As entrepreneurs, small business owners and leaders, most of us struggle with a pervasive and deep sense of urgency – that is, time panic and the resulting wild rushing around that manifests itself in our work like ADHD races the thoughts in our head!

Due to the fact that many entrepreneurs are their entire staff, or alternately have the responsibility of leading their entire staff, high pressure and workload abound – only perpetuating the reality of “the race”. And with the tremendous benefits of technology, comes the call for (expectation of) immediate responsiveness.

In addition to the obvious impact of excessive stress, we find that the time panic and constant rush takes a toll in several ways. It’s most commonly seen as lack of focus, which not only impacts productivity but also contributes to more accidents and errors. Lack of focus is flitting around from one issue/project to another without taking the time to adequately complete what you started. It also negatively impacts relationships. Witness: inability to be present, listen to and thoughtfully respond to others. And it doesn’t matter why: whether managing competing priorities, doing multiple projects at a time, checking email or answering a call on your cell phone while you are talking to an employee, client or customer…What you think is a drive to efficiency and productivity, is really a prescription for not getting work done and annoying those around you. None of which is good for you or your business.

While periods of high pace, “hot” days or weeks, are perfectly normal and should be anticipated, pervasive exposure without mitigation can be very destructive to both the individual and their business. Entrepreneurs need to expect and plan for “pressure management” to effectively navigate these times in business. As well, they need to regularly and aggressively plan for, keep close in front of them (and articulate well to their team) the key priorities that drive results verses getting lost in the day-to-day weeds and inherent distractions that inevitably arise. And yes, this is about vision, values and guiding principles. Without them, it’s like trying to find your way out of a forest without a compass.

In this week’s Quick Tips we will provide ideas on how to focus your time and efforts to not only improve your personal efficiency, but also your business success.

On Monday we introduced the topic of building your personal power and why it’s important to you and your career. In today’s Quick Tips we identify the obstacles to overcome, and the personal qualities you need to develop to establish a power base and increase your influence.

Jeffrey Pfeffer (Power) identifies three obstacles that you need to overcome, which we strongly align with and similarly use with our clients in our work:

• Understand that personal change is possible and it is worth the effort
• Objectively assess your strengths and weaknesses
• Understand the most important qualities you must develop to build a power base and then take the time to develop them

Now first and unfortunately, we continue to find that many people believe, falsely, that change is not possible for them. Change is always possible if you want it, and there is a strong enough reason and drive for it.

Second, you can learn what it takes to increase your influence. While some people are truly gifted at influencing others, the techniques and behaviors are often– as one client told us – common sense. What is required, however, is the willingness to take the time to learn them, and then apply these skills and practices (consistently) to your job, and especially in your relationships. We find this last point is what separates those who succeed from those who talk about why others prevented them from succeeding. (We reference this as the knowing:doing gap)

And third, objectively assessing your strengths and weaknesses is essential because it identifies your personal behavioral inventory – it creates awareness. If you do not know what you are good at and you are not clear on what needs improvement, how can you possibly develop a personal improvement action plan? You can’t! We recommend taking a business personality and performance profile. A trusted advisor can also be very helpful as long as your advisor is willing to be candid about your performance and you are able to accept the feedback and then do something about it.

Lastly, Pfeffer also indicates seven personal qualities for building power:

1. Ambition
2. Energy
3. Focus
4. Self-Knowledge
5. Confidence
6. Empathy with Others
7. Capacity to Tolerate Conflict

Building personal power and influence in an organization is essential for your success. While the techniques are really based in good business common sense, what tends to be the challenge, is having the courage, tenacity and persistent to make a positive personal and lasting change.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

What does it take – personally – to build your power in an organization? And why is it important to you? If you want to grow within an organization, and have a feeling of control over your work, it is essential that you learn how to build power.

Organizations are steeped in politics. It is unavoidable and inevitable. Wishing it would not be so is naïve and will derail your career. And to successfully navigate organizational politics requires building your power base.

Jeffry Pfeffer (Power) identifies three reasons why you should want power:

• Power is related to living longer and a healthier life
• Power, and the visibility and stature that accompany it, can build wealth
• Power is a part of leadership and the ability to get things done (You hear our similar and frequent message in respect to building your influence—aka: personal power)

Studies have been done that show people who have power feel they have more control over their work environment and are healthier. Not having control over your work environment leads to feelings of helplessness and stress. And stress is a major cause of illness. Psychologist Martin Seligman coined the term “learned helplessness”, and describes its causes and consequences in detail in his well-known book Learned Optimism.

People with power have more visibility. They develop a reputation and a perception that precedes them, which provides them not only attention but also creates opportunities for them: opportunities that otherwise would not exist. And yes, power – that is, misuse of it – can be negative and used to manipulate; in which case the consequences to others and you and your career, can be disastrous. Think of those skilled in the use of negative power in respect to the individuals involved in the recent financial debacle.

Power is a part of leadership and does help you get things done in an organization. But power is not synonymous with authority. Power comes from influence, which we have written and spoken about. Power is not something only executives possess. In fact, they may not possess it at all. Power, and the ability to influence to get things done, occurs at all levels of the organization.

In this week’s Quick Tips we will describe the personal qualities that lead to greater influence and hence greater personal power.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest