The Together Leader. Heyck-Merlin Maia
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the right questions, build the right tools, and develop the right rituals for yourself.
My work is rooted in this mind-set: What is good is what works. I draw best practices from many of the cited titles, but the bulk of my research and examples come directly from the thousands of workshop participants and many coaching clients I have been privileged to learn from in the past decade. I've been welcomed into high-performing nonprofits, strong school districts, advocacy organizations, and rural schools. And I've been fortunate enough to coach leaders of all levels directly in their own environments, which enables me to bear witness to every single emergency, interruption, and crisis that can throw off a well-planned day. You will see many of my past clients featured in this book. Quite deliberately, I have chosen people and organizations who get strong results but are not wild perfectionists.
One of my biggest observations is that the Togetherness journey is personal, specific to one's own habits, preferences, and organizational culture. I am not going to sell you a particular gadget, lock you into one specific app, or require you to purchase a certain planner. I'm remarkably indifferent about specific tools, but I'm a staunch believer in strong routines, planning, boundaries, and communication. And I'm going to really push you to ensure your goals are clear and your actions are aligned to meet them.
How This Book Is Organized
The Together Leader is organized into five sections. It is designed to be read sequentially, though I invite you to pick and choose chapters based on your specific needs. In between sections, you will also find real-life examples of how organizations have put systems into action. And peppered throughout, you will find vignettes of real-life leaders facing common challenges. Last, scattered between chapters, you will get to read Togetherness Talks from real-life mission-driven leaders, most of whom still continue in their current capacities – though a few have moved on to new ventures. In the case of a job move, I chose to keep the position listed at the time of the sample for consistency. But everyone's samples are active and the real deal. In several cases, we created cleaner versions if there was an issue with readability or pared down a document so you could dive more deeply but know this content is not invented! Almost all the tools and templates you'll see throughout the book can be found on my website, www.thetogethergroup.com, using the passcode provided with the book. There you will also find additional samples, videos, and modifiable templates.
Section 1 : Set the Stage
These initial chapters set the stage for why productivity and time management in your unique, mission-driven context is so important. This section also helps you evaluate your current strengths and gaps as they relate to tools, routines, and mind-sets.
Chapter 1 : Leading in a Mission-Driven Context: You are here! This chapter is designed to preview the what, why, and how of the book.
Chapter 2 : Take Stock: Assess Your Togetherness Level: This chapter is full of quizzes and assessments to help you determine your current level of Togetherness and set your purpose for reading.
Section 2 : Get Clear on Your Purpose
This section places our focus on preparing for your course, taking a long view, and making sure your priorities are in order:
Chapter 3 : Set Goals: Define the Direction: This chapter ensures your goals are in order, you have time to systematically review progress, and your organization has a predictable calendar.
See It in Action: Goal Setting Start to Finish: How an organization sets and reviews its goals.
Chapter 4 : Break Down the Goals: Create a Priority Plan: This chapter helps you boil down your Yearly Goals into a three-month path of clear actions that in turn should drive your calendar and meetings!
See It in Action: Wrist, Elbow, and Shoulder: How a leader articulates what she cares most about in her team's work.
Chapter 5 : Align Your Meetings: Make a Meeting Matrix: Because leaders spend a ton of time in meetings, this chapter is designed to test your meeting schedule against your priorities – and communicate to others accordingly.
Section 3 : Get Yourself Together
This section is designed to ensure your personal organization systems are securely Together! Even if you are already moderately Together, I recommend you spin through this section to confirm that your methods are airtight. You may also get some new ideas to tune up existing systems!
Chapter 6 : Get Macro: Design a Comprehensive Calendar: In this chapter, I will take you through the development of a macro view of your calendar to ensure it reflects the priorities developed in the previous section.
Chapter 7 : Strategic Procrastination: Design a Later List: The calendar cannot survive on its own! In this chapter, I help you capture all of the To-Dos related to your priorities – and consolidate all those other pesky To-Dos just running around!
Chapter 8 : Reconcile Your Time and To-Dos: Create Your Weekly Plan: This chapter is where I get really specific, or micro, about your plan for the week.
Chapter 9 : Keep It Together: Routines and Checklists: No tools work by themselves. They need care, love, and feeding. This chapter pushes you to set daily, weekly, and monthly rituals to keep Togetherness moving forward.
Chapter 10 : Hold That Thought: Save It for Later! This chapter helps you separate your thoughts from your To-Dos so you can refer back to those good ideas in the future.
See It in Action: What Should I Carry? How a leader stays Together during a typical week – and what to carry!
Section 4 : Get Your Team and Organization Together
This section describes the tools, systems, and routines necessary to function as a Together Team.
Chapter 11 : Keep E-mail in Its Place: Drowning in e-mail? Is your team constantly pinging each other all day long? Get clear on communications in this chapter.
Chapter 12 : Project Design, Planning, and Communication: More Than Just Spreadsheets! Some projects call for more detailed plans that you can easily share with others, or you may manage someone who leads very detailed projects. If so, you'll find help here.
Chapter 13 : Become a Dynamic Duo: Maximize Your Assistant: If you are fortunate to have some administrative or operational support, you will benefit from this chapter, which helps you make the most of this important partnership.
See It in Action: The Management Memo: Check out a Management Memo from a leader who clearly articulates expectations to his teams.
Section 5 : Put It All Together
In the final section of the book, I discuss how to synthesize all of your new tools and systems.