12 September If you could do just one thing today, what would it be? September 12, 2018By Greg Mowbray People Management 0 In his book ‘Essentialism’ Greg McKeown tells the story of how, just a couple of hundred years ago, the word ‘priority’ meant the single most important thing. Then we messed with it and invented a word called ‘priorities’ which as we now know means lots of most important things. If you could do just one thing today, what would it be? Would you be able to discern the single most important thing to focus on today. McKeown calls that essentialism. Our lives would be better – more productive, more focused, more calm if we were able to identify only the essential things to do in our lives. Being disciplined to focus, not on everything that we are expected to do or feel pressure to do, but just the most important things that take us towards – whatever you want to call it – our vision, our ‘why’, our purpose. The reality as I see it is that many of us have swallowed the lie that we can have it all, do it all and be it all. Not possible. Not going to happen. And many of us stuff our lives up trying to achieve it all. You can be a better leader by setting the example for your people of knowing what are the essential things that you need to focus on, and say no to the rest. What is the one thing that you must do today? So do it! To see more of this author visit www.gregmowbray.com or follow him on Facebook linkedin Twitter Related Posts 10 things to do to be a better leader I’ve been banging on recently about how we should stop trying to be perfect (because it ain’t going to happen!) and just focus on becoming incrementally better. If we tried, each day, to just be a little better than we were the day before, and we did it for long enough, our leadership effectiveness would skyrocket, our people would be more engaged and our businesses would be more effective. Five Things First Time Managers Need to Know Last week I made a presentation to a group about increasing employee engagement and improving culture. At the end I opened up for questions. “A couple of us are first time managers – what advice would you give us?” Great question! Here are five things that I think first time managers would benefit from knowing. Understanding the interplay between the key financial reports Financial reports are like puzzle pieces that fit together. The income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and changes in equity statement all tell parts of a company's financial story. Each transaction affects multiple reports, so you shouldn't look at them in isolation. Understanding these connections helps you get a more complete picture of a company's financial health. Nothing goes to waste at Eather Group - including talent The family that started up successful ‘waste-to-resource’ contractor Eather Group are always growing and learning, and so is their diverse team, who they support with flexible, on-the-go upskilling through the Institute of Civil Infrastructure Learning Program. What does the rise of AI mean for productivity in Engineering and Construction? The Engineering and Construction industry has seen slow productivity growth compared to others. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise the sector by streamlining processes and reducing errors. However, challenges like integrating new technology and replacing human leadership roles still exist. Always Busy? Do Something About It Recent networking events and opportunities have enabled us to connect again with industry peers, colleagues and friends, after a pandemic-led hiatus. After the usual pleasantries, the common theme I keep hearing when it comes to discussing people’s careers is that they are “flat out busy”. Comment (0) Comments are closed.