Tom Wall, Author at Dairy Coach - Page 3 of 86
by Tom Wall on March 22, 2017 · 0 Comments
I love March Madness. Actually, that’s not true… I can hardly even watch a whole game.
There’s just too many lead-changes for my heart to handle the NCAA roller coaster. I usually flip back and forth between other games and TV shows, and only tune back in for the last couple minutes at the end.
And even then, each time I turn the game back on and there’s just a few minutes left, I’m always amazed by how much the score changes in such a short amount of time. Of course, one “game minute” is never just one “real minute”… it’s a lot longer than that. And that’s the part that really intrigues me.
Every person out on the court is so focused and intentional with every split second on the clock. They know each decision and action could win or lose the game. As a fan, you know that too. And that’s why you find yourself yelling at the TV to shoot, pass, foul, or call a time-out, right?!
So what do you think someone would yell at the TV if they were watching you work? Would they see that you value your time as much as you want your favorite team to value theirs?
Ironically, many of us have higher expectations for other people than we do for ourselves. We expect that employees and contractors be productive with their time… turning in consistent, quality, hard work. Yet, when we don’t measure up to our own standards, we often accept it .
What would you change today if millions of people were tuning in live to watch you work?
Do that… you’ll probably win.
by Tom Wall on March 9, 2017 · 0 Comments
Call it over-simplification, but I think the following statement is absolutely true.
Most successes and failures are rooted in one word… “Mission”.
Do you know what the mission of your work/company/life is? Do you live it out every day? Does everyone on your team know what it is? Do they follow it?
Having a clear Mission is where it all begins. But that’s only half the battle. The real “mission work” is putting it first. Communicating The Mission and living it every day are the real challenges.
Honestly, I’m not sure I really know mine. I have a lot of “missions”, but if I’m being totally honest, I don’t have one clear, focused Mission.
More teams, companies, and relationships fail because The Mission that was previously the main focus of everyone’s efforts gets forgotten and replaced. Self-serving missions develop, and end up competing with The One True Mission. The Mission, gets replaced by my mission, his mission, her mission, and their mission. Relationships within the team become riddled with stressful conflict and confrontation because everyone is promoting and defending what they think is their, not our biggest priority.
So how do you go from “Mission Impossible” to “Mission Accomplished”?
The first thing to do is a one-time activity… Clarify The Mission. After that, it’s a constant, daily discipline. Every day, ask yourself and your team… “Are my/your/our actions all about putting The Mission first?” If the answer is no, it has to change.
The Mission is bigger than any one person, put The Mission first.