Take Time to Ponder

I attended a tele-seminar last week on learning and leadership. The seminar was led by Kevin Eikenberry the head of the Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://www.kevineikenberry.com/), a consulting group in Indianapolis. Kevin runs a number of different programs throughout the year to help “sharpen the saw” (Covey’s term) and to help improve performance.

Kevin’s point is that learning is critical to leadership. The status quo requires no leadership. Being a better leader is equivalent to being a better human.

One of the key areas of learning is to take time to think about an experience after it happens.

Seems intuitive doesn’t it but in this dog-eat-dog rat race where 24 hours is not enough time in a day how often do we plan time to ponder the past and contemplate the future?

After an experience – good / bad / or neutral take time to think and ask yourself:
1) What worked?
2) What didn’t?
3) Knowing what I know now what would I do differently next time?
4) What are the pieces I can get better at?

Most importantly
5) Take action and do something new to continue to grow
6) Take time to ponder and renew the cycle


It is tough to form new habits! Kevin recommends starting small. Take 5-10 minutes a couple of times a week. Ask yourself how can you improve on something that happened yesterday? Brainstorm! Put a star next to an item you will commit to doing today. Did it work? Try it again.

Start small and ask yourself what can I do right now? Slow down. Try it. Do it today.

I came across this quote this morning -
"Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point."
- Harold B. Melchart, C.E.O. Coca Cola

Until next time - All the best!

Roland