“Priorities, Process and Kleenex”

Like any good business team, we’re continually re-sharpening our focus, ensuring that what we’re spending our time on is achieving the results we want.   To that end, we spend a couple of hours in a team meeting every week.   Admittedly, the busier we get the more challenging it is to carve out this time.  However, we have deemed it an important part of our business, so we give it priority.  We know our success is dependent on providing excellent services for our clients.  And we believe our success is also dependent on our ability to encourage and motivate each other in meaningful ways, and holding each other accountable to higher and higher standards, both professionally and humanly.  The only way we can do that is to carve out time to be together.  If this is ever relegated to the bottom of the priorities, NE could very well cease to exist.  We believe in this that much.

Now about priorities… something dawned on me in a team meeting recently.  We use “minutes” as an outline to direct the content of our meetings.  These minutes start by listing our 5 year, 3 year, and current year goals.  We have to know what our goals are before we can decide how our time is best spent – Business 101, right?  In this recent meeting, I realized that one of our most important goals was at the bottom of our minutes!  Ergo, we ended up spending less, or worse – no time on one of our most important goals!  So, we spent some special time together to discuss our goals – did we still have a shared mental model as to what they were?  And how could our minutes, the driver of our meetings, be more intentional toward our priorities?  It will be interesting to see the results of our re-focusing on our priorities.

Here we are, a new company, we have no excuse for being in a rut.  We’ve read all the great books about business, we are fabulous trainers in soft skills, we’re savvy in communication, we’re self-efficacious.  Yet here we were, neglecting our priorities!  This small, and yet large thing that had been going on for months unnoticed, made me realize just how easy it is to get into a comfortable stride, at work, at home, at church, anywhere.  And to quit growing.  The problem with stagnation is, it won’t be long, and you will find you are no longer effective, no longer contributing, no longer relevant.  Ouch!

Our number one goal is now affectionately called “NEP” – or the Next Element Process.  First and foremost, we engage each other in meaningful, accountable ways, then, and only then, do we move onto the content of business.

So now Nate asks me if I’ll write a blog post about all this.  I’m with Jamie when it comes to feeling a lack of mastery in the social media realm.  I tried once before, and it didn’t work-out.

During my last attempt to write something, I learned a lot about myself.  Learning about myself isn’t something I enjoy.  Turns out I’m not as perfect as my persister part has led me to believe. (If you don’t know what I mean by “persister part” – come to one our PCM seminars)   And, I have learned that it is only through pain and discomfort that I can grow, and become a better person.  And I would like to be a better person, in theory anyway.  So, turn on the spotlight, face me toward the mirror, and be prepared to hand me a tissue and give me a hug!

People that know us, frequently tell us how wonderful it must be for us to work together.  It is.  And it’s hard.  Because we believe in accountability, in practicing what you preach and teach, the standard is pretty high around here.  And we’re all human, we all experience different levels of distress for various reasons on any given day.  Some days, you just want to be lazy.  Some days, your rebel part just wants to be ‘onry.  Some days, we only see what we want to see, and our preconceived perceptions can get in the way of truth, just as it can for anyone.  That’s when the tissues come out.

Despite how difficult some days can be, I would not trade the time I’ve spent with my partners for anything.  With them, I am expected to trust,  to keep learning, to close channels. (Sorry, another PCM reference)  And in turn, they trust me, they give me their patience and encouragement when I’m struggling, and they keep me humble. I’ve decided humility is a necessary component for most persisters to grow.  I’ve never been one to believe it’s okay to rest on your laurels, and that we owe it to ourselves, and those in our lives to keep learning, to keep improving.  NE has been a good fit for me and this ideology.

Yes, it is difficult, and sometimes painful working with people that hold you to a high standard of accountability and growth.  And, it’s wonderful.