Managing your Energy is the Key to High Performance

The topic of the three previous March Tuesday Tips has been pace.
How your strengths contribute to the pace at which you work, what you need to maintain pace and how your stress might impact the ability to keep up the pace.

Given the demands of today’s business environment we all tend to get moving rather quickly and ‘race’ through the day – often faster than we’d like; meeting to meeting, phone call to phone call, deadline to deadline.

The number of hours in a day are fixed, but the quantity and quality of our energy is not. In many ways our energy is a precious resource we need to responsibly manage. No one else is going to do it for you.

We have far more control over our energy than we often realize. Sometimes in an effort to ‘keep up with the pace’ we sacrifice the very things critical to recharging ourselves and giving us back the energy we need to be productive.

We all need different ways to recharge and get re-energized. The “What you should do to re-energize” report at www.imapMyTeam.com, helps you do just that!

When you sense it’s time to take charge of your energy reserves review the report and take an energy audit. Are you doing these types of things for yourself? If not, chances are your running dangerously close to empty. If that needle is pointing to the “E” you owe it to yourself to incorporate some of the suggestions into your day as soon as you can. You will feel better! 

How to Keep Up the Pace

The triathlon is a grueling and intense test of human endurance. To be a successful triathlete, you not only have to train hard, but you have to train smart. A training regimen really pays off when race day challenges threaten to knock you off your pace – and until race day a triathlete never knows what kind of elements he will compete in and need to deal with.

Just like those competitors on race day, the stress of business threatens to knock us off our pace despite our training. When we know in advance how we react under personal stress we can minimize its impact on our performance over the long haul.

imapMyTeam® will help you identify how you may respond when under stress.

In the center pane pull down menu of www.imapmyteam.com Look for your: My Team Player Report and click on the section for stress. Click “next” at the introduction screen and click on the square symbol for the “stress” grid. Work your way to the description of your reactive traits that may force you to speed up or slow down, and develop a strategy to mitigate their impact.

Learn to recognize and manage your stress points. It will pay big dividends in your ability to sustain your pace and demonstrate endurance for the long term.

How to Understand the Role of Pace in Business; Part 2

United Parcel Service (UPS) ran a very successful marketing and ad campaign several years ago using the slogan “UPS, moving at the speed of business”.

The phrase “moving at the speed of business” seems to imply speed and things moving at a quick, brisk pace. Yet the campaign is not simply about speed, but about being committed to on time delivery according to the needs of your business.

What kind of delivery schedule does your work or customer require, same day, two day, next week, or even next year? You may find the answer is “all of the above”

Last week we learned how the strengths you rely on most, help you or hurt you in delivering on commitments. When we combine this with considering what your client really needs, it helps you to work at the pace most appropriate for you are responsible for. Responding/managing to what the client really needs allows you to manage “urgency”. Getting the “urgency” factor right helps you be more productive and work at the speed of your business.

imapMyTeam® will help you recognize the appropriate pace others may expect.

In the center pane pull down menu of www.imapmyteam.com. Look for your: My Team Player Report and click on the section over needs. Click “next” at the introduction screen and click on the circle symbol for the “support you need” grid. As you consider the attributes for yourself, roll over the other quadrants to see insights about what others that are different than you need in the way of response or support and how they may impact your pace. 

How You Set the Pace for the Program

The very first pace car in motorsports was introduced during the inaugural Indy 500, in 1911. Most people are familiar with the pace car duty of leading the pack of race cars in a parade formation, gradually building speed and allowing for a “flying start” to the race. Another more serious deployment of the pace car is as a warning for debris, collisions and/or weather. The pace car in this role becomes more of a “safety car” geared to ensure a safe speed under adverse track conditions.

One of the important roles you play in leading others is very similar to the pace car example. Leaders are out in front ensuring their people and projects get off to “flying starts” and team members also depend on the leader to be out in front warning of potential debris and hazards that can be damaging.

imapMyTeam® will help you better understand your personal pace and how you may be “pacing” your colleagues and team members.

In the center pane pull down menu of www.imapmyteam.com there is a report titled: Team Player Strengths. This report helps you understand your usual behavior and the strengths you have learned to gain success.

Run the Team Player Strengths report on yourself and look for key attributes that impact your pace. Consider one or two things you can do differently to help you lead appropriately from the front of the pack.