Every strength to excess is a weakness.

I read somewhere, maybe it was about Jack Welch, the ex-CEO of GE, that when one of his subordinates told him that a certain project was going to be done in a few weeks, that he interrupted them and said, “ See that is a problem right there. You are looking at your calendar, and I am looking at my watch.”

I always liked that quote…and have resisted using it numerous times. I understand that oftentimes my ADD attitudes of wanting something to happen by tomorrow is unrealistic and unnecessarily stresses the key players in my business.

If you want to make a name for yourself in almost any organization DO THINGS FASTER. I am not saying to do things poorly or to sacrifice quality for speed. Quality is a given.

Find ways to leverage yourself, your strengths, your time. Somewhere someone can do this job faster and at a high quality level. Be THAT person. Surprise your leader-boss with a faster effort and you will be known as a high performer.

Tony Christianson of Cherry Tree says the same thing in another way. “I think it is an artillery analogy,” he said. “If I am in charge of the artillery {think World War II}, I don’t want my guys doing wind calculations in the middle of the battle. Just point the sucker and fire. And, then see where it lands and make adjustments. Fire, adjust. Fire, adjust.”

Works for me.