should understand and be working toward common goals.

To carry out your boss’ instructions, talk straight.

Be specific in your words to your subordinates.  Be certain they understand your meaning and intent, not just the words. Listen again intently to their feedback. Just like you understand the team’s goals, they also must understand the goals and your directions.

Finally, giving clear and precise direction is critical to achieving goals. Do not waste time, money, materials and labor giving your people garbled information.  This is disastrous to morale and is highly costly in operating terms.

Be directive. Giving clear, precise instruction can ensure that your directives will be quickly complied with and the tasks expertly accomplished.

Do not forget to reward your people for a job well done. But that is another lesson.

“Are you physically and emotionally fit to carry the load of Command?”

Let us not forget, Leadership, as the word implies, means being at the front, in charge, in the heat of the battle. Thus, being emotionally and physically fit is a prerequisite to being in charge.

In order to lead, you must be ready to carry the physical and mental burden of command.

Leaders need to be where the action is.

Leave your desk behind.  Go get out from your air-conditioned office. This means, experience the sweat and endure the same problems encountered on the front lines. Work under the same policies your people work under.  In order to do this, you will need physical energy and fitness to work with your people.

You may see and hear things you do not like out there.

Emotionally, you will need to be mature to ensure your organization’s goals. Your organization or company will mirror your leadership style.  Being emotionally fit implies a lack of hysteria, foolishness, nerves, fright, or frenzy.  It means a disciplined, controlled and precise demeanor in the face of adversity.

Remember, it is difficult to lead people if your own emotional behavior is out of control.

Being emotionally and physically fit is most important at the end of the game.  Your physical and emotional fitness enhances your ability to resist the mental and physical fatigue that often results from achieving great tasks.

Fitness will allow you to be there “where and when” your people need you the most.

Fitness will allow you to be at the front when the going gets the toughest.

Lead from the front with tireless physical and emotional fitness.

Morale will soar and so will results.

“Do you have the courage to make tough decisions and stand by them?”

Be tough, but be fair.

Set high standards, and see them through.

Understand what needs to be accomplished to meet your goals and then go “Do It.”

A word about “being nice.” You always want to conduct yourself with dignity and decorum regardless how difficult situations become.

Being a tough, strong leader does not mean being abusive. Many times in your career, you will have to accomplish disagreeable tasks or reprimand people for their failure to perform up to standards. This is one of the toughest parts of being a leader.

During these times it is important to maintain your leadership composure and discipline. Making tough decisions does not mean that they are accomplished without compassion and care for those people involved.

Be critical of products, outcomes, and results, not people.

This is where your courage comes into play.

You must stand firm and accomplish the mission for the good of the unit or organization.

People respect a boss that is tough but fair. People like the structure of clearly defined rules. They like to know exactly what is expected of them, and what role they are to play in the organization.

They want you to follow up on their suggestions, as well as their complaints. They want YOU to take care of them.   Morale will be higher, people happier, and everything will be more efficient and productive.

“Are you able to do many things at one time?  Can you manage a complex job or environment?”

“Division of Attention” is a condition of leading and/or controlling (managing) simultaneous or continuous tasks, activities and events.

Division of attention takes leadership skills and management practice. By the very nature of this complex environment, you cannot accomplish everything or every activity alone.

This means, you must delegate tasks to your people and use your leadership skills to achieve your mission or goals.   These skills make sure everyone is working toward the goals of your organization. You need to ensure that the best available talent is being used effectively and appropriately.  Leadership ensures everyone is doing his or her part.

Once you provide the overall leadership, the day-to-day management will become easier.

Lead, set standards, be involved, but do not micro-manage your people.  Be careful; do not waste time on trivial or inconsequential matters.

Learn to spend your time where it counts the most, leading your people and keeping an eye on the overall goal.

That way, your mind is free to think. Set the course, and ensure that everybody and everything is headed in the right direction and that everything is being accomplished in that complex environment.

“Are you willing to accept your subordinates’ failures as your own… yet recognize their successes as their own?”

You are the one ultimately responsible for the success or failure of your endeavor. Your people will make mistakes from time to time.

Take responsibility for their mistakes and do not offer alibis for errors or shortcomings. See to it that your subordinates know that you are interested in their welfare. When they do good work encourage them…they will do even better.

The “buck always stops with you.”

Do not pass the responsibility for errors on to your subordinates or staff.

Always give your people the credit for success in reaching goals.  Praise often, loudly, and in public. Reprimand if necessary, quietly and in private. After reprimanding, try to end the meeting with some genuine and positive thoughts and words.

Leave your people with their dignity and respect. Just because someone might have made a mistake, do not destroy their worth as a person with harsh words.

Your reward will be loyal, hard working players that will work hard for the good of the team.