Strategic Solutions – Business Coaching Firm

We all have the same 24 hours in a day. The quantity of time does not change. There are always sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in a hour. So how can you find an extra hour? The answer is to manage the time that you have available.

It is about our perception of time. When we are working at challenging projects, there never seems to be enough time. When we are bored, time seems to slow down. To change our perception, we need to change our attitude. To achieve more in the time available then you need to develop a time conscious attitude.

Examine your attitudes to determine if you need to change your thinking. If your goal is to make more sales but you avoid sales oriented activities, your behavior is inconsistent with your goals. If you want to achieve outstanding success, but you devote only minimal hours and average effort to work, your behavior is inconsistent with your goals.

Finally a time conscious attitude will help you develop new time conscious habits which will make you more productive.

Many managers (owners) have the authority to make decisions and manage their business. They also believe that they have the power. Unfortunately, they are working under a misconception. There is a vast difference between having the authority to manage and having the power to manage.

Authority according to the dictionary is the ability to exercise (administrative) control over others. It is granted to a manager by the company or organization in keeping with the position that position holds.

It is a right to settle disputes, to control operations, to make and implement decisions and to administer or manage.

Power is the measure of your personal effectiveness. It is a skill that you develop in the everyday use of your authority. You earn your power; it is granted to you by those over whom you have exercised your personal ability and capacity to influence their behavior. Power places few limits on your available lines of action and implies a flexibility of behavior suitable to a variety of situations. It is a form of individual freedom to be creative, innovative, and responsive to the needs of others who will assist you in reaching your goals.

Authority, on the other hand, defines limits and action that you have the contractual right to take or use. It is granted to you by the organization as part of the organization’s attempt to control.

Managers who frequently have to resort to using authority diminish their personal power and ultimately their ability to influence and lead others.

They often find themselves having to use coercion to get things done. As a manager, if you possess power, you need only use authority as a last resort to accomplish your ends.

Managers, who create a climate of trust and cooperation, help their subordinates maintain their dignity, pride, and autonomy. Employees working under such conditions have been found to be happier, highly productive, and personally motivated.

Therefore, it should be the goal of an effective manager, to create conditions wherein individuals can set and achieve personal goals while achieving the goals of the organization.

In the words of Dwight David Eisenhower: “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”

For more information on this and other leadership issues contact Hank Sullivan at Strategic Solutions 510-432-7596 or email:hsullivan@stratsolutions.net