The Leadership Blog by Ann Vanino

As a manager, you could drive yourself and your staff crazy responding to every “urgent” request that you receive. How do you sort through the requests and decide when it is right to “jump” and get it done? Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

Who is the request coming from? How does this influence my response?

How does the request fit in with the goals and deadlines I have been given?

Do I/we have the time to respond? Will something else get pushed aside?

Is the request worth jumping for?

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As I contemplated my Saturday, I knew I had work to do but also wanted to make time to relax and cool out after a busy week. The idea of creating harmony of work and play came to me. How do you create harmony between work and play? It has to do with time – how much to give each, flow – how do you transition between the two and not let one distract from the other. What is your harmony of work and play?

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When a good idea springs up independently in multiple minds, I pay attention. This month, a comment appeared on my blog for “Imagine” a leadership haiku I posted in May. It was from Barry Zweibel who had the same idea – he and others “tweet” leadership haiku . It sounds fun and engaging.  Short riffs on leadership to help you develop yours. Barry says that as a business and executive coach he engages smart, capable, people in meaningful conversations about their personal growth and professional development. Use our leadership haiku to your advantage as you develop your skills.

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Your career needs to be managed by you, not by your boss, your organization or anyone else. How much control do you take of your career? Here are some things to consider

• Do you set your priorities each day?
• Do you maintain balance in your personal and professional lives?
• Do you have a strategy to get where you want to go in your career?
• Have you inventoried your strengths and weaknesses? Do you maximize your strengths and improve on your weaknesses?
• How much do others’ views of you affect your view of yourself and what you can accomplish?

Let your answers to these questions guide you to being proactive in creating the career success you aspire to.

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A friend of mine has her own “bucket list”. Her name is Brenda Avadian and she is a caregiver coach and editor of TheCaregiversVoice.com, the independent voice of  family and professional caregivers for adults with brain impairment or dementia caused by Alzheimer’s, stroke, related illnesses, or trauma. Her mission is to bring hope and strength to caregivers of adults with brain impairment through knowledge, support, resources and humor. In The Caregiver’s Voice monthly newsletter in June, Brenda wrote about her bucket list and recommends that caregivers create a bucket list – “one new experience to look forward to every month.”  Brenda says, “a bucket list will add excitement to the daily grind.” This is good advice for all of us. Here are some of the items Brenda has completed on her bucket list:

• Running her first organized race–a 5K and then running a marathon (26.2 miles) the day after. It took her 18 years to train for that goal.
• Having a healing session with a Peruvian Shaman.
• Feeding and connecting one-on-one with the homeless.

What can be on your bucket list?

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