Launching a business is an exciting accomplishment. To be the captain of your own ship and steer in the direction you want to go, without having to worry about someone more senior than you suddenly stepping in, is a freedom many dreams about and many pursue with great success. It can be hard, though, to keep things in perspective when you’re the one also working to keep everything and everyone afloat.
I sat down with Tyler Pigott, founder, and CEO of Lone Fir Creative, to discuss how to keep the important things in perspective. And that means not just work but also time with family and also time for yourself. These are 3 of the lessons Tyler left us with during his time at Best Places to Lead:
- Cultivate a mindset of efficiency.
- Only work on the things you’re good at and, ideally, that you also love.
- Develop strategies to mitigate your worries.
Lesson #1: Work on developing an efficiency mindset!
Tyler has had a true jungle gym of a career, going from working in IT to being a golf coach before heading up his own marketing firm. When I asked him how he managed to keep everything in perspective, he said the most important thing you can do is develop a mindset of constant efficiency. Cutting out the excess stuff that you’re either only doing because your ego is fighting for control or because you can’t quite see how it’s a timesuck yet, opens back up your time to focus only on the things to which you should be saying yes.
There are 2 questions Tyler offered to prompt this self-reflection. First, “Where am I the bottleneck?” (Perhaps best posed to your people so they can help give you some perspective.) Second, “What’s going to matter in 20 years?” Keeping your sights set on the future end goal is a natural corrective to refocusing on only that which will get you there.
Lesson #2: Figure out what you’re good at, and only do those things (especially if you love them).
Tyler won’t take credit for this method, although he does have a novel approach he used every quarter when starting Lone Fir Creative, which he still regularly revisits when stuck. First, make a quadrant diagram. Label each quadrant as follows: What I’m Good At & Love, What I’m Bad At & Love, What I’m Good At & Hate, and What I’m Bad At & Hate. Next, make a list of all the things you do in both your personal and your professional life. When the list is made, plug those items into each quadrant.
As you have no doubt guessed, things you both hate and are bad at can probably be delegated to someone or something else. Similarly, if you’re bad at something but love it, maybe you delegate but stay in touch along the way to learn a new skill. You can even delegate things you’re good at and hate! The key is to stay in that sweet spot of things you love and are good at so you’re always engaged and ready to go. Tyler recommends revisiting this tool regularly as circumstances change, and so do our skills along the way.
Lesson #3: Don’t let your worries control your life!
Tyler gently reminded me about how easy it is to get stuck in what he calls a “season” of worry. It’s natural, of course, to worry about the success of the business and the health of our loved ones. What’s not healthy is when those worries become all we can focus on.
Tyler advised identifying tools, systems, and people to help lift you out of those seasons so you can get back to focusing on what matters. Notice this will require a multi-pronged approach. And what’s right for some people won’t be right for all. Tyler, for instance, goes for a run with music on or vents to someone just to get it all out. Maybe you journal or read a book totally unrelated to the problem. Those resilience skills are invaluable for all of us, whether we’re in the number one seat or not.
To learn more from Tyler about how to develop a rigorously efficient mindset, make sure to watch the full episode!
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently.
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