How to: Be Determined

What does this look like?

Managers who have determination:

• pursue everything with energy and drive
• commit to finishing
• rarely give up, even in the face of resistance or setbacks.

How can I do this?

1.    Don’t give up after your first attempt

Just because your first attempt didn’t succeed doesn’t mean you can’t succeed.

• Consider unsuccessful attempts as an opportunity to learn.
• Think of a different approach.
• Think of other ways to achieve the same outcome.

2.    Don’t procrastinate

• Make a small start straight away. It’s often not until you start that you fully understand what it will take to finish.
• Always assume a task will take longer than you expect.
• Plan your strategy as soon as you can.
• If you don’t succeed, try again quickly. Don’t lose momentum.

3.    Keep resistance in perspective

Resistance is often inevitable. Sometimes it’s legitimate. Sometimes it’s because people don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve.

• When you hit resistance, focus on what you’re trying to accomplish.
• Invite people to explain their point of view and ideas.
• Take other views on board if justified and make changes if you need to.
• Don’t get side-tracked by opposition.
• Try not to take resistance personally.

4.    Be ready to explain your position

When you want to make a decision or take action which you know will meet some resistance….be prepared.

• Develop a strong, clear case to support your position.
• Don’t be tentative about it. Be specific, direct and confident.
• Plan as though you’ll only get one opportunity to explain yourself.
• Do your homework. Find out how your decision will impact others.
• Be able to explain the benefits of your position.
• Pre-prepare responses to tough questions, attacks, and counter views.
• Accept that you may have to explain your position again if you didn’t make a strong enough case the first time.

5.    Know how to navigate processes and people

To get things done, you often have to navigate both the organisation’s systems and the personalities of the people involved.

• Be patient with processes.
• Identify key players and power brokers and understand what matters to them and how they operate.
• Ask others for ideas about how to work within the organisation to get things done.
• Observe what others do.

6.    Know when to move on

If something’s proving difficult to achieve, consider whether it’s time to move on.

• Assess whether the decision or action is critical or important to the organisation.
• Consider whether what you’ve already done could be enough.
• Think about delegating the task of finishing to someone else.

7.    Refocus on what really matters

• Take time to assess what’s most important and where you want to focus.
• Invest your time and energy according to your goals.
• Spend more time on important decisions and less time on unimportant ones.
• Identify which important tasks or challenges you prefer and concentrate more on those.
• Do your least preferred activities first to get them out of the way.
• Try to delegate or trade tasks that no longer motivate you.

You may find this challenging if you…

• give up too soon
• don’t like rejection or resistance
• don’t take charge
• aren’t willing to keep trying
• don’t persevere when there’s conflict, disagreement or attacks
• compromise at the cost of achieving your goal.

You may be too determined if you…

• stay with ideas and projects in the face of overwhelming odds and with no evidence to indicate you’ll succeed
• are stubborn and unyielding
• aren’t setting appropriate priorities
• won’t change course when you should
• confuse your personal ideas and goals with what’s most important.