One Meeting Minute Thought for Your Week
As you’re building your career, you’re constantly searching for a leadership opportunity.
All you need is one chance to show your leaders what you can do.
But situations like that can be hard to find.
So, create your own!
Use a simple meeting and these 5 steps:
5 steps to create a leadership opportunity using a meeting
Every business has more problems than they know what to do with.
And each of those problems is a leadership opportunity.
If you can create solutions to problems, you’ll add value to your business – which is exactly what leaders do.
So, start with a problem and end with solutions.
- Find a problem that needs to be solved.
- Identify the People you think can find a solution.
- Invite those People to a meeting with single, clear Purpose.
- Create 3 possible solutions to the problem (that’s the meeting Purpose).
- Present those 3 solutions to your boss giving credit to the People in your meeting.
Each of these 5 steps will show you’re a leader.
1 – Create a leadership opportunity by finding a problem
This first step is the easiest.
It won’t take you long to create a long list of challenges your business is facing.
That list may be overwhelming at first because it’s hard to decide where to start.
But you just need to pick 1 problem to create a leadership opportunity.
You can choose based on the negative financial impact each problem has on business results.
Exact calculations aren’t required for this exercise.
Using an estimate is fine.
Select the problem that is hurting the bottom line the most and move to step 2.
Or you can pick the problem you feel most confident tackling.
You don’t have to prioritize ALL the challenges you identify.
That will distract you from your main objective.
Your primary goal is to create a leadership opportunity for yourself while also contributing to the success of the business.
So pick a problem and move to step 2.
2 – Create a leadership opportunity by identifying People
Now that you’ve identified a problem, think about your coworkers.
Who can help you identify solutions?
Consider these questions as you build your team:
- Who feels the pain of this problem and is motivated to solve it?
- Who would provide a fresh, objective perspective?
- Who has the most knowledge on the topic?
- Who is available to work with you?
- Who loves to solve problems?
Put together a list of 3 to 6 names and proceed to step 3.
You’re making great progress to create a leadership opportunity for yourself!
3 – Create a leadership opportunity using a meeting Purpose
You’ve probably already noticed how I’m building on the 3Ps for productive, effective meetings framework.
(Click here to get a printable 3Ps worksheet.)
You’ve already got the Purpose of your meeting and the People you need to invite.
The Purpose is simple:
Meeting Purpose: Identify potential solutions for [insert your business problem here]
As you do your Preparation for your meeting, you can decide what information you need to send to the participants in advance so they can be ready to identify solutions.
You can also plan the meeting time based on how you want to achieve the Purpose.
Do you want to:
- Have a quick, fast-paced half-hour session to get high-level ideas?
- Bring people together for about an hour to go a bit deeper?
- Plan a half-day, off-site ideation session?
I’d suggest starting with a 50 minute session since your main goal is to create a leadership opportunity.
(Why 50 minutes and not an hour? – Click here for the answer!)
You’re taking initiative with an owner mindset but you haven’t officially been given this task.
That will occur in Step 5 if things go as planned.
But you need to take Step 4 first.
4 – Create a leadership opportunity with solutions
In your meeting, guide your informal “team” to identify 3 potential solutions using these guidelines.
✅ Clearly articulate the problem to the best of your ability.
Because you spent time doing research to create the pre-read material, you may even now know more than the subject matter experts you invited!
✅ Explain the process you’ll use during your meeting to generate potential solutions.
I like the “brain writing” technique to avoid “groupthink” that often occurs during typical brainstorming sessions.
Keep reading to find more on the “brain writing” technique. 👇
✅ Set constraints.
Your meeting agenda will be the guide and set constraints to help the group be more effective.
While it may seem counterintuitive, putting a time limit on the session is more productive than letting the group ideate until they’re done. Constraints stimulate creativity. And your meeting will stay on track, so you’ll end on time.
Making the Purpose of the meeting to identify only 3 solutions is another effective constraint.
Through your meeting, you’ve now generated 3 potential solutions to benefit your company.
But how does that lead to a leadership opportunity for you?
Step 5 is the answer.
5 – Create a leadership opportunity as you present to your boss
Business leaders appreciate employees who take initiative and don’t wait to be told what to do.
Let this truth give you confidence as you schedule a meeting with your boss to share the results of the meeting you had with your coworkers.
Of course, put in the work to create an effective meeting invitation for your manager so she’ll be eager to hear what you’ll share with her.
You can decide as you Prepare if the People in your meeting should include the team you brought together.
Whether you include them or not, this is CRITICAL:
👉 Recognize your coworkers for the work they did. Give them the credit!
Why is this an essential step?
Because that’s what the best leaders do – they help others thrive and flourish.
And your boss will recognize this leadership trait in you too.
By following these 5 steps you’ve:
- Identified a problem your business needs solved to be more successful
- Brought a team together to generate 3 potential solutions
- Presented those solutions to your manager
And you’re likely asking yourself how this has created a leadership opportunity for yourself.
The process itself was a self-created leadership opportunity.
And your boss’s response could make it much more than that.
Your manager could make this an even greater leadership opportunity
What would you do if you had an employee come to you with potential solutions to a significant problem in your business?
I know what I’d do if I was your manager.
I’d put you in charge of a project to solve that problem!
You’ve already demonstrated you’re a leader and given me confidence you can capitalize on this opportunity to lead a team.
Even if the circumstances and timing weren’t right for me to give you this leadership opportunity, I’d have you on my list of potential leaders for future projects.
By you following these 5 steps to create a leadership opportunity, you’ve impressed me with your ability to:
- Take initiative.
- Recognize problems.
- Do research and analysis.
- Mobilize people and lead them.
- Create and communication solutions.
I look for those abilities in people when I give them a leadership opportunity.
And I’m confident your manager does too.
More Resources to Help You Build Your Career and Your Business
The meeting you schedule to generate potential solutions is part of the Ideation phase of work.
I like to use the 6 Types of Working Genius framework to ensure everyone in my meetings knows the type of work we’ll be doing.
When people know the Purpose is Ideation (and NOT Activation or Implementation) they’ll be more productive.
And they’ll enjoy the meeting more!
I explain more about the 3 stages of work and the Working Genius productivity tool in this post:
🔷 How To Reduce Frustration In Your Meetings Using The 3 Stages Of Work (click here)
Thinking like an owner takes practice. This post will help you and your team keep an owner mindset in your meetings and your business:
🔷 M4 032: How To Think Like An Owner In Your Meetings
To learn more about “groupthink” and how to avoid it, check out this post:
🔷 Focus On These 2 Beliefs To Avoid Groupthink (click here)
If you’re interested in the Brainwriting technique, this article from MindTools (click here) is a great place to start.
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors
I mention the 6 Types of Working Genius framework often because I believe in it.
I’ve seen it increase the productivity of my own teams and my clients’.
The truth is it works!
If you want to learn more about how you can use the Working Genius model to help your teams work better together and be more effective (and fulfilled!), contact me (click here) and we’ll have a no-pressure discussion.
That’s All for this Issue
Good-hearted, well-intentioned employees often shy away from taking control of their own career.
They don’t want to appear too ambitious or self-seeking.
You may feel this way too.
This attitude is admirable, but when you create a leadership opportunity using these 5 steps, you’re serving your business much more than yourself.
- Find a problem that needs to be solved.
- Identify the People you think can find a solution.
- Invite those People to a meeting with single, clear Purpose.
- Create 3 possible solutions to the problem (that’s the meeting Purpose).
- Present those 3 solutions to your boss giving credit to the People in your meeting.
You may think you’re being too ambitious or pushy.
But you’re not.
What you’re doing is using your meetings to benefit your business AND yourself.
You’re being a leader!
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence!
Greg
Here are 3 ways I can help you when you’re ready:
- Get more free resources you can use today (Click here to Start)
- Improve on your own with digital courses (Click here to Improve)
- Accelerate your progress with coaching (Click here to Accelerate)
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