Worth a look…every Monday morning (or more often if necessary).

Getting to work early is practically a requirement for any high-flyer in the corporate world, but it’s not always the best time for everyone.  Scheduling an early morning meeting might work for you, but for the parents who have to get their kids off to school or day care, it’s not the optimal time to start.

Don’t be the guy or the girl that schedules the early morning meetings and puts everyone through all kinds of stress to make the early morning meeting.  Be the considerate person who schedules a half-hour meeting instead of an hour meeting and run the meeting with an agenda and stay on track.

Order food when you can and tell people to go home when the workload is light.  These are the little things, but they are the things that people appreciate.  I’m sure if you think back to the bosses that have made an impact on you, they took time to do one or two small things that other people just didn’t do…or care to do.

There’s no escaping the fact that it’s the Little Things they’ll remember about you, so think about the things you do from this point forward that can really have an impact on those around you.  Go ahead and do them and make them second nature.

Hired guns are a quick way of throwing bodies at a problem.  Of course “hired guns” is another way of saying “consultants” or “temps.”  Before you fall for this gut-reaction behavior, take a look around your organization.

Ask yourself: Is there someone in your company (who you’re already paying) who can solve the problem for you before you drop a boatload of money hiring a consultant or a consulting firm?

Your first reaction is likely to be “of course not, that’s why I need a consultant, someone who is ‘highly-trained’ to solve problems.”  Point taken.  You want a consultant who spends every day solving problems exactly like yours will give the problem a lot more rigor and attention that an employee who is already stretched to the gills with the work you’ve thrown their way, but…

That budding superstar employee who is working under the radar is raring to be tested.  Your current employees have a vested interest in seeing the company succeed for the long-haul.  Consultants are off to the next gig before you can even say IMPLEMENTATION.

Your current superstars (and the budding ones) want to get promoted to the NEXT LEVEL.  They probably already have a few ideas on how to solve the problem and would give you their ideas…FOR FREE!

Getting some extra work done for FREE is like an amazing ROI, don’t you think?

Of course it’s not for free, you’re ALREADY PAYING YOUR VALUABLE EMPLOYEES FOR THEIR BRAINS, INSIGHTS, STRATEGIES AND WORKING HOURS.  You’ve paid millions to educate and train your workforce over the years, why not tap into them first, and see what they can do for you before spending even MORE MONEY on consultants?

I think you’ll find that this strategy makes the most sense, especially when you realize that your current employees are after all your REAL Hired Guns, as in 24/7 hired workers, not project-based hired guns with templates and cookie-cutter strategies that would make any MBA proud. 

I’m not dissing the consultants as they can provide a real role in any organization.  I just know that every superstar and budding superstar employee wants a big task to prove their worthy of a promotion and more responsibility.  Go ahead and test them.  Give them one of your problems, give them the resources and support they need and watch them surprise you.

If you’re in a position to provide access to your direct reports, go ahead and give it to them.  Provide them with the insights that will help them get to your level…and beyond.

Too many times there are rules on who should attend certain meetings and who should be around for key decisions.  When only the deciders are around for the decisions when they’re made, you’re robbing your talent pipeline of some valuable lessons.  Learning to make decisions – the hard ones especially – comes with time.

To cut to the core of this idea - speed up the learning process of your direct reports by bringing them into the meetings previously reserved for your level and above.  If your boss (or several levels higher) puts the kabosh on the idea, at least go through the “play-by-play” with your direct reports to explain how the decision was made.

They’ll thank you for it and you’ll get a more engaged workforce and speed up their development at the same time.  All because you didn’t care about the levels game and wanted to instead focus on the learning opportunity that gets passed up every day in the corporate world.