Thinking Outside the List
ByJust being busy doesn’t make you productive.
Just being productive doesn’t make you effective.
Just being effective doesn’t make you successful.
Just being successful doesn’t make you a leader.
Too many people think erroneously somewhere in the midst of the misconceptions listed above. Success requires leadership, but it does not produce leadership. Leadership requires vision, persistence and influence, among other things.
As I ran around like crazy today, trying to wrap one thing up after another, I suddenly realized I was more interested in crossing things off my list than I was producing exceptional products and services. And I almost missed some bigs things because of it.
Crossing things off a list and never straying has never been a celebrated characteristic of a leader.
We all get in “get-it-done” mode. As a marketer, it is sometimes required. But there is no one that should care about producing the exceptional, the remarkable, the unbelievable more than you. And that takes leadership (vision, persistence and influence). Don’t skip that – the people you work with are counting on you to demand excellence, whether they act like it or not.
As a marketer, you must think outside the list.


3 Comments
October 7th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I love this list. Thanks for the insight!
December 27th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Definitely great insight here. I often can get so wrapped up in the planning and the to-do lists that I can forget the personality of leading and get stuck managing and administering….I’m definitely adding this to my blogroll. Great stuff here!
November 15th, 2008 at 7:44 am
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