12 Thoughtfully Ruthless Tips For Maximum Growth

Follow these 12 Thoughtfully RuthlessSM tips that successful leaders adopt to create explosive growth in their business:
 
1. Spend one third on the future
Spend 30 percent of your time on how your business will be in 1-2 years.
 
2. Pretend you are going on a sabbatical
Delegate away all of your responsibilities as though you were taking a three-month sabbatical. Now focus only on strategic long-term projects.
 
3. Tell your team the truth
Be honest with your direct team about their future potential and how you can develop them.
 
4. Stop delaying changing out your team
Move on mis-matched employees within the next 90 days.
 
5. Intentionally manage upwards
Consciously manage your reputation with your board and your investors.
 
6. Understand your peer power
Create a deliberate influence plan with peers.
 
7. Throw away your to do list
Never use a to do list. Schedule every task in your calendar.
 
8. Make 15 minutes your new normal
Refuse 60-minute meetings. Book 15, 30, or 45-minute meetings instead.
 
9. Understand the power of no
Say no more than you say yes and don't over analyze or worry about it.

10. Prioritize energy boosting friends
Become selfish about who you socialize with.
 
11. Think less, act more
Accelerate your speed-to-action ratio; stop thinking so much and act faster.
 
12. Create your inner circle
Build an enviable inner circle of advisors who can tell you exactly what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
 
Remarkable leaders are ruthless, in a thoughtful way, with their time, their energy, and resources. 
 
Announcing: New Development Opportunities with Val Wright
 
Ready to magically create more time, boost and maintain your energy levels, and make the most of the resources around you?

Sign up for my Thoughtfully RuthlessSM Growth Sprint. This experience is ideal for those leaders who want flexible, rapid real-time learning that can be implemented when and where you want, rather than on a set schedule. 

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

How To Stop Your Network Becoming Dehydrated When You Need It

If you suddenly had to start a search for a new role, how confident are you that you know people who could introduce you to the right people or who would consider creating a role for you?
 
You may not be surprised by any of this:

Most executive roles are not advertised.
Those that are advertised have been earmarked for someone before they are even posted and sent to the headhunter.
Many executive roles are created with an individual in mind. Whole corporate reorganizations happen because one executive needs expanded responsibilities, has a personal desire to take over another function, or is covering for a gap in someone else’s capability.
Executives hire executives who they know and love from past lives or from strong referrals from board members, investors, and corporate peers.

I recently bought two tomato plants and decided to put one in the front of the garden in the greatest sunny spot, and the other pot on our terrace where there is an automatic drip water feeder. I had great intentions of watering the tomatoes at the front, but often I would miss several days and they would end up dehydrated. The plants on the terrace though not getting quite as much sun produced an abundance of tomatoes because they were regularly getting watered.
 
I find many executives let their network get dehydrated in the same way. It’s easy to forget about it until you most need it, and then you find it has wilted away.
 
Just like cold call selling doesn’t work, cold networking doesn’t work either, where you show up to an event and hope to bump into someone you would want to stay connected with and mutually learn from.
 
How can you create your own automatic feeder of your network so it will abundantly produce for you whenever you need it?
 
In Divorce Your Friends and Network, Chapter Eight of my first book Thoughtfully Ruthless, I provide tools to evaluate and improve your network with Perfecting Your Connections and Evaluating Your Network. You can download all of the tools from my book for free here.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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Three Must Have Devices That Will Boost Your Productivity

The true secret to improved productivity involves stepping back in time and detaching yourself from your smartphone, smartwatch, and any other device that beeps, buzzes, or tempts you into the distraction zone. When my clients experiment with these three low-tech devices, they see remarkable productivity gains.

• Start wearing a watch again.

I have an exquisite Tag Heuer watch that I bought 12 years ago in Dubai on the way to our honeymoon in the Maldives. But I had stopped wearing it because I always have my phone so close by, and that told the time for me. Except, of course, I rarely used my phone just to check the time; I might also look at a news site, my email, or twitter, leading to distraction. It was a delight to start wearing my watch again--though it took some time before I remembered to actually look at it!

• Dig out your alarm clock.

Alarm clock sales are at an all-time low because many people now use the alarm on their phone for their morning wake-up call. Duracell batteries has suffered a 4 percent drop in sales that they attribute in part to a decline in digital radio alarms, and Proctor & Gamble has plans to spin off that business. Try leaving your phone in another room or at least across the other side of your bedroom so it isn’t the last thing you do before falling asleep or the first thing you do on waking. Instead put your favorite book on your nightstand for a gentler end to your day so you can wake up refreshed and energized.

• Bring out your camera.

The final way that you can keep your phone in your pocket or purse is to start carrying around your camera again. I recently dusted off my camera from the back of the cupboard, and I have been enjoying taking endless photos without getting distracted by other things. A study by the University of Washington of caregivers at playgrounds revealed that 44 percent of caregivers felt that they should minimize the use of cell phones while watching children play, yet they felt guilty that they failed to live up to that standard. Using a camera rather than a cell phone for taking pictures could help with that! Even when out at a restaurant, it is far more acceptable to have your camera out to take pictures than to use your phone. When you use your phone, your companions may think you are also checking email or Facebook at the same time!
 
By starting to reuse these three devices--the watch, the alarm clock, and the camera--you can form some new habits too in order to free up your time and energy from the continuous distractions of your phone. The benefit of greater productivity, both at home and at work, is yours for the taking.

Announcing: New Development Opportunities with Val Wright
Interested in kickstarting your 2017? Ready to magically create more time, boost and maintain your energy levels, and make the most of the resources around you? Sign up for my Thoughtfully RuthlessSM Growth Sprint. This experience is ideal for those leaders who want flexible, rapid real-time learning that can be implemented when and where you want, rather than on a set schedule. 

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val