WOF
Warrant of Fitness
Getting fit to make a Quantum Leap in 2017
A quantum leap can take you to high places where you can make your mark, gain a strategic view, and influence widely and wisely … making a difference not only to yourself and your Organisation, but also to the lives of many others.
Did you know that if you positively influence 15 other people, and each of them in turn influence another 15 who do likewise, after only seven iterations you will have impacted on nearly everyone? That’s what we call an asymmetric Quantum Leap!
The following checklist provides you with an opportunity to reflect on your current state of readiness to make a Quantum Leap in 2017. See how many boxes you tick, and identify those attitudes and capabilities that will need to be enhanced before you take the leap. It also provides a reminder that first you need to be Fit-to-Lead in order to be Fit-to-Leap.
1. Purpose & Passion – what am I a ‘natural’ at? Each of us has innate gifts that we were born with. Nature gifted us a specific talent that opens up the potential for each of us to be the best at a particular thing. That doesn’t mean we are restricted to fulfilling the exact role we were tailor-made for. However, as any farmer in the South Island of New Zealand will tell you over a bottle of Speights, a poodle will never cut the mustard when it comes to rounding up sheep – that’s what the border collie header dog was cut out for. Whilst poodles can be trained to round up sheep, most likely they will lack the natural abilities and passion to sustain the effort and performance of a border collie with an equivalent level of training.
Q1. [ ] Am I in a role that I am passionate about, have the natural talent for, and am innately the best at?
Q2. [ ] Where is my Organisation in its life cycle? Does it require an innovator, integrator, execution expert, or a turn-around specialist at the helm?
Q3. [ ] Do I have the hunger and drive to take a Quantum Leap, or am I operating with a sense of entitlement and complacency?
2. Vision – do I have a clear picture (aka Vision) in my mind of whom I want to be and which mountain peak I want to stand on and look out from?
At the beginning of 2017, I need to use my imagination and a process to create a Bold Vision for myself and my organisation and set specific quarterly goals. Once I have a clear picture of what my Quantum Leap looks, sounds, and feels like, the way to get there will become clear (intuitives call it synchronicity; left brain dominants consider it to be akin to a GPS process).
Have I sketched out my Vision on a sheet of A3 paper (my Vision Board) along with a set of specific goals? Do I review my laminated Vision Board first thing each morning before heading off to work?
This important daily ritual embeds my Vision and Goals as the dominant neural program in my unconscious mind. It’s my unconscious mind that directs me to my desired destination just as it faithfully navigates me home on auto-pilot each afternoon (and enables me to automatically recall that 7 x 7 = 49 without even thinking).
Q4. [ ] Do I have a clear, bold image (Vision) in my mind and have I recorded it along with a set of specific stretch goals that provide the KPIs so that my GPS is calibrated and keeps me on-track when I take that gutsy Quantum Leap?
(Note: ISL have a goal-setting and automated pulse in the Personal Dashboard. Do I need to access and use this device so I can receive regular reminders? If so email Lucy – l.hardy@leadership.ac.nz)
3. Attitudes – what I think about, is what I become; for better or worse. And, the attitude I present to others is what they reflect back to me. “What I sow, so I reap.”
Q5. [ ] What are my dominant thoughts? How have they shaped who I am and how am I projecting that to the world? Which attitudes need to be polished up? How can I project a calm, considered and strategic persona?
4. Self Concept – how do I view and regard myself? Am I proud deep down about who I consider myself to be? Have I forgiven myself for all the dumb things I have done and said to myself and to others? Have I forgiven others (including Mum, Dad, siblings, friends, school mates) for the hurtful things they have done and said to me so that I am finally able to delete those obsolete files?
Am I keeping to the forefront of my mind, that if my Vision and Self-Concept are at odds with each other, it’s my Self-Concept and Self-Image that will be in control of my attitudes, fears, and behaviours, despite how imaginative my Vision is and how positively I project myself. It is therefore vitally important that I review my Vision Board and articulate my goals daily in order to embed them into my unconscious.
I also need to start right now to present myself in new ways that reflect the attitude of a successful Quantum Leap achiever.
Q6. [ ] Which negativity in my unconscious mind do I need to dispose of? When will I start to over-print with a new picture / self-concept of myself; the one whom is about to take the Quantum Leap in 2017?
5. Fit to Lead – making a Quantum Leap as a business leader is a team exercise. So, how fit-to-lead am I in terms of: Lead Self; Lead Team(s); Lead Strategically; Lead the Organisation?
Q7. [ ] Am I courageously taking the lead and showing the way? Am I role-modeling positive attitudes and behaviours? Am I putting together a team comprised of each of the 4Characters so that I have a Dream Team that can both innovate and execute?
Q8. [ ] Would I like my daughter or son to have a leader like me?
Q9. [ ] Would I like to have a team leader who has similar attitudes and behaviours as me?
Q10. [ ] Would I be inspired by a Chief Executive like me?
Q11. [ ] Do I really understand the drivers of our enterprise’s performance – including a robust understanding of the links and alignment between our strategy, culture, staff engagement, customer engagement and financial performance?
6. Service – the rewards I get are exactly equal to the service I give. Likewise, the rewards our company receive are precisely equal to the service we as a company provide to our customers.
In terms of colleagues, my boss is one of my most important customers. They’re the one who influences my brand, my career trajectory, my monthly pay, my standard of living, my development, my growth, and whether going to work on Monday morning is a blast or a fast.
Q12. [ ] Am I focusing primarily on myself and my reward expectations? If that is so, am I putting too much focus and weight to the wrong side of the scales? Should I refocus on giving greater service recognising that the commensurate rewards will follow? (and being mindful it doesn’t work the other way around!).
Q13. [ ] Am I and my team totally customer-centric? What changes do we need to make to our attitudes and behaviours?
Q14. [ ] Am I treating my boss as a customer and providing due service and attention? Do I make sure the time they spend with me is a high spot in their day? Am I aware that they’re a human being also with ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses, successes and set backs? How can I support and fill in their blind-spots? How can I lead up as well as across and down?
7. Reinvent – what new things do I need to polish up, learn, and achieve this year that will prepare me for the Quantum Leap? I need to remember that without ploughing back time and investment into my own development as well as my team’s development and company’s R&D, it won’t be possible to take a Quantum Leap. If I don’t budget for personal and team development, I will soon have an out-of-date brand.
Q15. [ ] What executive development do I need to invest in to gain the knowledge and skills required to make a Quantum Leap?
Q16. [ ] What changes do I need to make to my lifestyle and health so that I can keep my energy up and be a great role model? Which new relationships should I build and which should I distance myself from?
8. Unfair Advantage – What do the previous Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Chief of Defence, Chief of Police, CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland, CEO of Qantas Australia, Vice Chancellor of James Cook University, and numerous CEOs of leading companies have in common?
All of these Top Guns made the Quantum Leap after completing the ISL Strategic Leadership Programme [SLP]. Several completed the LP, SLP and ISL| MBA (the handful of next practice Chief Executives who honed their leadership, as well as polished their strategic thinking & influencing skills, and bolstered their business savvy skills). These development initiatives gave them the knowledge skills, tools, vocabulary, frameworks, influencing skills, self-awareness, and confidence to be their own person, with their own views and opinions (leading the field rather than following the pack).
Q17. [ ] How can I gain the Unfair Advantage? What performance diagnostics do I need to access in order to provide the evidence to Boards, start-up funders, or recruiters so as to prove that I am fit and equipped to take a Quantum Leap?
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This WOF Check List is designed to stimulate your enthusiasm
to Grow and Flourish.
It should be read in the context as a follow up to the
New Year Thought Provoker
Taking a Quantum Leap in 2017 …
INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
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Experts in preparing talented leaders to make a Quantum Leap
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