Great managers and effective business leaders have an inbuilt bias for action. They don't dissipate their time and energy on peripheral issues-- like complaining about overwhelming workloads or trying to work despite tight budgets, barriers, setbacks, distractions and unsupportive bosses. Instead, good managers get to work purposefully on the organization's most important work-- cutting costs, improving efficiency and encouraging innovative thinking-- and get things done. Good managers harness willpower to improve both their individual performance and that of the organizations they manage. In essence, great managers stop trying to do more things and instead focus on getting the right things done. The process of becoming a purposeful …show more content…
The effective application of willpower is what differentiates the achievers from the also-rans.
1. The personal dimension of purposeful action-taking ... ... ... ... ... ... Pages 2 - 5
To act purposefully means to take consistent, conscious and energetic actions which work towards achieving a goal. This is not a superficial effort to do busywork but a deliberate attempt to eliminate distractions and produce results. People who achieve this in practice do four things better than others:
1. They possess energy and focus. They make a deliberate attempt to act towards clear goals.
2. They harness their willpower. They aspire to execute disciplined, well-directed actions.
3. They have clear mental pictures of their intentions. Purposeful action-takers make deliberate choices.
4. They overcome the most common traps and snares. They ignite their own dreams first and foremost.
Overall, purposeful action takers lead from the front. They influence others by being a good role model to …show more content…
The frenzied-- 40-percent of managers are so distracted by the myriad of tasks they are trying to juggle each day that they never get to what really matters. Frenzied managers are highly motivated, well intentioned and enthusiastic, but they dilute their effectiveness by attempting to focus on a flurry of activities rather than acting thoughtfully and intelligently. Frenzied managers typically underestimate the time and resources required to implement a business strategy and tend to launch new projects without thinking about the risks or long-term implications. They live by the creed that doing something, anything is better than doing nothing. The hallmark of a frenzied manager is someone who is so busy ticking items off his or her to-do list that there is no time to stop and reflect how whether those are actually the right things to be