An Objective That Can Revolutionize Your Life in 2010

It’s that time of year when most of us begin creating lists of goals for next year. It is also when many of us crowd into office supply houses, search online and through catalogues for improved “time management” and planning tools, and visit with other folks to find out what’s worked for them so we can be planned, organized and ready to hit the ground running on January second.

Annual goals are important. They give us a target to shoot for, they provide us with a challenge, and if structured properly they motivate us to stretch ourselves to achieve them. But once again, you have to find what works for you, within the context of who you are, what you really want to accomplish, what the company you work for expects of you and what “motivates” you.

If you’re like me, you’ve run the gambit of goal setting and planning tools. When I started managing a company in the early 70’s, I got into what I call time micromanagement. Every Saturday I would lock myself in my office and review a lengthy To-Do List, then plan out the week in 10 minute blocks. Every minute of every week on my calendar was carefully planned and success was ensured. NOT!!!

Problem number one: My calendar didn’t have room for those pesky interruptions from people who always thought their problem was more important than my time management plan. Problem number two: My calendar didn’t always anticipate the incompetence of others in not getting stuff to me so I could complete the project on Wednesday between 1:PM and 2:PM (I mean, getting sick shouldn’t be a excuse for someone not having the information to me when I needed it!). Which brings us to problem number three: My own mind and body didn’t always check the calendar (What am I doing with the flu this week, it wasn’t scheduled until two weeks from yesterday? Why am I having a “mental melt down today, that’s not scheduled until next month?). You get the picture. Over the years I experimented with lots of different systems until I found what works for me.

Hopefully, you've also found what works best for you. Regardless of how you set goals or manage your time, As you begin setting goals and planning for next year, I’d like to urge you to consider incorporating an objective that can revolutionize your life.

Identify five centers of influence with whom you’d like to become acquainted. A center of influence is not necessarily a prospect to buy your product, nor is that person always in a direct position to advance your career. A center of influence is a simply person who is in a position to help open doors through advice, sharing information, or making introductions and referrals.

Most people are convinced of the truth of the old maxim “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know that counts.” I haven’t met many people who would disagree with that adage, but it is amazing to me how many of those same people don’t really practice what it teaches. Year after year these people expend vast amounts of time and effort to “network” but it doesn’t seem to return optimal results.

There is a natural tendency for people to feel comfortable with people who are like them. But those who are content to limit their networking efforts to people at their own level find it difficult to move past a certain level of success. In order to move to the next level it is often necessary to find ways to cultivate long-term relationships with individuals at a higher level than we are. So, make it a priority to identify at least five individuals whom you would not necessarily consider “networking” with and get acquainted with them.

Several years ago, I became acquainted with an engineer for an oil company headquartered in Tulsa. He was not yet 40 years old, yet he shared the same title as men (sorry ladies) at least ten years older. He often told how he came to be the “fair-haired boy” of the organization. It seems that when he first started with the company he spent a lot of time in the field. During that time he became friends with the workers (not just nodding acquaintances, but friends). He knew riggers, jobbers, superintendents—you name the position, he knew them. He moved up the corporate ladder fairly quickly and one day he was assigned to work on a project. The more he studied the project, the more uncomfortable he became. The concept looked good on paper but lacked practicality. Because of his relationship with the men in the field, he was able (without divulging the particulars of the project) to call them and ask the questions that he needed answered. His managers didn’t care for the fine tuning he did on their pet project, but he was able to convince one man to let him proceed with an alternative approach. The result was that Senior Management selected his approach to solving the problem, and the rest, as they say became history. He always closed his story by saying that if he hadn’t taken the time to build the kind of relationships many people in his position neglected, he would not have been able to get the answers he needed.

I became acquainted with a successful luxury car salesman who considered copier sales people as an important part of his network. His reasoning was that these folks were out meeting with business men and women who were often upwardly mobile and becoming successful.

Another acquaintance of mine sold telephone systems. She cultivated building engineers and maintenance men (the people who run the heading systems, etc) as part of her network because the engineer usually knew in advance who was moving into the building (and how much space they would be leasing, which gave her a clue as to their requirements).

Until next week, have a great and profitable week!!!
Robert D. Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com