7 Moments That Define Excellent Leaders

Lee J. Colan
The Big Idea
The building blocks of excellence are moments---specifically, defining moments. In this book,
bestselling author Lee J. Colan tells leaders how to recognize, create and utilize these moments
effectively to bring out the best in their people.

The 7 Moments

1. A Moment To Commit: Giving your all-time best

Giving your best always gets the best results. A total commitment creates momentum. However,
leadership will not always be a smooth flight, because good leaders are responsible for themselves
and their teams.

Think excellence

You are the conductor of your own thoughts. No one else can control them for you. Your
mind is a magnet. Only you can create your own positive attitude and by doing so, attract
things of a similar disposition.

Mentally reframe challenges to view them in a positive light. Your experiences are not as
important as how you choose to see them. The way you think about what happens determines
the ultimate outcome.

True commitment never rests... keep pushing. Your responsibility as a leader includes always
pushing your people and yourself. A leader never stops showing his team the way to success.

Create a compelling cause

Answer the question, "Why do we do what we do?" Meaning precedes motivation. People need
to fully understand the situation before they can decide to commit themselves.

Keep it simple and easy to understand-- people commit to what they can understand.
Excellent leaders take the initiative to define causes for their teams. These causes must be
real and relevant to be effective and convincing.

Think big-- your cause should stir the emotions. Compelling causes are not project goals;
these are reasons to be excited to go to work every day. These should be capable of inspiring
the employees to deliver great performance. Explaining a compelling cause can create a
defining moment for employees while igniting a commitment to excellence.
Secure your foundation

Define and live by your team's foundational values. These values are how a team flows and
interacts. Leaders are committed to these values, and must be both examples and standards
of these values.

Look at repeat problems for symptoms of cracks in your foundational values. Repeat
problems indicate that the solutions are not deep enough. Steps should be taken to address
these problems better, or discover what the deeper problem is in order to solve it.

Define rules of engagement to reinforce your team's values. Setting rules of engagement,
which describe how a team interacts, helps focus on what is critical for performance. These
rules of engagement must always be visible and applied to even the smallest things.

2. A Moment To Plan: Taking time out

Planning is a crucial step for success, and vital for anything excellent. A defining moment for a
leader is when he takes time to plan instead of just reacting to daily, tactical demands.

Set a high-definition vision

Answer the four questions employees ask:

-What are we trying to achieve? (Goals)

-How are we going to achieve it? (Plans)
-How can I contribute? (Roles)
-What's in it for me? (Rewards)

The clarity of the answers made to these decisions is directly proportional to the clarity of your own
vision. Without a clear vision, moving beyond the current boundaries may prove very difficult or even
impossible.

Be more specific than you think you need to be. Employees may feel that they need to know
more than you think they do. They demand a certain level of clarity before they can fully see
the impact of their work.

Don't underestimate the intelligence of your employees. Leaders who underestimate their
employees' intelligence usually overestimate their own. The time invested in setting a high-
definition vision can pay off in terms of avoiding problems that stem from a low-definition
vision.

Optimize your sweet spot

Know your own leadership sweet spot by asking:

-What am I absolutely passionate about?

-Which tasks are very easy and natural for me to perform?
As in sports, sweet spots in business are the areas that provide the best results. Knowing your own
sweet spot allows you to better design roles and deploy talent in the team.

Match each employee's sweet spot to job requirements. Matching these two is the best
predictor of job success and excellent performance. Employees will work and perform better
in the areas that they are best suited for.

Redesign work to keep your team in their sweet spots. This can be done by combining tasks
with similar skill requirements, automating repetitive tasks, streamlining inefficient processes
and eliminating redundancy and outsourcing tasks that require a high level of people power
but have little impact on the organization.

Magnify your leadership

Cut through the complexities of your operation and keep it simple. Complexity is proven to
eat profits, and is hence the enemy of excellence. Studies show that simple, focused
organizations are more profitable.

Determine where the 80/20 Principle exists. Twenty percent of things (people, products,
etc.) in an organization are responsible for 80 percent of profits. Identifying this 20 percent
allows you to concentrate 80 percent of your efforts on areas in which they will be most
effective.

Leverage your vital few and minimize your trivial many. After identifying who and what the
20 percent (the vital few) are, steps can be taken to increase their efficiency while
eliminating, minimizing or automating the remaining 80 percent (the trivial many). This
results in faster and more efficient performance.

3. A Moment to Act: Making every minute count

Life rewards those who seize their time and take action. Excellence belongs to those who act instead
of making excuses. Actions may sometimes get lost in intentions, but other people judge you by what
you do, not what you meant to do.

Check your focus

Your focus is a magnet for your life-- look for excellence in all you do and excellence will
find you. The things we focus on create a magnet for our lives by attracting similar things. A
person who focuses on excellence will thus be very likely to find it.

Look at how you spend your time to check your focus. Focusing on positive aspects of life
attracts "luck". The most successful people create their own luck by preparing to meet
opportunity. Their focus and preparation put them in the right place at the right time.

Hard work is the best predictor of luck... and excellence. A positive focus should be
combined with hard work to achieve excellence. Hard work can yield defining moments for
the team, and defining excellence as well.
Treasure your precious resources

Say "No" to non-value-added activities. This allows the team to use its resources, which are
finite, more efficiently. Saying Yes to one thing means saying No to another, so care should
be taken on which things should actually be said Yes to.

Use your team's time, money and energy carefully, particularly in meetings. These things,
when spent, cannot be regained and cannot be used in other areas. Leaders decide how to
use an employee’s time, and must therefore ensure a good return for their time investment.

Define what "inside your boat" and stay focused on it. Do not worry about things that are
outside your control. Concentrating on the things that you can do something about helps
retain focus.

Make real-time decisions

Spend your time on the most important 20 percent of your decisions. Using the 80/20
Principle allows for faster and better decisions. The actual results of these decisions, whether
or not they were successful, are also the best source of analytical data. Successful results,
however, should be doubled.

Collect the best information you can quickly, then use your leadership intuition to make the
decision. Once you have all the facts, waiting will not improve the decision. Using leadership
intuition can create a defining moment for a leader.

Listen at least 50 percent of the time. Your ability to make proper, informed decisions is
directly related to how well you listen. Also, the higher you are in an organization, the more
filtered the information you receive, so listening to employees will help give you proper
insight for future real-time decisions.

4. A Moment To Connect: Reaching for the hands of time

The secret of successful companies lies in employees that feel and act connected to each other and
to the company. Connected teams can do more than employees acting on their own, no matter how
productive they may individually be.

Look beyond your employees

Demonstrate an interest in your people, not just your employees. People do more for those
who appreciate them. Showing appreciation is a matter of priority and action. Statistically,
the only difference between excellent and mediocre leaders is the amount of caring that they
show.

Ensure at least 3 positive interactions to 1 negative interaction. This 3-to-1 ratio is the
minimum for having productive workgroups. This reinforces desired behavior and increases
the chances of it occurring more often.

Go bananas with employee recognition-- find ways to be creative and do it frequently.

Employee recognition is more effective when it is tailored to the individual. There are
thousands of ways to do this at little or no cost, but which still mean a lot to the employee.
 The frequency is for constant positive reinforcement.

Cultivate your network

Methodically cultivate relationships-- they are your lifeline. Relationships are often the only
constant. They also allow you to stay current with new trends, give ideas of where to build
skills and enable quick access to resources. Every moment should be used as an opportunity to
connect.

Store information about your network in an easily accessible system. This allows you to
quickly access information and resources when needed.

Use your system of information and people to answer any question within 12 hours. This is
the best and most efficient use of these resources. Today's fast and wired world allows for
this speed, which is twice the previous one.

Ritualize your team

Use rituals to reinforce your values. Rituals connect team member to you, each other, and
ultimately to the compelling cause. Effective rituals enhance the way a team flows and
interacts.

Choose team rituals that fit your style. Rituals should fit both your leadership style and the
chemistry of the team. They should also be comfortable and natural in order for them to be
effective. Team rituals can be focused outward as well as inward.

Implement fewer rituals deeper. Effective rituals must be fun, simple and meaningful, and
should never be compromised. Having a limited number of rituals helps ingrain their
importance, making each one more special.

5. A Moment To Invest: Giving your time to improve a life

Investing in other people and in yourself gives great returns. Investing in people is the best predictor
of achieving leadership excellence.

Inspire future leaders

Mentor for success in work and life. Excellent leaders coach employees to become great
people, helping them build better lives for themselves and others from the inside out. A
fundamental law of leadership is: If your employee is successful, than you are successful.

Coach well the first time to ensure learning and prevent re-coaching on the same skills. This
is the most time- and cost-effective way of coaching. The best return is generated from a
proper investment of a leader's time and energy.

Expose your team to a rich variety of experiences. Experiences help your employees grow as
people. Having a variety of situations allows for more rounded growth.
Live your legacy

Focus on living your legacy instead of worrying about leaving it. Living your legacy is often
the best way to ensure that it will remain, and is also a good way to lead through example.
The life you live today affects future generations.

Give your life and wisdom away. Passing the baton to someone you have invested in and
seeing your values reflected in that person is one of the most joyful moments for any leader.
Living your legacy defines yourself and others by a life of excellence.

No investment is too small. Even small investments can pay off big, if made properly.
Investment in others is not about money, it is about time.

Exercise your brain

Embrace lifelong learning. Keeping your brain sharp builds competence. This in turn builds
confidence, which is something every successful leader has. Like any muscle, the brain
atrophies when not used.

Use your downtime as mental uptime-- read, listen, learn, visualize. Visualization sends
signals to your body that can lead to a stronger and more effective performance during the
actual event. The mind does not know the difference between physical and mental practice.

Use mentors to get valuable answers to tough questions. Mentors are a great source of
information. As your goals change or new stages of life Mentors are a great source of
information. As your goals change or new stages of life are entered, your mentors will
naturally change. For the greatest benefit, seek out mentors with specific skill that you wish
to acquire.

6. A Moment To Change: Adapting to the times

You should constantly examine your boundaries to determine if they should be let down for
expansion or kept up. Barriers that are always up can constrict your ability to exhibit full potential.

Delight in discomfort

Keep your momentum in seeking discomfort... and delighting in it! Discomfort allows you to
keep your momentum and gives a healthy alertness of where you can improve. Delighting in
this makes you more relaxed and more likely to find good solutions. It helps you stay on the
offensive and thrive, rather than remaining defensive and merely surviving.

When you feel you are cruising to victory, take a look around... but not only at your
opponents. Looking at those who perform well, even in other fields, will keep you humble
and focused on improving yourself. Excellent leaders are never satisfied and never
complacent.

Lead beyond the status quo--always focus on the next level. Goals should force changes,
require tough decisions and inspire bold actions. Those that are easy to achieve are not big
enough and will not allow you to get to the next level.
Know fear

Get rational about your fears-- identify the primary cause of your fear. Since fear of the
unknown is always the strongest, defining moments can occur when you choose to know your
fears. Fear can be used as a good motivator.

Get to know your fears and act on them-- don't react to them. Fear is a secondary emotion.
The key is to identify the primary response, think about it and act on it. Causes of behavior
are usually easier to address than the symptoms, like fear.

Seek out different opinions before they come to you. Excellent leaders seek no-holds-barred
input. Your greatest fear should be of wasting a potentially defining moment. Leadership
excellence is rooted in knowing that what is discovered will pave the way for improvements in
the team.

Multiply your power of one

Convince yourself that YOU make the difference. A single act creates a ripple effect that
can be felt many miles and people away. All changes start with one person, one thought, one
word, one action.

Change your world with one small act. Your goal is not to change the world, but to change
the lives of those whose paths you cross. The same amount of time is required for a positive
act and a negative one.

Make a positive change every day. As a leader, you must be the difference maker for your
team. Making positive changes reinforces this. You should always pursue excellence for you
and the people around you.

7. A Moment To Conquer: Standing the test of time

Real survivors are masters of their own circumstances, never victims of them. Your attitude to life is
what will come back to you. The ability to choose your attitude is a gift and a huge responsibility.

Move through adversity

Take inventory of what is lost and what is not lost. Gratitude should always be expressed for
what remains. This attitude will make you happier and more resilient.

Convert turning points into learning points. Adversity should be used as a time to pinpoint
opportunities to improve, learn, grow, rebuild or test your character or faith. With the right
attitude, roadblocks can be turned into stepping-stones.

Plan for the future but live in the present. Do not obsess about yesterday and do not be
seduced by the promise that tomorrow will be better. Facing the present allows you to
conquer adversity and create your own defining moment.
Take your stand

Know your non-negotiables. These are the things that you should not compromise. Excellent
leaders do not settle for what conditions force upon them. Leaders have to be bold and
faithful to themselves.

Rise courageously above the crowd. Courageous leadership is knowing what is right and
acting on it. Excellent leaders break the rules and do not follow the beaten path. Instead,
they create the conditions for success by blazing new trails.

Hang onto humility. Taking a stand requires courage to conquer outside forces, and humility
to conquer the inside ones. Excellent leadership is not about you, but other people. Humility
is the fuel for leadership excellence.

Stick to it

Keep the faith in your leadership-- stick to it long enough to win. Most people fail because
they do not stick to it long enough to succeed. Sticking to it long enough to win can be a
defining moment for leaders and their teams.

Ignore the odds and critics. You must trust that doing the right thing will yield the desired
results. This is done in everyday things, but may seem more challenging when applied to your
team.

Never, ever give up. Mediocrity involves constantly changing direction, while the signature
of excellence is sticking to it. You must always have faith in yourself.