Upgrade… What a word! Some people attach “Upgrade” to their ego, what they want, or what they believe they “deserve” as they desire to improve their life by upgrading their car, their house, clothes, or their partner. Others may be anxious or fearful to upgrade; as it will depend on them learning new things… slowly turning them into dinosaurs as they continuously repeat, “This is the way we’ve always done it.” While Leaders recognize not only the benefit of upgrading… but also what to upgrade and how to do it. As a leader, upgrading is imperative for you, your team, your organization, and your dreams!
Upgrading, by my definition, is the act of implementing new strategies, systems, or people to your vision that takes your goals to the next level more reasonably and efficiently… increasing your reach and your revenue… at the same time, decreasing your sweat equity. That’s a mouthful, but one of the truest things I’ve ever written!
Let’s think about it… As a Leader within an organization or of a team, any upgrade you make to personnel or technology would only be worth it if the person or the technology increases efficiency of the existing processes of the day; which in turn, impacts revenue. The new person or technology may initially increase your sweat as you work to introduce, train, and of course have your 1-on-1 Meeting; however, in the long run… your trust in them or the new process allows you to be more trusting, hands-off, and focused!
Before we continue, it’s important to clarify the difference between upgrading technology and upgrading people on your team. Technology doesn’t have feelings and has no choice in the matter to work for you or not. As quickly as technology advances, your upgrades must keep pace to keep you and your team in the race. Technology doesn’t care which program you use, if they are replaced, how you lead, or how they’re going to feed themselves and their family. Your people do!
Before you decide to upgrade by making changes to your staff, be sure you’ve done your job as a leader:
- Bringing in people not only qualified for a position, but also a best fit your desired culture
- You’ve connected regularly with your people with A Leader’s 1-on-1 Meetings (as I’ve shared in previous blogs, videos, and trainings for organizations) or you’ve made it an expectation the leaders within your organization have the meetings.
- You operate not only as a boss, but as a coach… providing information, tools, trainings, and opportunity for your people to upgrade themselves, the team, and the company.
- Then, giving them the power and authority to do so without being micromanaged by you and others.
When you’ve done this, and things are still an issue… it may be time to upgrade your personnel, but how to do it?
Invest!
Any upgrade will cost you something… “Better” usually does! As a leader, you must be willing to spend more of your time, your energy, your money, or all three. My goal heading into 2021 is to upgrade my networking process and income from residuals (my books and prerecorded online leadership training program).
I really enjoy reaching out to each and every person via social media. It feels more personal and I hope they feel my sincerity as I ask to connect, share my content, and later we get to officially meet and speak. However, the more speaking engagements and trainings I present; the less time there is to network the same way. Therefore, upgrading my technology, adding a Virtual Assistant, and including me in the backend of the process makes sense. To do it correctly, I must invest my time and energy into searching for the best system (for me) and training my VR to uphold my tone, passion, and energy when connecting with others. Of course… this will all cost money; so there’s the financial investment, Lol!
My focus on residual earnings cost me massive time and energy in the beginning; writing books and developing an online program. I enjoy everything I get to do; however, I can’t deny the process of creating the online program was tedious, to say the least! My point is… A Leader’s Upgrade will first start with an investment of your time, energy, and money. Be sure to spend your time clarifying your vision, spend your energy coaching people and new technology, and be sure your money is placed wisely!
Ramp-Up!
This equation for upgrading is simple:
What’s going great within your team or business, put on steroids!
What’s going good… ramp up!
You and your team must decide what “Great” is. Does it refer to your product? What is your client’s reaction to it? Revenue generated? Goals met? Or, all of the above? If things are going “Great”… does it make sense to upgrade its reach? Can you handle more work, orders, etc.? If so… put your process on steroids and GO!!!
What’s going “good” in your business and on your team? How could you best ramp it up… making it a bit better? You and your team must decide what “Better” is. My favorite question to ask is, “What do you like about ___________ and what would you fine-tune?”. Help them to answer in that order and ramp-up marrying your vision with their feedback!
Hold or Stop!
Just as some things are going “Great” and “Good”… some things are at a standstill. This can be for several reasons; it could be a bad idea, not attractive to customers/clients, little time and energy invested into the project, lack of passion from your team, limited buy-in from the company, and/or funding. I could go on but you get the point. Now is the time to evaluate to either hold or stop.
Not everything needs to move forward or needs an upgrade. Some projects or ideas are best put on hold until more time, energy, or money can be invested appropriately. Other ideas are best stopped and scrapped! It doesn’t mean the ideas can’t be revisited or fined-tuned; it simply means everything doesn’t need to happen right now! This is a golden rule of Leadership & Work/Life Harmony: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Too many times, well-intended new leaders have a bunch of great ideas… but unknowingly put themselves and their team on the path to burn-out as they attempt to do everything all at once. Here’s a tip… out of all the ideas, projects, and things you’d like to attack… what are the Top 1,2, or 3 that would make the biggest impact for your organization, your team, your people, and your leadership? Why? What’s the best way to proceed in that direction RIGHT NOW; breaking it down into smaller steps? This is your focus for the next six months to year… then move on to the next. Be sure to clarify the New Vision & Vision Factors, Expectations, and Rules of your Upgrades to your team, and enjoy your evolution!
“A Leader’s Upgrade will first start with an investment of your time, energy, and money. Be sure to spend your time clarifying your vision, spend your energy coaching people and new technology, and be sure your money is placed wisely!” – Andre Young
Written by: Andre Young
