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Last Friday was not an efficient day for me.

I drove over 25 unnecessary miles, wasting almost an hour just sitting in the truck driving back and forth from Edmond to OKC, back to Edmond, then back across town to another appointment.

This extra time and effort bothered me as I was getting ready for the day.

I want things to be efficient. That's part of my personality and it has also been trained in me. Systems thinking, production management, and Lean Six Sigma have all been foundational to my success. I'm good at cutting out waste. So Friday morning I found myself thinking about changing my schedule to be more efficient.

But I didn't change my schedule.

I changed my perspective.

I reminded myself that one of the core values of 405 Leadership Advisors is EFFECTIVENESS. This means being as effective as possible, which sometimes means sacrificing efficiency.

Faster and cheaper should not come before meaningful outcomes.

I've seen too many instances where a drive to be efficient reduces or eliminates effectiveness. I don't want my natural tendency to take away from what will be the most effective approach to business.

A text message is efficient but can be ineffective if there is anything confusing or unclear about the message. Often, a short phone call is better where tone and inflection can be communicated whereas it can't in a text.

Friday's inefficient schedule mattered because it was best to meet face-to-face with two people to be as effective as possible. My schedule didn't bother me once I put it into this framework.

Why share this with you?

I want you to know two things:

1. Your values matter. And sometimes you have a conflict or feelings that can be managed by sticking to your values.
2. You need to write down your values before you get into those situations.

I've helped several businesses and individual leaders define and live their values. Having an outside perspective and expert help in the process can be invaluable.

Let me help you ensure your values are ready for the moments when you need them most.

Thanks for reading,

Phil

405 Leadership Advisors LLC

We help leaders define strategy and implement with ​confidence and clarity.