Be approachable. Keep your door open, share your own life and admit your mistakes. Make every effort to be approachable. The more approachable you are the more you will learn about your people and your organization. If you’re not open – people will withhold important information from you and your company will suffer. Excellent organizations are open and transparent. They are places where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions. If you are approachable, you are on your way to creating an open and honest environment.
Take an hour a day to grow. Take an hour a day to read, sit quietly, exercise, listen to a podcast or have lunch with a mentor. Making self development a regular habit is hard in the beginning but the payoffs are HUGE. The more you know and grow yourself – the more effective you will be to your organization.
Know your strengths. Knowing your strengths will help you decide where to spend your time and what you need to delegate. Focus on working in your areas of strength whenever possible. You can overcome and grow in areas of weakness but it requires a huge investment of time. It’s more productive and more fun to work in your strengths and to delegate the tasks that fall in your areas of weaknesses.
De-stress. If you’re stressed out you won’t perform at your maximum potential. There are no excuses or reasons for allowing stress to become a long term state of mind. Stress negatively affects your life and all who come into contact with you. You need to make de-stressing a priority. Take time to decompress, breathe and let go of all the worry. By doing this, you’ll be able to show up at work with more creativity and you’ll make a bigger impact on those your serve.
Study industry material. If you read and research your industry for an hour a day – you’ll be an industry expert within five years. The time you spend in study will definitely help grow every area of your business. It will help you to be more aware of trends, be quicker to make changes or create new products and it will give you a competitive edge. Being an expert in your industry is the best marketing tool you can have.
Volunteer. Volunteering individually or with your organization is rewarding and can be an effective part of marketing your business. Getting out of your own life and focusing on someone else is a great way to de-stress and to get in touch with gratitude. In addition, volunteering allows you to be part of something outside your business. You are able to make a difference, meet new people and market yourself and your business.
