Monday Habits of Great Leaders

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WAYNE RIVERS: Hi, everyone. This is Wayne Rivers at Performance Construction Advisors, where We Build Better Contractors.

This week, I want to talk about Monday habits of great leaders. This is from George Stern. You've heard me talk about him before. You've heard me talk about the wonderful infographics that he does as a part of his Substack. He's got a list of things. Let me just start off using his words, not mine. "Strong leaders do something different. They just don't show up on Monday. They move through it with intention. Monday sets the tone for the rest of your work week." Okay.

I've heard conflicting advice. Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan says, "You do not work on weekends." You keep those two days free from business, you focus on yourself, your family, your health, whatever it happens to be. I've also heard people say that Sunday night is a very important part of getting ready for the work week because you set the tone Sunday night for how your Monday and the rest of your week is going to look.

Look, I can argue either side. I love Dan Sullivan, but I do find myself starting to think about work on Sunday nights and how to get things done in the coming week in a more effective way. I'm a little torn. I'm wishy-washy on this. What about this is important to you? Well, we all have Mondays. You see on TV or popular culture, people hate Mondays. "I have to go back to work," and all this stuff.

I don't think our members are that way. I know for a fact most owners can't wait to get in there on Monday mornings. Most of our members are so excited about what they do for a living, it's just great. It's great to be around them. So if you can start off your Monday and set the tone for your week, your month, et cetera, then I think that's a great thing.

All right. Now Stern lists this as number five, but I'm going to say it's absolutely number one and that is reconnect to purpose. Again, Dan Sullivan. Dan Sullivan started every week. What is your purpose? What is your purpose? And how are my behaviors this week going to contribute to my mission, my values, my vision? He says, "Read one message or story that reminds you of why it matters. Keep a folder of wins, notes, or feedback." Dan Sullivan actually created a little app on your phone and now I forgot what it's called, but it tracks your wins for the week. So this is a great idea. I log the good things that happen to us in business every week and then we review them Monday in our all hands meeting.

So I read, is it James Clear? Somebody like that. And they said, "Why wait to do it for the week? Write down your wins every day." So I got some sticky notes and I started writing down, "Oh, well, today we advanced the ball with this. We checked that box. We had a new client come in the door." Little wins every day. Man, the first few days I did it, I thought I was 20 feet tall. I felt great leaving the office every day.

So you don't have to just list your wins by the week. You can do them by the day and accumulate them. But so many times contractors, business people in general think about their failures. "Oh, yeah, we got three new clients this week, but that one that I really, really wanted wiggled off the hook," and always lamenting what didn't happen. Focus on positive things that happened to you and your team and you'll start off your week stronger.

So number one, reconnect purpose. Two, review last week's lessons, capture three bullets, what landed, what failed and what you need to change. Love that. Love that. Going back to Dan Sullivan, he had another concept which was just cleaning up. Clean up things that give you mental anguish. Your garage at home is a mess. I was talking to someone this weekend, three-car garage. It is a mess. They cannot park their cars in there. And I'm like, "That would trouble me. At least get one car in there. Come on. Clean out one of those bays, man. Come on."

Two. I'm sorry. This would be three now. Guard your mornings for meetings. One of my peer group members doesn't even look at his email until 10:00 AM each morning. So he goes in the office, he visits with his people. He's there at eight. He's got two hours to hang around, to visit with everyone, to catch up. "How's your weekend? What you working on this week," et cetera, et cetera. And we're going to come back to that in a minute. No calls before 10:00 AM. Make focus, Monday mornings, make your focus the default. Your best thinking happens early. Don't hand it away. We're not all morning people. I am. I do my best thinking in the morning. That's critical time.

Next, scan your big picture metrics. Look at the only two or three numbers in your business that count. What are the numbers that count in your business? And I'm sure there's 1,000 different answers out there, but Dennis, John Woodcock, et cetera. Gross margin. Gross margin. Company, by job, by type of work, et cetera, always be looking at your gross margin. If you don't have gross margin, you don't have net margin. It's as simple as that.

The other thing that I would be looking at that I did look at religiously is our cash forecast. Where are we going to be, a rolling 13-week cash forecast? Do we have cash? Do we have plenty of money? Do we have plenty of liquidity? I always wanted to know about cash. Profits are great. Cash is better.

Okay. Next. Map the week, not just the day. Getting through Monday, setting the tone for the week is great, but make sure that you've mapped out your entire week, the week to come, et cetera. Check your calendar and shift anything that doesn't support your priorities. Absolutely right. There are so many meetings that are just checking the box. If it doesn't fit with you and your priorities and advancing the ball, making your company better, get rid of it, delegate it. Don't do it at all, whatever. If your calendar doesn't match your goals, according to George Stern, your week won't either.

Reserve thinking time. Block off an hour a day. That's tough. That's tough for contractors. But if you've got free time, thinking time, you can read, which prompts all kinds of other thoughts in your brain. Other guys refer to it, other people, other advisors refer to it as having white space in your calendar. If you've got meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting, you cram a sandwich down your neck at lunchtime. That's tough. So you've got to have a little buffer in your day so you can stay mentally fresh and mentally free.

Next, do the dreaded task first. That's age old, that's from when you were a kid in school. Tackle the subject you hate first and get that done. Get it out of your way. Move. The next one's move. Get outside. First thing in the morning, get outside, walk the dog 15 minutes. You don't have to go to the gym. You don't have to go be on the tennis court for 90 minutes. 15 minutes. Just get your body moving. Get your blood flowing. Establish a rhythm in your day. Movement changes your mental state faster than caffeine. Take your coffee with you if you want. Get the caffeine and the movement. Two for the price of one.

Now this goes back to cleaning up. Refresh your environment. Clean the desk. Clear the digital clutter. Begin fresh. A cluttered space creates a cluttered mind. My desk is generally clear. I've got junk. I've got stuff stashed around, but my desk is clear. So when I'm working on something, that's it. That's all that's in front of me. It works for me. I don't know. I know guys, I know people that their desks are really something. Maybe that works for them. I don't know. But for me, clutter is just a mental barrier.

Man, I love this one. Send a thank you note. Recognition is free and most leaders give too little of it. Yes. It also sets a generous tone for your week. I agree. I love writing thank you notes in the mornings. I just think that sets a beautiful tone for the day. And then finally, check in with your key players. What's your top focus this week? You find out fast what's misaligned when you do that.

And then one question that you ask each of your top people on Monday mornings can save a lot of confusion and a lot of cleanup later in the week. What's your top focus this week? And I'd like to add, how can I help with that? How can I help you with that? That's leadership. That's servant leadership. Your top task. Is it tough? How can I help you? Golly, Moses, let's be on the same team here.

All right, let me know what you think. [email protected]. This is Wayne Rivers at PCA, where We Build Better Contractors.

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