Are you taking 100% Ownership ?
Good morning, everyone. It’s Sal, Celly hope you’re doing well. It is St. Patrick’s Day. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, it’s 7am on Friday, March 17th 2023. I want to do this quick post on, are you taking 100% responsibility? At the end of the day, we can all make excuses about how certain things didn’t happen, somebody else didn’t do their job, you were dependent on something and they didn’t deliver. Nobody cares about that. The buck stops with you. You need to take ownership of the outcome. And don’t shift responsibility to others.
At the end of the day, somebody has to step up and raise their hand and do the work, spend the time to go into the details, redo the work, and get very intimate with everything about the situation. If it is a sales opportunity, you need to understand all the details. Why are they doing it? What is the customer trying to do? What are the business objectives? What are the IT implications? What is our proposed solution? What is the reverse timeline? How do you focus on the key activities and who has to do what? You have to take ownership. Nobody works alone. But at the end of the day, somebody has to be responsible to deliver the outcome that is desired. And don’t shift that responsibility.
Be Accountable
It comes with accountability. And of course, when the deal closes, or the outcome is delivered, you get the credit. But if it slips, you get the blame as well. So I just wanted to recognize and focus and reiterate the importance of taking that ownership. Of course, there are the people that are going to do the work, but you need to make sure that you hold them accountable, and you manage the project. And you make sure that each of those people deliver what they’re supposed to deliver in the timeframe that you are expecting them to.
Sometimes it gets frustrating because they’re not doing it in the required timeframe. You need to push back when that happens, escalate, hold them accountable, measure it, and explain to them that this was not done when it was supposed to-why? Also, how can we make sure that that doesn’t happen again?
Tweak your approach
The same applies to you as well. When you fall back or when you falter, irrespective of whose fault it is, you have to be willing to hear that feedback. And most importantly, absorb the feedback, modify the game plan, adjust, redo what you had revisited, invest the time and change the approach and then do it again. I know in the heat of the moment, this becomes frustrating because you feel that I already did it. But that doesn’t matter. Don’t confuse activity with results. Yes, the activity will produce the results but the right kind of activity is key.
So that’s where the difference between revenue producing activity and administrative activities come in- the administrative activities still need to be done. But are you utilizing your best and most optimal time for non-optimal activities and if you are, try modifying it- either delegate or do it at a different time. Your best and most optimal time, should be reserved and allocated to perform your most critical activities and tasks that will have the maximum impact for you and your family.
Be Focused fully & completely
The other thing I want to also focus on, is in the West particularly, we talk about a lot of multitasking- don’t do that. You need to be 100% focused on the work that you’re doing and the in the activity that you’re involved with at that moment. Because it requires effort and it requires 100% attention. If you’re trying to do too many things at the same time, none of them get done. So prioritize the key activities, give it 100% and take ownership. When you do that, your mental health will improve, you will feel more in control, and you overall physical and emotional wellbeing will be at a better place than before. You will feel more balanced and fulfilled, instead of being anxious, stressed and running around like a headless chicken. Go ahead and try it out.
If you need further details or want to schedule a 30 minute complimentary session on how you can get things done more effectively and efficiently, please email me at coach@test.maximizeu.life. This is Sal Celly. Thanks for reading.