Becoming a Chief Figure it Out-er (Pt. 2)

Last week I started a three week series on what it practically looks like to be a leader who is resourceful, adaptable, and a problem solver...or in other words a Chief Figure it Out-er. 

It is one of the traits that most high level leaders have. 

I am breaking it down into three categories: The Mind, The Action and The Heart.

Last week I wrote on the Mind component of being a CFO. You can read that HERE.

Once you have ideas and strategies to overcome obstacles, you need to act!

This week I want to talk about the Actions of a CFO. 

+ Execution
+ Conviction
+ Persistence

Execution

Coming up with an idea is only half of the equation. CFO's not only have to have and foster creativity and vision, but they also must be able to execute. 

Executing requires vision and having wisdom. Once you have a vision and have a plan of attack, wisdom is necessary to figure out who on your team is equipped to execute in the needed areas. 

Once you have a plan and start deploying your people, you, as the leader must keep people on track and on task to finish the project/assignent. The idea to "hire great people then get out of their way" is a good sentiment but probably not accurate. 

Hire good people, deploy them in areas that they are strong, then hold them accountable to time lines and standards of work. 

A great idea is only a dream until acted on and executed. 

Conviction

The second Action is conviction. Todd Interdonato is the head baseball coach at Boston College. Previously he was at Wofford, a mid-major, underfunded program in South Carolina. 

In order to compete at Wofford, Todd had to be resourceful. 

He had to come up with a ways to compete with and beat better funded and bigger schools on their schedule. 

So Todd implemented an offensive system that was unique. After playing a certain school, the head coach of said school told me "I will never play Todd again. They caused so much chaos it made for a miserable weekend." 

The style was unique but it wouldn't matter if his athletes were not bought into that style. 

Todd was able to get buy in, in large part because of his conviction. He communicates with such conviction that it is really hard not to buy in. 

Todd came up with a unique offensive system (The Mind) then was able to implement this system because he had tremendous conviction and then installed it with that same conviction (The Action). 

When you come up with ways to overcome challenges, it often looks different than the 'industry standard'. And because of this, your people might be skeptical. It takes unbelievable conviction to get your people to buy in. 

*By the way...I think it goes without saying, Todd Interdonato is a high level CFO.

Persistence

And lastly turning idea into reality requires persistence. It takes hard work to overcome obstacles. 

We often start out excited about the problem solving. We are pumped about the idea and the plan we have. We take action and...we hit a wall. 

It doesn't look like we thought would. 

It doesn't work like we thought it would. 

We don't see the immediate results like we thought we would. 

What then? 

This is where persistence comes in. 

Are there times to bail on an idea? Sure. But more often than not, our problem is giving in too quickly. 

You want to be a CFO- think creatively and freely (The Mind) then execute with conviction and don't give in (The Action).

CLICK here to order my book The Leadership Greenhouse

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One of my weekly disciplines is scouring the internet for articles/tweets I can learn from and/or use with those I work with. Below are two that I hope help encourage and equip you.

Article 1- Chalk Board decisions

Article 2- Alignment- everyone going the same direction with the same goals, playing their role within a larger team! 

Podcast: Scott Carr- Florida International AD- great human, great connector.

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