A PRIVATE LEADERSHIP RESET
Closed Door
The rules you lead by were never written down. This is where you rewrite them.
Pressure quietly changes how you decide, what you say and what you avoid. Five short exercises to see the rules driving you, and write better ones.
Five minutes for one. Twenty for all five. Nothing to sign up for. Your answers stay on this device.
Where is the pressure loudest right now?
Every leader runs on rules they never chose.
Before you begin
Whether you lead four people or four thousand, pressure works the same way. It rewrites your rules while you are busy. This is for anyone responsible for other people's work.
- I
Start where the pressure is. Every exercise is open. Work in any order, or just one.
- II
Write as much or as little as you like. A single line is enough. Reading and thinking counts too.
- III
Leave with decisions, not notes. Your answers gather into one page you can copy or download.
Where your answers go. Nowhere. They stay in this browser tab while you work and are not sent to me or anyone else. Copy or download your rules before you leave if you want to keep them.
Keep my answers on this device (off)
Useful if you want to come back later. Anyone using this browser could see them. Switch off to clear them.
I. Planning
What you're carrying that isn't yours
Most leaders are not short of time. They are short of permission to put things down.
Tap to write. Saved in this tab as you type.
Write it as a rule, in a few words. For example: If it matters, I do it myself.
I review every client email before it goes out. The rule I'm obeying: if it carries our name, it needs my eyes. The cost: I am the bottleneck, and my two strongest people have stopped drafting with care because they know I will rewrite it. The rule I'm writing: I review the work, not every word. From Monday I check one email per person each week and let the rest go.
II. Productivity
How pressure changes you
Pressure does not create new behaviour. It exposes the rule you fall back on when you stop choosing.
Tap to write. Saved in this tab as you type.
Write it as a rule, in a few words. For example: If it matters, I do it myself.
The board pack is late. My instinct is to take it back from my finance lead and rebuild it myself at 11pm. The rule I'm obeying: if the board sees it, it has to be mine. The cost: she stops owning it, and I stop thinking about the decisions the board needs from me. The rule I'm writing: the board sees my judgement, not my formatting. My early signal is opening the file myself. When I notice it, I ask for her recovery plan first.
III. People
The story you've told yourself about someone
You rarely react to what someone did. You react to the story you attached to it.
Tap to write. Saved in this tab as you type.
Write it as a rule, in a few words. For example: If it matters, I do it myself.
One of my team has gone quiet since I was promoted above her. I decided she resents it. The rule I'm obeying: if someone won't say it, I have to guess it. The cost: I have started routing work around her, which is creating the distance I was worried about. The rule I'm writing: I ask before I decide. This week I will ask what she needs from me in this role, and say plainly what I need from her.
IV. Prospect
The relationship you've let drift
Opportunity travels through relationships, and relationships go quiet long before they go wrong.
Tap to write. Saved in this tab as you type.
Write it as a rule, in a few words. For example: If it matters, I do it myself.
Our largest client appointed a new procurement lead three months ago. I have not met her. The rule I'm obeying: don't disturb a relationship that is working. The cost: she only knows us as a line in a budget she has been asked to cut. The rule I'm writing: relationships are built before they are needed. This week I will send her a one-page summary of what we deliver and ask what would make her job easier.
V. Performance
The one thing you'll prove this week
Insight changes nothing until someone else can see the difference.
Tap to write. Saved in this tab as you type.
Write it as a rule, in a few words. For example: If it matters, I do it myself.
I have been planning to reset our weekly team meeting for six weeks. The rule I'm obeying: don't change anything until the plan is perfect. The cost: a meeting nine people dread, every week. The rule I'm writing: test it, then improve it. Next Tuesday I run it in half the time with three standing questions. The evidence: we finish on time with decisions recorded. On Friday I ask two people what to keep.
Your rules
The rules you are retiring, the rules you are writing, and the one thing you will prove this week.
Retiring
Writing
Come back for the others whenever you're ready.
This week
What will you do differently in the next 24 hours?
About Chet
I'm Chet Hirani, an Executive Performance and Leadership Coach, international speaker and author of Burn The Rules: Lead From Within, a 2x Award-Winning Bestseller. I'm a certified performance coach and TEDx speaker, with more than 20 years in corporate leadership.
The five exercises you've just worked through come from the 5 States of Optimisation, the operating system behind my coaching, keynotes and leadership programmes with leaders across the UK, the GCC and the US.
If something came up you want to think through
Everything here is yours to use on your own. If you would value thinking it through out loud with someone who has sat on both sides of the table, you can book a conversation with me.