Setting Priorities

This country was founded and built by people with great dreams and the courage to take great risks.

—Ronald Reagan²

President Reagan set an ambitious agenda to accomplish while in office; however, he wisely limited his promises to a few key areas and therefore was able to deliver on the things he promised. Ronald Reagan demonstrated the importance of having an overarching framework of goals and then taking action accordingly.

As a leader, everything you do should fit into the established guidelines of what you believe and the primary leadership goals you want to achieve.

Regardless of your available resources, it is almost certain that you will never be able to accomplish everything you want to as a leader. True leadership requires establishing priorities and focusing limited resources in a few strategically selected directions. Focusing on fewer items makes it more likely that the ones you pursue will actually succeed.

I was fortunate to learn early on from President Reagan the importance of staying focused, taking action, and being decisive based on specific, predetermined priorities. This came into play for me personally when I was exploring the possibility of expanding my company into multiple additional states. While I was in the midst of that consideration, but before I did so, the economy took a sudden and dramatic downturn. This forced me to shift priorities and become more valuable to a smaller group of customers locally and regionally. In the end, I was far more successful in narrowing my focus to a specific group of customers rather than trying to expand my customer base and risk jeopardizing the high level of customer service I was giving to my existing customer base, especially at a time when the market was so unsteady and volatile.

Take Action as a Team

Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.

—Ronald Reagan³

Although President Reagan often had to change his method of implementation, he didn't compromise on his core principles. On top of maintaining momentum toward the overall goals, this practice also allowed the entire team to act consistently and in sync with the key objectives.

An effective leader needs to delegate tasks and relinquish control over much of the implementation and needs to become comfortable with not knowing exactly what is being done by every employee every minute of the day. By clearly and consistently articulating a simple set of guiding principles, you are more likely to get the desired outcomes from the efforts and contributions of others.

Your team will also be more motivated to take action because they will be empowered to act, and they will do so with the confidence that their decisions are consistent with your overall vision and goals. Businesses often struggle and many fail, not because they had bad ideas, but because they kept changing direction or were inconsistent in choosing or communicating their core principles.

In large organizations, it often takes years to get a new idea fully implemented. If the leader is reorganizing or changing course constantly, the last idea may not have had time to be fully implemented or reach its full impact before something new is introduced. This tendency for change at too rapid a pace can create fragmentation in your company because some will be working toward your last vision, while others are already moving on to your next. It also can cause a lack of commitment to your ideas because employees will think that it isn't worth their time to invest in this plan because another, different one is just around the corner. However, frequently changing course in the face of changing market conditions is necessary and can be successfully accomplished if you have long-standing ties to strong core principles, such as excellent customer service or cutting-edge innovation.

Even as my company has gone through tremendous adaptation in the size and scope of our products, our clients were confident that our steadfast commitment to exceptional customer service would not change—and it didn't. As competitors allowed their service to suffer, we ensured that we continued to do whatever it took to make—and keep—the customer happy. In some cases, that even meant that we reduced our expected return; however, we still maintained our key principles and our corporate culture, which gave our company stability even as we were forced to make drastic changes in a rapidly evolving business climate.

When the market started to come back, our loyalty to our customers was rewarded as they honored us with more of their business and referred countless other clients to us.

To be successful and accomplish your goals, everyone has to be moving in the same direction. Whether it's your company, your family, or your organization, you need a mission statement and goals, and an ambitious, yet attainable, plan of action to ensure that your goals are realized. A confident, professional, and unified team is unstoppable.

Implement the Plan

May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will leave the world a little better for your having been here.

—Ronald Reagan⁴

Every aspect of implementation will require a precisely coordinated team effort. There will certainly be elements of implementation that you will have personal responsibility for, such as vision creation and ongoing direction and communication, but the coordinated efforts of a team are essential.

Break tasks up into workable objectives and assign someone to be responsible for each one. Every task needs to be given to someone who will be accountable for its completion. Be specific in your designations. Otherwise, as the adage goes, “if everyone is responsible, nobody is responsible.”

Building the needed infrastructure, assigning appropriate responsibility, and procuring the necessary resources are absolutely required to succeed.

The quickest way to success is by modeling success. Just as those around you will learn by your example, you should also seek out advice and wisdom from those who have already been successful and learn all that you can from their example. Learn from their best experiences, practices, and ideas. This will give your team great confidence that the goal is achievable and that confidence will translate into swift and purposeful action. There is no better motivator toward solving a puzzle than knowing someone else has already solved it, and proving that a solution exists.

By the third year of Ronald Reagan's first term as president, it was clear that it indeed was “Morning in America” again. The turnaround had started as just a U.S. phenomenon, but all over the world and especially in Europe, prime ministers and chancellors were looking for solutions to their economic challenges and began to follow the example of Ronald Reagan. As a result, by emulating America, many of their economies also began to revive and thrive.

Even the Soviet Union took notice and soon realized that its own economy was crumbling and would not be able to compete or keep up with a resurgent United States, militarily or otherwise. Not only was Ronald Reagan's commitment to peace through strength based on bolstering military capabilities, but he knew that economic stability and strength were equally important. By rebuilding both the domestic economy and restoring the U.S. military equipment and forces, additional political pressure was put on the Soviets. The weaknesses of Communism showed mightily in the contrast to the vibrancy of a proud and renewed United States. The Soviets watched one by one the collapse of politically oppressive regimes worldwide and symbolically were dealt a devastating blow with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ronald Reagan's prophetic words—that Communism was destined for “the ash heap of history”—were indeed coming true.

In contrast, China noticed these changes as well but chose to continue with its Communist political controls. However, it did eventually begin to slowly pattern its economic growth based on a Western capitalist model to try to keep pace with freer economies worldwide.

Ronald Reagan's actions matched his words, which were all part of his effectiveness in achieving his vision. Likewise, your steps should lead toward active implementation of your plan.

Most plans are made up of countless individuals and carefully coordinated actions. During a project's implementation, your job as a leader is to maintain the proper course, set an appropriate pace, and keep everyone's enthusiasm high. Even a president faces distractions during the day and needs to continually refocus, reguide, and remind those around him or her about the priorities, goals, and big picture—the vision. President Reagan could have lost enthusiasm for his goals of reviving the economy and putting an end to Communism, but instead he continually articulated, communicated, and gave voice to his vision, which not only kept him focused but inspired those around him.

Leaders need to model the appropriate amount of enthusiasm and effort. Rarely will those on your team have more enthusiasm for the project or vision than you do. You need to be the trailblazer, the pacesetter, and the cheerleader all in one for your team. People respond well to a leader who is consistently enthusiastic and invests in the projects at hand. Those around you want to also feel inspired to pursue those goals with confident enthusiasm and active support.

In any plan, mistakes will be made. Although those mistakes will typically be quickly corrected, it is your response to those mistakes as a leader that will endure longer than the error itself. If you support the team, even in times of failure and encourage them to learn from their mistakes, confidence and creative energy will continue to grow. If you lose your temper or blame, punish, and belittle employees publicly for their mistakes, everyone else will be watching as well; the result will be more hesitant decision making in the future and an unwillingness to contribute any innovative ideas or make decisions that might be perceived as risky.

Activating the energy of those around you also releases more of their creativity. Every plan experiences unexpected challenges ranging from internal conflict, external opposition, or a change of circumstances or environment. Sometimes, it is possible to just press on through trying times, but sometimes that is not the right solution. In fact, pressing on, especially in the face of opposition, often creates more resistance. Creative solutions are required and will be provided by those who feel free to submit ideas and participate in problem solving without criticism or dismissal.

And, of course, no plan is fully complete without following up. You must have hard facts to know whether you are making actual progress toward your goal. Most of all, you need to judge when the overall plan, or elements of it, need adjustment.

President Reagan had resources available to help him monitor progress, yet he still needed to be the driving force behind accountability, progress, and direction toward his goals. For urgent crises, the White House's Situation Room has become famous. Secure, top-secret, real-time global information streams come together for a core group of decision makers who take immediate, decisive action. Although the Situation Room often sees conflict that demands swift response, it has also been used to help divert or defuse domestic and international conflict through withholding retaliation. As leaders, it is good to remember that sometimes no response and no action are the better choices.

Although not everyone has their own Situation Room, the concept is the same when applied to business. You will be able to make the best possible decisions when you collect all pertinent information, gather educated, wise supportive voices and take decisive action based on the resources and knowledge you have available to you.

Assess and Adjust

Trust, but verify.

—Ronald Reagan⁵

Turning around the world's largest economy after a decade of malaise was President Reagan's top priority. He met with his team on the economy right away, developing both a short-term plan of action and a long-term vision of fulfillment and implementation. Ronald Reagan knew that a leader should not focus exclusively on either. Long-term achievement rides on a series of short-term successes. Keeping that in balance means being able to quickly and appropriately respond in real time, while not losing sight of the overall objective. Your job as a leader is to do both, keeping in mind that there is no long term if you don't successfully take care of the short term right now.

For each critical project in your overall plan, make sure you keep a regular pulse on its status. In some cases, this could be daily or weekly. Keep the updates efficient by addressing issues and soliciting input.

When possible, you, as the leader, should keep everything coordinated, but step out of the limelight and allow others to collaborate and work among themselves. Don't become an obstacle to the projects and sabotage their progress or success.

Sometimes assessment will determine that no adjustment is required—sometimes you need to stick to the original plan. As mentioned earlier, President Reagan's famous line, “Tear down this wall!” almost wasn't uttered. He stuck to his original intent and put those words back into the speech countless times after others, including people in the State Department, continuously removed them. He took a risk, made the statement, and prayed for the desired effect. Staying the course meant changing the world.

Pursue Efficiency

If you're afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again.

—Ronald Reagan⁶

President Reagan believed that in order to get government out of the way of the American people, he had to improve efficiency in the federal government by reducing or eliminating as much of the bureaucracy, regulations, and paperwork he could. In the 1970s, federal bureaucracy had its hand unnecessarily in a variety of industries. As one example, there was an appointed federal official who not only set airline fares but also decided that peanuts should be served on flights. For those old enough to remember, flying in the 1970s was both expensive and very inconvenient. These federal rules and regulations not only drove up costs for existing airlines but also were a significant barrier to innovation within the industry and discouraged expansion of the industry itself. Airlines trying to get into the aviation business at that time had difficulty doing so, and those already in the business found it challenging to merely survive.

Under President Reagan, the elimination of much of the bureaucracy at the federal level quickly unleashed a wave of innovation across the country, not only for the airlines, but across all industries. Once there were fewer rules to follow and regulations to abide by, businesses could get back to focusing on their customers, on growth, and on innovation. In that way, not only did President Reagan have a huge impact on the federal government, but he also triggered a domino effect of enthusiasm and entrepreneurialism across the entire economy, creating exponential growth nationwide.

In the business world, top influential CEOs were taking similar action in igniting growth and expansion in their companies by stripping away unnecessary layers of oversight and overbearing bureaucracy within their companies.

In any market it is advisable to pursue efficiency—while still maintaining high standards of excellence and doing what is right. By maximizing efficiency, it is possible to create expanded output, gain greater market share, and potentially increase profits, sometimes even with fewer resources. If you carefully consider areas where you can become more efficient and rally others around doing more with less, you'll be surprised how this unleashes a huge amount of productivity when motivation, enthusiasm, and incentive are abundant.

In 2006, the economic downturn necessitated the downsizing of many businesses, including mine. I had to find ways to become more efficient, including reducing the number of offices and the number of employees. Our fast response to the dramatic and threatening changes in the business environment saved the company and retained the jobs of the remaining individuals. The advantage for my company was that once I was forced to streamline my staff, everyone that remained was a top performer. Had we stuck to the vision and goals that were created under different circumstances and not acknowledged the changes we needed to make in response to the evolving business environment, then the company would have been completely lost. Eliminating bureaucracy and overhead expenses and streamlining the efficiency of our operations kept us afloat through difficult times and prepared us to grow again when the economy improved.

Once the real estate market stabilized but before it really started expanding, we were already positioned to grow our business again because we had learned to be more efficient.

Our streamlined operations also allowed us to offer lower prices than our competitors and made us more resilient for the next inevitable downturn. As painful as it can be to live through, this process of pursuing efficiency can potentially make businesses better, stronger, and lowers costs to customers. The process of regularly analyzing your business to look for duplication, waste, or excess is vital to staying competitive and relevant in a constantly changing business environment.

Challenge the Status Quo

Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They're just braver five minutes longer.

—Ronald Reagan⁷

President Reagan embraced his role as a change agent. That role started with making sure everyone was committed to the magnitude of the challenge ahead. Every one of us has a preexisting idea of what we believe is possible and impossible. There are even things that we know are necessary, but we honestly don't believe they can be changed. The economic catastrophe of the 1970s caused a lot of people, including many government leaders, to give up precisely when the country most needed them to show resolute, visionary leadership.

Those who lead with lasting impact are able to think differently than the rest of the industry and the competition. If you want a different outcome than the status quo, then you need to do things differently, and that means beginning to think differently.

In his book The Science of Success, American entrepreneur Charles Koch, says that in order to stay competitive, it requires that “a business apply the processes of experimental discovery and creative destruction to its vision, strategy, products, services, and methods. All businesses must constantly innovate.”

In essence, the success of Koch Industries is based on the creative destruction of their operations. In other words, they rip it apart and put it back together—all in an effort to ensure that they do not become stagnant, but remain as efficient and successful as possible.

So when, oh when, was the last time you did “creative destruction” on your personal life, your professional life, and your business? Last week? Last month? Or last year? Or maybe you haven't done it in over 20 years? The reason why we do what we do today is usually because we did it yesterday. My challenge to you is to take action by practicing “creative destruction” on a regular basis to stay competitive.

The most obvious business example comes from a company that actually used the slogan “Think Different.” As we play our music while texting friends on our smartphones, it's difficult to remember that the company credited with inventing the personal computer almost failed. It had to bring back its founder, Steve Jobs, to resurrect the entire company, restore its vision, develop creative problem solving, and reinspire an expansive and successful future of growth, innovation, and profitability.

As with Ronald Reagan, much has been written about Steve Jobs. He had three secrets to business success: understand customers better than they sometimes understand themselves; stay relentless in your visionary pursuit of efficiency; and, most important, understand that you need the team to think differently, and therefore shed the restrictions of the past and invent your own future.

General Electric championed the slogan “Find a better way, every day.” Even if you are confident in the solution you want to implement, you should still constantly challenge the status quo and think differently every day. We all need to immediately do things differently if we want to move forward.

I'm not a physician and I don't possess specific knowledge of medical equipment, but a friend of mine who is a trauma surgeon complained about needing to use several different pieces of equipment in order to perform a few basic tasks. Through brainstorming with him on how to simplify this process, we ended up developing a groundbreaking multiuse product called SmartShears. You can learn more about Medix SmartShears at www.medixmedical.com, but in essence they are an autoclavable, 4-in-1 device that includes trauma shears, a reflex hammer, a ruler, and an angle. Their efficiency saves money, and their accuracy saves lives. This cost-effective tool has streamlined emergency departments and trauma work. Medix SmartShears are a result of challenging the status quo and thinking differently—and the medical community and the patients they serve are benefitting as a result.

The reality is that most ideas fail long before they are implemented. Whether it was a bad idea to begin with, there were insufficient resources, the plan for implementation was flawed, or the timing was unfortunate, some ideas are bound to die along the way—and that's okay. Failure clears the way for the best ideas, to survive and receive sufficient resources and successfully be implemented. In fact, as a leader, one of your most critical jobs often isn't deciding what should be done but rather sometimes deciding what should not be done.

President Reagan faced great adversity and challenges both at home and abroad during his presidency. Although he stayed true to his principles, one of the things that made him a great president was that he constantly adjusted his implementation. He challenged his team to always look for new, innovative alternatives to business as usual.

A great example of his ability to think differently was seen in his approach to fighting the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan believed that we should defeat them from a position of strength. Declaring the Soviet Union an evil empire, he initiated an arms race that could not be won by the economically challenged Soviets. In the personal meetings between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev, it became clear to Gorbachev that this was a war that should not be fought, because it could not be won. Due in large part to President Reagan's efforts, the Cold War eventually came to a peaceful end. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, of the United Kingdom, said of Ronald Reagan, “He won the Cold War for liberty and did so without a single shot being fired.” This was the “Think Different” slogan personified. Ronald Reagan was able to win a war without ever having to actually engage in combat.

Taking Action

Ronald Reagan created a vision, assembled his team, communicated the message, and led by example, but ultimately to be successful in tangible ways, he had to be willing to take action, make a decision, show backbone, and stand strong for the things in which he believed passionately in bold and ambitious ways.

Real leaders practice “creative destruction” regularly, ripping the status quo apart, and putting it back together in ways that are more efficient and, ultimately, more successful.

Ron Bailey, my Kitchen Cabinet member, says, “as a leader you need to ultimately make a decision—and in order to be successful you need to be right most of the time.” Whenever he says that, I laugh and think, “No pressure…” but if we know that is the truth, then to be successful in taking action we must set our priorities and make sure we are focusing our efforts in the right direction. We must take action as a leader, but appropriately engage those around us and inspire them to action as well.

You need to pursue efficiency, making sure that you are not adding an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy that will limit the forward movement of your plan. To actually implement a plan, you need to outline and articulate the necessary steps to make it successful, pressing forward through any obstacles, distractions, or frustrations that arise. Ultimately, you must be willing to challenge the status quo and do things differently.

We know from playing and watching sports that a coordinated team can accomplish far more than even the most talented individual can accomplish alone. Your business and your family work the same way and you, as the “head coach,” need to assemble the right team, prepare, and be ready to take action and implement a winning game plan.