Guest Post by Jess Millis

There are quite a few rules and tips that Jim Collins has churned out in his time, and where there may be students essay writing on them all right now, here is a short article on just a few of them.

Leadership Style1 – Work on no more than ten things

Jim says you should work on no more than ten things at a time and that you may add new goals to your list as you go, but that you may only add them to your top ten list if they are important enough to supplant one that is in your top ten.

2 – Set five to ten year plans

Jim says you should set your goals to run for five to ten years and that you should base your goals on empirical evidence. There is a Good to Great tool on jimcollins.com to help you set your goal. Set a goal and then “March” to it with a dedicated pace.

Jim Collins - Leadership
The five levels of leadership identified by Collins. Source: “Good to Great”

3 – Prioritize your top ten list

Jim says that you should put your top list of ten things to do in some sort of order. This means that writing your list is not the same as writing an essay, as your list should be smaller and more bullet pointed. Jim says turn off your electronic goods one day per week so that you may enjoy a little silence.

4 – Create a don’t do list

This is actually the remainder of the top ten list you have created. It is what is left over for you do to, and Jim says that instead of essay writing a huge second list that you can just forget any points that are not on your top ten list. If you run out of things to do on your top ten list, then you can move things over from your don’t-do list.

5 – Create a list of every goal

Jim says that without goals you can achieve nothing and where having one goal is okay it is better to have lots of goals. That is why listing them is a good idea so that you may concentrate on them all without forgetting them. Jim says that if your list involves goals that require staff then you must make a point of becoming fully staffed within the next 6 months.

6 – Make a point of crossing things off your list

Jim says that once you have completed an item on any of your lists then you should cross it off the list and replace it with something that is less important. Jim says a productive person does not get through a list of things but instead is the one who is left at the end of the day with a list of unimportant things to do (because all the important things have been done).

7 – Double your questions-to-statement ratio

Jim feels that a productive person should be asking more than telling. This is contrary to what writing an essay or popular culture has taught us. But, powerful and productive people do ask a lot of questions before making any sort of statement.

Featured image courtesy of Wesley Fryer, licensed via creative commons, some rights reserved.

Guest Author

Jess MillsJess Millis, experienced writer, editor and copywriter. She works as an educator in James Madison University (writing classes) and at EssayMama.com as a freelance essay writer. Follow Jess on Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.