Do You Pace Yourself?

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions

I was thinking about one of the key tenets of becoming an organization that has its priorities right and spent time thinking about PACE.

The organizational pace is set by the leader.  Some organizations are hard-charging and others tend to be more “plodding.”  The pace generally ties to the behavioral style of the leader.  Some leaders are very fast-paced (more like a sprinter) while others are slower-paced (like a marathoner).  Which one is better?  That depends.

Ask yourself this question:  Are you in the race to get it done, or are you more concerned about long-term results and sustainability?  You see, PACE is a mindset.  What is the sense of urgency?  How much activity is too much activity?  Does your business think about the four elements of pace?:

1. Recognize the rhythm of your organization. How does it feel?  Do the most important things get done, or is there a lot of activity, but a number of unfinished actions?  Are your people energized by the pace, or worn out by it?  Think about pace in terms of the past, current, and future levels of activity.  What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses about the pace that your organization works at?
2. Be open to learning new skills about how to manage the pace of the organization.
3. Learn how to scale the organization to work at its optimal pace.
4. Create a marathon mentality and think about what it takes to be sustainable for the long term. Think about the resources required to maintain the pace that you wish to have for your organization.

In our process, THE PRIORITIZED LEADER, we think PACE is one of the most important factors to success that every organization must consider and must maximize in order to be able to run the race and cross the finish line.  Ask us about completing a complimentary assessment that will assist you in identifying your strengths in the five P’s;  Purpose, People, Pace, Perception and Profit.

Have a Great Week!