Are You a Prepared Leader?

On this week's episode of Press Start Leadership Podcast, we discuss:

The Power of Preparation: And the Case for Over-Preparing 

Preparation Makes Perfect: 5 Tips on How to Prepare

Link to my FREE ebook: 5 Heroic Leadership Skills

The story about two explorers who raced to be the first to reach The South Pole.

Music by: Joey the Mad Scientist

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Transcript

Christopher Mifsud: 0:47

Hey there press starters and welcome to the press Start leadership podcast the podcast about game changing leadership teaching you how to get the most out of your product and development team and become the leader you were meant to be leadership coaching and training for the International game industry professional Now, let me introduce you to your host, the man, the myth, the legend, Christopher Mifsud. Welcome back press starters. On this week's episode of press Start leadership podcast we're gonna be discussing preparation. First up is the power of preparation and the case for over preparing. Before we talk about preparation, I have a couple questions. I'd like you to think about. One. How often do you prepare? When do you prepare the night before? The morning of never? Do you just take things as they come? To? How do you prepare for presentations? Do you practice? How many times? Do you practice answering questions you might get after the presentation? As you're mulling over the answers to those questions. Let me ask you a few more. Do you think you could accomplish more if you were more prepared? Do you think your presentations would look more professional if you practiced? Do you think you'd come off as more confident if you were able to answer questions more quickly? Well, the answer to my original two questions are probably more varied. I'm guessing you answered yes to the last three. If we all know that preparation gets us further in the long run, why don't more of us do it. Two things. We think we're better improvisers than we are. Most of us think we can get away with making things up on the fly, especially if we're well versed in the topic. Here's the thing. Great improv is actually great preparation. Even professional improvisers spend much more time preparing than improvising. They put in their 10,000 hours of training, rehearsing, watching shows and practicing the techniques necessary to respond to suggestions and questions completely off the cuff. They put a lot of time and effort into making it look effortless. We think we're prepared enough. But we haven't. There's a story about two explorers who raised to be the first to reach the South Pole. I'll put the link on the story in the liner notes, so you can check it out there. But the important thing to know is that Roald Amundsen made it there first, not only because he was prepared, but because he was over prepared when something didn't go according to plan, which, by the way, it never does. He had multiple backup plans at the ready, and the expertise to put them in the place. Like the race to the South Pole. Life is ultimately about facing the unknown, and who faces it better. I face a lot of unknowns in my career. And one of the main reasons I've been so successful is that I'm a chronic over prepare, I prepare for everything, even my days off that way. When an opportunity comes, I'm ready for it. Now let's talk about how preparation makes perfect. five tips on how to prepare now having listened to the previous part on the power of preparation, you know of its power, but you probably are looking for more practical tips and tricks on how to prepare. Being prepared is all about creating rituals for yourself. And rituals at their core are institutionalized habits. When we talk about preparation, we mean creating habits that help you succeed. Here are five of my favorite tips on how to prepare. One, make a list. Even if you have the greatest memory in the world, write everything out so you can see it all in one place. Why? It literally trains your brain to be more productive. Good old fashioned paper is fine. Plus, crossing something off with an actual pen gives you a nice dopamine hit. But if you're looking for a digital version of the to do list, I highly suggest Trello to prioritize your list, a lot of us make lists. But the most important thing is to prioritize the things on your list. Otherwise you end up doing all the fun things first, and never have time for the important things. It's a little like eating dessert before dinner. Personally, I prefer the ABC method of prioritization created by Alan Lincoln. Read about him When you have a chance, but for now, here's the cliffnotes version, a equals must do now, b equals important, but can wait. And c equals can be done whenever starts the night before and put all of your to dues for the next day on it. Then Mark everything is A, B, or C, and start working through them in that order. If you don't get everything done, just roll over to the next day. Don't worry, there's always tomorrow. Three, practice alone. Whether you're preparing for a presentation or job interview, practice what you're going to say before you say it. Not only does it help you memorize, it helps you find the rhythm and things that aren't working. I practice in the mirror, in the shower, walking around my house, wherever I can get away with it and not look like I'm talking to myself for practice with others. Once you practice by yourself, find a test audience in front of a large group of people or your potential new boss is not the first time you want another human to hear what you have to say. gathering a small group of co workers, friends or family will work great depending on the situation. This is a great time to check your tone. Make sure you're being culturally aware and to see if your jokes land. Seriously. This one is important. Also, have your focus group ask any questions? This clues you in on what maybe wait you. Five, test and refine? Once you practice your spiel, make time to retool it. I used to give sales pitches at conferences and I tried a few different versions on my first several customers of the day until I found what works. You don't know what will land until you get it up on its feet. So I have a few options drawn up and adjust on the fly. Do you think preparation makes perfect? What are your tips for preparing? Let me know in the comments below. All right. And that's it for this week's episode of press Start leadership podcast. Thanks for tuning in. And I look forward to talking to you next week. Cheers and thanks for being awesome.