Free The Rules Of Management (Pioneer Panel's Library) by Richard Templar Page B

it’s true. If you aren’t proactive you’ll stagnate. And if you do that the crocodiles will bite your butt. You have to keep paddling, keep moving forward in the water. Sharks have to keep moving forward all their lives to keep water passing through or over their gills. They never stop. Be a shark. Keep moving forward. Because if you don’t there will be plenty of others willing to do so.
    And believe me I know what it’s like. You open your mail box and there are loads of emails to deal with. Then there’s the snail mail. Then there’s the staff issues. Then there’s lunch. Then there’s the afternoon work to be done and then there’s a panic to get all the mail ready to go out and then there’s a quick cup of coffee and then it’s about time to pack it all inand go home and there’s this idiot telling me I’ve got to take 30 minutes out of a jam-packed day to think about the future. Yeah, in your dreams.
    But that 30 minutes can be combined with another task. Once a week I have lunch on my own and spend the time being proactive, thinking about the future, thinking of ways to be one jump ahead of the competition. But I do have to go out alone for that lunch, or people come and interrupt my mental planning session.
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    BE A SHARK. KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
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Chapter 46. Be Consistent

    If you were to wear a smart business suit every day and then suddenly, without warning, turn up in denim and a worn T-shirt, chances are people would look at you askance. *
    * Try it; it’s fun. If you don’t know what askance is, look it up and then try it.
    If you turn in good work and then one day hand in a pile of junk, people are going to think you’ve blown it.
    If you treat the staff courteously until one day you blow your top and shout at everyone, they won’t trust you any more.
    If you usually get in early and then one day stroll in around noon smelling of beer, they will stop taking you seriously and accuse you of being a drunk.
    People need to know what to expect from you. You have to be consistent. You have to treat all staff the same. Do your work the same. You must avoid drawing the spotlight of gossip down on you. You must be blameless, above reproach (that’s probably the same thing), honest, reliable, and dependable. (Again that’s probably the same thing.)
    But you don’t have to be gray or dull or boring. You can be exciting, dynamic, stylish, adventurous, innovative, challenging—just make sure that whatever it is you decide to be, you stick at it and be consistent consistently.
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    IF YOU TURN IN GOOD WORK AND THEN ONE DAY HAND IN A PILE OF JUNK, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO THINK YOU’VE BLOWN IT.
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Chapter 47. Set Realistic Targets for Yourself—No, Really Realistic

    We’re not talking budgets here or corporate targets. We’re talking personal goals, personal objectives, personal bottom lines. You have to set them or you won’t be able to determine whether you are a success. There’s no point, by the way, in judging yourself against anyone else. I always wanted to be terribly good at a sport, but I can’t run and failed miserably. It has always led me to believe I am a failure, but I found out the other day that there is a gene for good sporting skills, and it is one I obviously don’t have. Am I a failure? Nope, just genetically challenged, and I can’t beat myself up about that. I am good at other things and I measure my success against
    • How I was doing last year
    • How I was doing five years ago
    • How I’m doing against my personal targets
    • How I’m doing against my long-term plan
    There isn’t another person in sight because measuring yourself against anyone else is a mug’s game.
    I once owned a motorcycle—a rather grand one and I loved it very much. I came alongside another motorcyclist at the traffic lights and looked his bike over. “That’s the one I want,” I cried to myself in the splendid isolation of my crash helmet. He was looking at my bike and