Урок №19. The Time Tactics of Leaders
MMR совместно с Business Spotlight Ukraine представляет девятнадцатый урок в рамках новой рубрики «A Lesson for a Marketing Person».
by Robin Sharma, one of the world’s most highly respected leadership experts.
Author of a best-seller The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.
One of the things the best of the best in business (and life) do staggeringly well is they leverage time to create spectacular results. We all have the same amount of time in a day/month/life. Those who use it poorly live half lives. Those who use it well become superstars.
Time truly is the stuff of life. This moment will never come again. Yes, with the seduction of distraction, it’s so easy to postpone doing those high-leverage activities that will really help you lead and win in your work. In so many ways, leadership is about blocking out the noise and having the discipline to concentrate your days on the few things that will make the most impact. (Warren Buffett said his No. 1 talent was his ability to focus.)
In my work as a leadership advisor to many of the superstars in business and organizations like Nike, FedEx and IBM, I’ve observed that the best time tacticians do the following things to get their exceptional results:
1. They Make Time to Think. While their competition is asleep, world-class leaders are up — and they’re not watching the news or reading the paper. They are thinking, planning and practicing. They are recording their goals, reconnecting to their missions and preparing to play at wow. The more time spent thinking and refining what’s most important, the more focused you’ll be at work.
2. They March to a Different Drumbeat. It takes a lot of courage to be your own person, but that’s part of what leadership’s all about ‑ being comfortable in your own skin. So, the best leaders run their own races. They work and live in an unorthodox way. They are up earlier than most people. Rather than spending their lunch hour gossiping, criticizing and complaining, they are reading, working out or visualizing. Rather than listening to the radio on their morning commute, they are training their brains for excellence by consuming audiobooks and learning programs.
3. They Get That Peak Performance Is a Pulse. Top athletes understand that to play at their best, they must alternate periods of intense performance with periods of strategic renewal. They have an «onseason» where they deliver at world-class. And then they have an offseason where they renew, regenerate and refine their skills. The key to their genius is actually what they do in the offseason. The same applies to us. Each day, work hard, innovate and go the extra mile. Then pull back and recharge. Find ways to restore depleted energy and get your inspiration back. The next day you’ll be even stronger.
4. They are Ruthless with Distractions. Cell phones, mobile e-mail, and all the other cool and slick gadgets can cause massive losses in our creative output and overall productivity. They are wonderful servants, but they are terrible masters. And they’ve made a lot of people who could be doing world-class work addicted to being busy.
5. Build «technology-free zones» into your days. Three hours of focused time on the projects that will really add value and uplift your career are so much better than 10 hours where you are constantly being interrupted and taken off your focus. Allow technology to be a brilliant tool to help you lead more effectively, not a shiny distraction that ultimately causes you to waste your life on trivial things.
VOCABULARY
staggeringly [stægərɪŋli] — удивительно
to leverage sth [‘liːvərɪʤ] — максимально использовать что—либо
spectacular [spek’tækjələ] — захватывающий, удивительный
seduction [sɪ’dʌkʃ(ə)n] — соблазн
exceptional [ɪk’sepʃənl]— исключительный, выдающийся
to make time to do sth — находить время делать что-либо
to refine [rɪ’faɪn]— детализировать, уточнять, совершенствовать
drumbeat [‘drʌmbiːt] — барабанная дробь
to run one‘s own race — устроить собственный забег
commute [kə’mjuːt] — поездка на работу
peak performance — максимальная прозводительность
renewal [rɪ’njuːəl] — восстановление
go the extra mile — выложиться, сделать дополнительное усилие
depleted [dɪ’pliːtid] — израсходованный
ruthless [‘ruːθləs] — безжалостный
slick — отличный, развлекательный
LANGUAGE POINT
Rather than — вместо (того(,) чтобы). Эта фраза нам нужна, чтовы выразить альтернативу, которой не будет отдано предпочтение. Может вести себя и как предлог (I’ll watch a comedy rather than a horror movie) и как союз (I decided go out rather than stay home). Во втором случае, вам когут встретятся примеры, когда после rather than употребляется как инфинитив (без частицы to!), так и герундий.
Например:
Kids of 7 want to be celebs rather than do traditional jobs.
Rather than spending their lunch hour gossiping, criticizing and complaining, they are reading, working out or visualizing.
Определиться поможет простое правило: ставим инфинитив, если можем заменить rather than на and not, герундий если rather than заменяется на instead of.
LANGUAGE LEARNING TIP
Самая большая проблема в изучении языка — не освоение грамматики, не пополнение словарного запаса, и даже не аудирование, а… разговорный барьер. С ним можно бороться по-разному. Хорошо, если попадете в языковую среду, где придется заговорить на иностранном. Отличный способ — заучивание диалогового текста на память. Она сослужит вам хорошую службу, выуживая из своих недр подходящее для конкретной разговорной ситуации предложение. Пока вы еще подумаете про то, какие слова, да в каком времени и порядке, ваш язык сам скажет, все что нужно. При условии, что вы не ленились, а заучивали предложения на память, делая домашнее задание.
Exercise
1. Give a summary of the text. Name the most important tactic and the less important in your opinion. Which of them are you going to use in future?
2. Make up some sentences with rather than taking into account the explanation given under LANGUAGE POINT.