AICC Boxscore 2013

Think like a Leader and Lead like a Thinker continued from page 19

There are two basic ways to develop focus: the first is to focus on a problem to be solved or an obstacle to overcome. The second is to focus on an opportunity to be exploited or an improvement to be made. Within those two broad categories, further focus can be given to personal or professional issues, and then human or material categories. Keep in mind that even problem solving can become an exercise in positive thinking. Framing is what makes the difference. For example, better than thinking about how to pay your bills (survival mode) is how to increase your income (success mode). pretty good ideas. The problem isn’t a lack of ideas but a lack of recall. Ideas are fleeting and must be captured. Some of the biggest payoffs from thinking will occur when you review notes of previous sessions and add to or modify what you came up with (the outline for this article was initially done on a piece of scrap paper in a restaurant in New York and revised later). 4. Record your insights. I’ve observed that most people have 5. Consider how you know what you know. Mark Twain said it wasn’t what we didn’t know that hurt us, but what we know that just isn’t so. Thinking should (to paraphrase Scott Peck) be the pursuit of reality. To be sound, you should consider questions like “What do I believe?”, “How do I know this conclusion is true?” and “Says who?” Truly thinking can be somewhat threatening because it causes us to reexamine things that we often take for granted.

Good thinking isn’t just about the new things we learn but also the inaccurate things we abandon. 6. Stimulate your brain. Doug Hall, founder of Eureka Ranch and creativity guru, believes that coffee is the ultimate thinking elixir (and that’s another reason why I often do my thinking at Starbucks). Christopher Marlow believed good conversation was as stimulating as coffee, and I believe thinking should be as well. But a cup of java to get the process started doesn’t hurt.

There are other ways to stimulate your thinking. Reading outside your comfort zone is one. Whether that means reading a book or magazine that is challenging, or simply reading a publication from an unfamiliar genre, the point is to introduce new concepts and ideas into your mind. Going over the same familiar road will take you to the same familiar places. To reach an exotic destination requires a different route. 

Mark Sanborn, Leadership Development Expert, is slated to give a keynote presentation on Thursday, April 25 at the AICC 2013 Spring Meeting. Mark’s presentation “Dynamic Leadership” will discuss how to develop your genuine leadership ability by understanding that true leadership is not a function of title. He will provide a blueprint for creating and developing leaders at every level in your organization. He will also reveal the secrets of extraordinary individuals who have learned how to reinvent themselves and their work to create additional value for their customers and colleagues. Mark will also present an in-depth workshop following the general session on Thursday, April 25 on “developing new leaders” in your company as part of the emerging leaders’ workshop track being offered this spring. Mark is the president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab for leadership development. Leadershipgurus.net lists Mark as one of the Top 30 leadership experts in the world. In addition to his experience leading at a local and national level, Mark has written or co-authored eight books, and is the author of more than two dozen videos and audio training programs on leadership, change, teamwork and customer service. He has presented over 2400 speeches and seminars in every state and a dozen countries.

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