There is so much buzz and hype around our need to use the platform that Social Media provides to grow both our brand and our business. The problem is that very few of us really understand how to best invest and leverage our time and resources into this strategy.

If you are like me and are one of those who could really use some help to understand and build your Platform, then I have a recommendation and a resource for you.

About a decade ago, I had the opportunity to begin a coaching relationship with Mike Hyatt, the Chairman and past CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. Over the years, our teams have done a great deal of work together, ranging from Executive Retreats and our Building Champion’s Experience to publishing my book, Becoming a Coaching Leader.

I consider Mike more than a client, he is a friend and in the area of marketing and branding, a mentor. As a matter of fact, my blog would not exist if it were not for him.

I dove into his most recent book, Platform: Get Noticed In a Noisy World, and found it to be an excellent resource and guide. If you own your own business, are in charge of marketing for your firm or are a sole proprietor looking to share your message and increase your reach, you have to read this book!

It was released just this week, and to celebrate, Mike is offering some sweet tools and resources (worth more than $375) to anyone who purchases the book between May 21 and May 25. Complete details are available here.

Your action plan? Buy it, read it and implement it. Mike is one guy who has truly figured out how to not only add value from his platform, but to make it a viable and profitable business strategy.

If you want to be able to do the same, start with reading his book.

Too often leadership teams are really blowing it with how they end meetings. We invest all this time and money into our meetings, and then we miss the mark when we leave.

When coaching leadership teams, I’ve observed one common practice that helps them get more from their meetings and improve their execution.

They end their meetings with these three steps.

1. Restate what decisions and actions were agreed upon
2. Clearly define who is going to do what — and by when
3. Decide what needs to be communicated to the rest of the team

It’s really that simple: state it, write it down and distribute it to all involved.

If we leaders could make this a non-negotiable discipline, I guarantee we will see improvements in culture and execution.

A few years ago I heard Jack Welch say that one of a CEO’s top priorities is to develop the organization’s future leaders. This makes so much sense yet I see so many leaders treat this as an afterthought or only address it in the context of succession planning as their career draws to a close. Yet having an intentional plan to develop future leaders at all levels can have a profound impact on the long-term success of your organization.

Think about it this way — if something were to happen to you, would the rest of the organization be in danger? Who would lead? Are they equipped? Most of the clients we coach who lead larger organizations are very intentional with this.

Some mandate that every executive must identify and intentionally develop their No. 2. They will often move their future leaders from role to role for periods of time to increase their overall understanding of the business. They invest heavily in educating and coaching these leaders.

There are few companies or departments that are too small for this. Decades fly by faster than most of us want to admit. We do ourselves, those we serve and those we lead well by making the development of our future leaders a real priority.

And the real benefit that comes from this is that when those we lead grow, it frees us up to grow and enables us to become even more effective leaders.

When I coach executive teams, I notice one common opportunity many of them share to improve how they execute — get rid of meeting ambiguity. Too many teams waste too much time in meetings that do not drive projects or the organization ahead. They simply don’t deliver results. The most effective leaders and teams are committed to getting the most out of their meetings.

Here are seven common best practices that if regularly implemented will improve your meetings — and your team’s effectiveness.

1. They establish the purpose and desired end result of the meeting up front.
2. They expect each team member to show up ready to give a status on any projects they are responsible for.
3. They encourage healthy debate and conflict.
4. They look for and call out naysayers or those that are not engaging in the dialogue necessary for excellent execution.
5. They have each team member end with stating what they are doing by when — as well as what needs to be communicated to others in the organization.
6. They have a team member take notes and distribute to everyone at the end of the meeting for future use.
7. They schedule any one-on-one follow up necessary to support the team with what they have committed to.

For more direction on how to improve your team’s health and effectiveness, read my friend Patrick Lencioni’s new book, The Advantage. You can also listen to an interview I did with him about his book on a recent Champion’s Edge call.

Most of you know the above. The question is, where can you improve with any of these seven steps?

I know you are slammed. Your schedule is packed, your Inbox overflowing and the big project is due tomorrow. And I want to add one more thing to your schedule — time to just focus in and think.

Focused thinking is a foreign concept for too many professionals today, and I want to encourage you to make it a daily non-negotiable discipline. Most of the time, we have the answers to our questions and the solutions to our problems, but we struggle to find them because we just don’t have the time to think about them.

Here are four tips to improve your thinking.

1. Find your thinking spot. I have two chairs in my home that are great for this. For longer times of thinking, I enjoy a getaway place at the coast. Thank you John Maxwell for this tip in your great book, Thinking for a Change.
2. Force yourself to think about just ONE issue. It could be a meeting, a challenge, an opportunity or a project. Keeping a notepad or recorder close by is helpful. If you get thoughts that are off topic, write them down or record them and focus in again on the ONE issue.
3. Journal what you came up with. You can do this either during or after you’re done with your Thinking Time. Capture the new thoughts, ideas, possibilities, questions to be answered or solutions.
4. Share what you learned with whomever you need to in order to build momentum if appropriate. Does the solution need the attention of your sales manager? Does the challenge need some thinking from your CFO? Or does the idea need more of your thinking time? If so, schedule that time.

The world is not slowing down. It has access to us every moment of every day. At our Executive Coaching Company, Building Champions, we call this thinking time On Time. Carving out this incredibly valuable time is not easy, but it is so necessary if we are going to become the leaders we need to be in the years ahead.

Here’s to realizing that it’s time to think. Good Luck!

We often find our calendars filled with good activities — but are we setting time aside for the great activities? Watch as Daniel talks about the importance of being intentional with your calendar so you can focus on the high payoff activities that will have the greatest impact in your business and life.

If you want to increase your leadership capacity, you need to know the three to five things you do for your organization that are truly the most valuable. More often than not, most leaders don’t have the answer to this question. If we don’t clearly see this, chances are that our days will be filled with all sorts of good activities that prevent us from doing the truly great things required to grow and develop our business. Note: This post is part of a series on Increas­ing Your Lead­er­ship Capac­ity. Click here for the pre­vi­ous step.

To make sure that you see your handful of high payoff activities clearly, run the question by a few of your teammates who know you, as well as where the company or your department is headed. Getting this type of input from a few others on your team, your coach or members of your board can be really helpful.

Once you are clear on your handful, then take it to the next level by making sure that you have the appropriate time regularly scheduled in your week to devote to the three to five high payoff activities you identified. This could be time scheduled for coaching and developing your direct reports, meeting with key partners, thinking and working on strategy, or maybe reviewing your teams progress on their strategic plans.

And finally, make sure you have a method in place to review your progress, effectiveness and results. Too often, it is us leaders that are holding our organizations back. If we are not working on our own leadership capacity by fine tuning what we say yes and no to, we will be neglecting the activities that are the most critical for us to focus on in order for our organizations to grow into what we see in our vision.

Note: This post is part of a series on Increas­ing Your Lead­er­ship Capac­ity.
Step 1: Own Your Role
Step 2: Be Healthy
Step 3: 6 Steps to Improve Your Thinking
Step 4: Be Hungry and Humble
Step 5: You Need a Road Map
Step 6: You Must Decide
Step 7: Get Rid of Your Job

As a parent, you need to have an intentional plan about how you are going to raise your kids — especially when they hit the teenage years. Watch as Daniel gives some advice on how to talk to your teenagers.

So many times in our work here at Building Champions, we coaches help our clients gain clarity on their “why” — their “why” being the real why or value offered by the products they create or services they provide. We have to know and believe in our “why” if we are going to lead something meaningful.

In September of this year, our entire Building Champions team will join 225 business professionals from many industries in Sunriver, Oregon, for the Building Champions Experience. This will be our 5th year of creating this very unique 3.5-day coaching experience.

It is an amazing time to reflect, plan and connect with other like-minded professionals who seriously want to improve how they lead, serve and live. I absolutely believe that these 3.5 days in Central Oregon with us will make a significant difference for those who attend by changing how they lead and live. I believe this because for many who have attended in the past 4 years, it has.

I don’t normally use this blog to openly promote or sell Building Champions, but I truly believe that this Experience can have a lasting impact in the way you lead your business and life. We often tell our clients that if they don’t know their why, if they don’t think what they do or sell will truly make a difference, then they shouldn’t sell it.

I truly believe in our Experience and hope that you consider joining us in September.

Our special Early Bird Pricing ends this Friday, February 24. Hope to connect with you all in Sunriver

As a leader, simply having a vision isn’t enough. Watch as Daniel encourages leaders to regularly share their vision with their teams — and how it can increase your leadership.