4 Secrets to Winning
Don’t go through the motions for one more day.
Survival might be success during crisis, but it’s failure over the long-term.
Define success in order to win.
Purpose defines winning.
You must know why you exist in order to know if you’re winning.
The trouble with systems is they turn winning into efficiency. Just keep the systems running smoothly. Don’t get me wrong, every organization needs systems. But systems without purpose become heartless beasts that turn people into machines.
People inform winning.
The achievement of success is determined by the people on the team.
Accept the people on your team for who they are. Don’t try to make them something they aren’t.
- Where can your current team take you?
- Who is fully vested?
- Who is under-utilized?
- Who gives energy? Who drains it?
- Who pulls sideways?
- Who is ready for development?
- Who needs to move on or be marginalized?
Priorities enable winning.
- Know your purpose.
- Understand your people.
- Determine what matters now in relation to purpose and people.
Teams without priorities are adrift.
Gather your leaders and fight it out. Limit the number of priorities to five or less. Include at least one relationship priority.
Goals aren’t priorities.
Priorities precede goals.
Goals find meaning in connection to priorities.
Organizations without priorities are pushed around by urgencies.
Execution is winning.
Purpose, people, and priorities are central to winning. But, winning requires implementation, follow-up, follow-through, and completion.
- What will you do today to win?
- How will you measure results? Keep an eye on the competition, but compete with yourself.
- Who will earn honor for doing what matters now?
- How will you treat each other while you work?
If talking was winning, everyone would win.
How do organizations or individuals win?
What does winning look like in your world?
Excellent post. I believe Winning Well is a combination of 4 factors: confidence, humility, results and relationships. When any of those are out of balance it’s tough to get lasting results. But focus on those factors, and watch out– you will be unstoppable.
Thanks Karen. Your focus on confident humility is an important contribution to the leadership community. Then, the dynamic between results and relationships is important ground to navigate.
I respect your insights.
Dan; Good Morning!
Wow; Great work!
This is very clear and indeed winning with purpose.
Michael A. Chapman
Thanks Michael.
Good morning my friend;
Let’s try something ‘New’ today Dan! It is said that, “Great minds think alike.” Let’s see if it true.
(Four Secrets to Winning), is where I stopped reading. I did not read the content of today’s blog, nor did I read your followers comments. Let’s see if I’ve paid attention and learned. Here we go;
I’ll begin with what I believe is the quickest, most reliable approach to becoming a Sucsess, and ‘remaining’ a sucsess.
No#1. Be an individual who add’s VALUE to their
Organization.
No#2. Never stop growing. Those who believe they
are through learning, “ARE THROUGH!”
No#3. Become a ‘Savey’ Networker. Start by building
close, reliable relationsbips with solid
performer of diversified backgrounds who can
be counted on, “to get the job done.”
No#4. Be the person others can count on, “especially
when it’s inconvenient & you’d rather be doing
something else.(Do this and those ‘Go-Getters’
from No#3 seem will attracted to you).
I’d like to add a bit more Dan but my phone is going dead.
Cheers Dan
SGT Steve P.S. “How’d I do Pardner?”
Thanks SGT Steve. Love it. I came at the subject a bit more organizationally. You came at it more individually. #2 is always one of my favorites.
So what might you add to what I wrote?
Hey Dan;
On the way home from the Academy. I’ll get back to ya in a bit.
Steve
I am really fond of the “priorities enable winning”….Let’s see, Know your purpose, understand your people and Determine what matters now in relation to purpose and people. It is easy to see how so many organizations fail or are failing and they don’t know it.
Good morning Brent;
That’s leadership in a nutshell; (Purpose, People, & what’s THE ‘Most-Important’ thing to do.)
Time, resources, and revenue will always loom ominously in the shadows requiring Leaders to constantly monitor individual and organizational effectiveness. People that understand the true purpose of their position will consistently re-evaluate best practices to insure maximum efficiency. Empowering others with the authority to expedite daily goals and objective’s by placing them in positions that utilize their particular Talents and Skill-Set’s. When staff believe they have the total support and confidence of their Leaders they are unfettered by things such as ‘doubt’ & ‘indecision’. Believing in, and supporting your people 100% unlocks the potential of human beings interacting with one another in a way that builds ‘Solid Community’ in the workplace, THE RESULT; exceptional effort and exceptional results – (Leadership) 101
Respectfully yours
SGT Steve
The best management book that I read, is the one I did not read anything beyond the cover. It’s abook called “Execution”. For me, the title summed it up
Dan, you did a great job of defining winning and how to win. I particularly enjoyed your inclusion of purpose and meaning. Sometimes I believe winning may have something to do with certainty and uncertainty because they create the freedom to discover meaning.
As example, for most leaders, uncertainty represents an absence of personal control. For a few, though, uncertainty is an opportunity to seek and find purpose. If there are meaningful choices, there is uncertainty. If there is no choice, there is no uncertainty and no opportunity for control. Mindfulness insists that uncertainty and the experience of personal control are inseparable.
Mindfulness is to be open to new categorizations of experience; whereas, when we’re mindless, we lock everything into preordained perspectives. When we mindfully open up to new experiences and have a willingness to shift our perspectives, we introduce instability: We recognize the fact that all growth and success requires us to step into the unknown, more innovative world.
Mindfulness of uncertainty requires acceptance of change, adaptation, and courage. This courage is not the opposite of despair–rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair…to take the next authentic, mindful steps on our paths to process, optimization, actualization, goal-attainment, success, reward, and winning.
I like the discussion of priorities that begins: ‘Teams without priorities are adrift.’ I’m not familiar with these that preceed goals. I need to learn more about this use. Any references you can point me to?
One thing is clear: I don’t believe there’s any real chance of success without a vision, priorities goals, objectives and a plan… if I was correct to start with vision!!! Great post – again.
Great Post dan. Just now i am reading a book titled “Who Cheats and How? It is an excellent book on how things not done the right way can destroy that you set out to build. Some greedy elements try short cuts to fame and money not realising that they are destroying the whole eco system. Plan, Devise , Communicate and execute in the right way with clear direction and vision. Things will automatically fall in place.
Thanks Dan
I find that there is too much attention given to processes and not enough to the people who are intended nto use those processes. As you said organizations need systems but systems without purpose turn people into machines. And machines work fine until something goes wrong, and something always goes wrong.
Thank you for this article. It is really great!