Early this year, my wife and I decided to divide one very long room in our house and create a home office. I didn’t want to just frame up a wall. We wanted the space divided but not entirely separated. So, we came up with an idea for using a shelf as a room divider. But we couldn’t find anything to buy that seemed like it fit what we wanted.

After some dangerous journeys onto Pinterest, I discovered a design that seemed both unique and simple. My wife approved. And so, I began my little woodworking adventure. I have a limited background in construction and carpentry. Enough to justify a completely unfounded sense of confidence. It wasn’t long before I discovered that this design was truly unique. So unique that it’s difficult to get the parts I need.

And in terms of simple: I have a vision but no real plan. I mean, I’ve drawn up plans. But the plan doesn’t always work. It assumes things and sometimes my assumptions are wrong. Or I overlooked something. And each time one part of the plan changes, it has the ability to impact the rest of the plan. So, I regularly have to rewrite the entire plan. Also, the methods required to accomplish what I want assume the presence of actual skills (and even more tools.) Not only that, but I didn’t even have a workshop. So, I commandeered the garage.

Each new lesson seems to require a new tool. Each new solution seems to create three new problems. The project has taken much longer than anticipated. But it’s coming together. I’m learning a lot. And the next project I work on will be that much easier for the experience gained now.

The Seven Leadership Lessons From My Garage
My experience as a new woodworker isn’t all that different from the experience of many new executives. They usually have an idea, they have experience, they have tools. But just taking the role of CEO (or whatever title) doesn’t mean the organization is healthy and the goals will be accomplished. Things tend to not work as expected. There are issues within the organization. The vision is more complicated than expected. Or the vision is simple and everything else got complicated.

The following seven lessons from my woodworking experience are helpful for anyone new to leading their organization:

One – The Necessity of Vision: You have to know what you are trying to build. There is no other way. That initial idea or picture of what you’d like to build is your vision. You need it to start meaningful work in any direction.

Two – Execution Is Everything: Getting going is key. It’s easy for me to get lost in planning and buying tools. But at some point, you’ve got to start making your first cuts. You’ve got to start actually building. Without execution, the vision is just a fantasy.

Three – But Plans Sure Help: Wandering towards the vision is possible, but likely to take far longer and cost much more. And success may be compromised. It helps to be able to see how to get there from here.

Four – Plans Will Change: Changing plans can be frustrating and time-consuming. But it can also be freeing. Just because plans change doesn’t mean plans aren’t useful or needed. It just means you are coming closer to understanding what it will truly take to build something great.

Five – Perfection Just Makes Things Worse: Perfection is the enemy of progress. It’s difficult to be good without learning. It’s difficult to learn without experience. It’s difficult to have experiences without starting. You’ll almost never start if you have to be perfect right out of the gate. You won’t be. But you can learn to be very good at quickly recognizing and fixing mistakes.

Six – Jigs Save My Bacon: A jig is to woodworking what a cookie-cutter is to cookies. It’s a form that lets you recreate the exact same piece without all of the measuring. They can take a lot of time to build. But they are worth it because they save so much time later. Good policies, systems, and written processes are to organizations what a jig is to woodworking. They take time to set up. But they save so much more time later.

Seven – Execution Is Still Everything: In the craziness of 2020 – all of my clients are having record-breaking years. What’s different about them? Well, a few things – but what they all have in common is that they act. They execute.

Organizations that struggle are far more likely to deal with the consequence of inaction or tardy action than mistaken action. In past economic downturns and during this crazy year of 2020, there are clear patterns between businesses that do well and those that don’t. One can be summed up as action. Businesses that survive (and even thrive) during hard times are relentless. They keep moving.

Action doesn’t guarantee success. But inaction (or being too slow to act) will lead to failure.

The Successful New CEO
As an executive coach, I’ve found that the experiences for new executives (or experienced executives in new roles) tend to touch on familiar themes. No one’s situation is the same. But there are common principles that, when followed, do guide executives to success. I introduce those core principles in my new book, The Successful New CEO. I’d like to give you a preview chapter for free (details below.)

The book is divided into four parts:

• Becoming an Executive: Leaders can only lead out of who they are. How do you become the kind of person who successfully and gracefully inhabits this role?
• Seven Essential Executive Skills: The skills that earned you this new role may not be the ones that you need in the role. What are the key leadership skills that become even more important at the executive level?
• Leading Your Leadership Team: More than likely, you’ll be leading other leaders. How do you lead a confident, effective leader? How do you build a team out of leaders?
• First Things: Where do you start? How do you quickly build credibility and engagement? What is too fast or too slow?

The goal of The Successful New CEO is to help you quickly gain the confidence of your team, successfully address the issues you will discover, score early wins, and set a course for a fruitful future.

If you’d like to see how this book will benefit you or someone you know, I’d like to make a preview chapter available to you for free! Click Here.

Take good care,

Christian

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The Value Builder System™ is a 13-minute online questionnaire that evaluates your business on the eight factors that contribute more to its attractiveness and value. These factors are scored on a scale of 1-100. Businesses that score over 80 are likely to command 70%-100% higher value than others.

THE LEADERSHIP COACH Podcast

In my podcast, THE LEADERSHIP COACH, we explore effective, high impact and enjoyable leadership. We talk about personal development and the attributes that all effective leaders possess. I interview other leadership experts who share their knowledge and tips to help you build the confidence to lead and learn the habits of good decision-making.

Opportunities

Free Resource: How To Accomplish More Without Doing More is a workbook I created to walk leaders through a process of helping you own your calendar, liberate your time, and still get more done. Download it for free!

Executive and Leadership Coaching: Do you feel overwhelmed? Are you not getting the results you expect from the effort you are putting in? Do you find yourself facing similar challenges time and time again? Would you like to change specific ways of relating or reacting? If you would like to experience predictable, measurable growth Contact me.

Profitable Exit Strategy Workshop: Are you a business owner or partner? Are you over 55? Are you starting to think about exiting your business or active management in the next 3-5 years?

• Are you curious about what your business might be worth?
• Would you like to discover the specific steps you need to take to increase its value and become highly attractive to a buyer?
• Are you planning on handing it over to family or employees and you want to ensure long-term success?

If so, contact me now