“There is a difference between leadership and ambition. Leaders have the courage to be unpopular with those that disagree with them. The ambitious want to befriend as many people as possible.” – Simon Sinek

As you rise up the ranks of your company, your job naturally changes.  You may be nervous about the increased responsibility, because now your decisions “count” are on your shoulders.  You might be worried about the increased demands for your time, because you’re already swamped as it is.

But these things and everything else you face can be overcome.  You just have to trust your gut and listen to those who report to you, while getting counsel from your mentors and boss.  Making decisions, the final call, gets easier with time.

The demands on your time will require you to work differently.  You can’t solve all the problems yourself, because there are too many issues that don’t warrant your attention.  Save those for the folks looking for more responsibility.  In short, you’re going to have to delegate more and give up control.

Again, these are things you can learn to do, but the one thing that takes a complete mindset shift is having to deliver the tough message.  When you have to go from friend or peer to someone who has to tell your direct report to step up, that’s a challenge.  When you have to say no to your agency or consultant, that’s not an easy thing to do.  Can you give the tough performance review?  Can you let an employee go?

These aren’t the “fun” conversations to have.  That’s why it’s called the tough message, it’s not easy or something that’s simple to do…nor is it something everyone CAN do.

My only advice to you is to not shy away from having these conversations or putting them off.  Learn to have the tough conversations and learn to deliver the news – bad or good. 

Learning this one skill can make the difference between getting a promotion and remaining on the bench for another year.

When things aren’t going your way and you’re hoping a solution will come your way, you’ve got it all wrong.

If you find yourself wishing you’d get a mentor to point the way or wish you would get some break like everyone else, you’ve got it all wrong.

You don’t wait for solutions.  You go after them with a club and you slay them.

Stop whining.  Stop complaining about things not being fair.

Work and war are not fair.

Grab your club.

Get focused.

Waiting for solutions gets you nowhere, fast.

Get passionate and go find your solutions.

A friend’s dad told me before going off to college that I should plan to study three hours for everyone one hour in the classroom.  At the time, I thought he was nuts.  I barely studied in high school and did good enough to get into a top 25 college.

After completing my first two and a half years of college, I finally realized he was right.  I needed to study more for each of my classes.  I also figured out that I had to do it throughout the semester, not just before big tests.  Of course I took no action on the revelation.  There was no time to fit in the studying and the weekends were for recovery from, well, the partying.

Eventually my roommate dragged me to the library early one Sunday morning and my academic career changed dramatically.  Grades went from B’s to A’s that semester and things were just easier, with my social life holding strong.

I learned to prioritize better and regardless of what shape I was in, I made it to the library every Sunday morning and throughout the week, I would skip class to prepare for an exam later in the day.  The focus of those days was the one big test, not some lecture I could make up.

This thought popped into my head as I was preparing for a big meeting.  Here I was, many years removed from those Sunday morning trips to the library, toiling away at my desk, preparing for a meeting.

The strategy of preparing helps me be more efficient in meetings.  Of course if you tried to prepare for every meeting by setting aside time to prepare, you would quickly run out of time and not get any REAL WORK done.  So I’ve come up with a plan to help you implement this strategy.  This isn’t scientific by any means, but I thought the preparation times sounded right.

In Meetings Where You’re Leading a Large Portion of the Discussion:
(Level is related to the highest “ranking” person related to your job level)

Peer: 30 Minutes Prep
One Level Above: 1 Hour Prep
Two Levels Above: 2 Hours Prep
Three Levels+ Above: Take a Day (or more)

These are working guidelines and yes, it’s a lot of time to invest, but isn’t your career worth the time and effort?  All it takes is one or two great meetings where you shine to STAND OUT from the rest of the crowd and leapfrog a few people in that long line called “People Who Are Waiting to Get Promoted.”  Strategies like the one above help you cut the line – legitimately.

Do what works best for you and do it every time you have a big meeting.  Don’t wing it for important meetings.  Put in the time and effort to prepare and really think through the subject matter for the meeting. 

When you prepare like this – going through the key questions, figuring out your POV and working through objections – you’re going to come across as OUTSTANDING to the folks in the room and that’s worth the time invested.

“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” – John Wooden, UCLA’s legendary basketball coach

The cold and flu season is just around the corner.  Dozens of die-hard co-workers at your company will soon start coming to work when they should stay at home.  Don’t fall into the trap of being the person who’s trying to show that you’re one of the following:

a) invincible and superhuman
b) harder working than anyone else
c) overwhelmed and have too much too do to lose a day

The reality is that you likely need to rest – colds and getting sick are the body’s way of telling you to slow down and get a little R&R in.  Besides the obvious personal benefits of taking a sick day, you’re also helping out your fellow coworker.  They might like you a lot, but they certainly don’t want to catch your cold.

Help them out by staying home, getting better and coming in when you’re 100 percent.  Don’t worry about the workload.  As you know, you’ll never have an empty inbox and the important work will always get done.

This post was inspired by Worker Myth #3 in an article I read about the Top 10 Workplace Myths.  An excerpt is below.  It’s an interesting read.

Myth # 3: If You Come to Work Sick, Your Dedication Will Be Praised

“When you work around other people, your health affects everyone. If one of your co-workers is sick, you probably won’t want to be around him much or to touch the same things he’s touching. Even if his illness is not contagious, it could still be distracting to hear him constantly coughing, blowing his nose or sneezing.”

Translation by me…Sometimes it’s better to get no work done, rest and recuperate, than to turn in substandard work.  Enough said.  Take your vitamins, drink lots of fluids, turn off the internet and TV and get some sleep.

It sounds like a silly question, with the default “of course not” response, right?  Not so fast.  Read the below quote…

“Pressure is what you feel when you haven’t prepared.” – Orrin Woodward

What’s your reaction?  I love this quote because it really made me think about the times that I’m most stressed.  Many, if not the majority of times the stressful situations could have been avoided if I properly prepared.

How many times have you rushed into a meeting you were leading, flustered because you were finalizing the agenda?  What about that report you put together at the last minute?  Was it as good as it could have been?

If you do a “stressful situation” audit, you might realize that preparing ahead of time for a meeting or starting earlier on a project could have eliminated the majority of the stress you feel throughout the week.

Now that you know that you’re likely the cause of most of your stress, the ball is in your court.  Plan ahead, start earlier and in general, do the things that you need to do to prepare and gain momentum at work and at home.