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8 Mentoring Sessions You Can’t Afford to Miss

Eight Monday mornings. Eight valuable lessons on leadership.

About David Cottrell

David Cottrell is an author, a speaker, and a former senior manager at Xerox and FedEx.

“Monday Morning Leadership Summary”

“Monday Morning Leadership” is a story of Jeff Walters, which starts when Jeff hits mid-career crisis in the company he works in.

Jeff was always a hard worker and worked overtime, but lately, whatever he was doing did not yield him any results.

The goals his company set for him and his team were never achieved.

But his problems did not just stop there – as usual; his professional issues started affecting his personal life, as well as his wellness.

So, with everything around him going wrong, Jeff decided to call Tony Pearce, who had been a friend of his late father, and Tony agreed to give him Monday morning mentoring sessions.

The only thing he wanted for return was for Jeff to pass on the knowledge he gathered through these meetings to other people who need it.

And so, for eight weeks, Jeff and Tony were meeting each Monday, and talked about eight crucial lessons:

“Making Tough Decisions”

The first morning Jeff admitted that he had worked hard to make other employees at the firm like him, and as a result sometimes overlooked his staff’s poor performance.

Tony told them that his behavior was a big mistake. He had to accept the control he was given, and stop making bad decisions just for the sake of not hurting his friends.

“Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing”

Tony taught Jeff to keep his priorities straight since employees always follow and pursue what their bosses believe is essential.

“Keep Your Stars Shining”

The third morning Jeff learned that he needed to take good care of the employees that shined and were working hard, and not expect them to make up for the deficiencies of the weaker employees.

“The ‘Do Right’ Rule”

The next Monday Jeff realized that he was too soft with underperforming employees, lumping” regarding recognition.

“Hire Tough”

The fifth week, Jeff already had the priorities straight: earn profits, respect your colleagues and give customer service.

Tony taught him that hiring the right people is crucial for doing a good job.

“Do Less or Work Faster”

Tony made Jeff realize that he is the master of his time and that instead of working hard he needs to learn how to work smart and prioritize.

“Buckets and Dippers”

At this meeting, Jeff learned how to coach his team, and recognized his employees individual “dippers,” or attitudes “that can drain someone’s desire and motivation.”

“Enter the Learning Zone”

The last morning Jeff was already reporting his progress.

Tony gave Jeff one last lesson – he told him that he had to enter the learning zone, consisted of three rooms: the reading room, the listening room, and the giving room.

Key Lessons from “Monday Morning Leadership”

1.      The Eight Lessons of Leadership
2.      Types of Employees
3.      Three Rules of Three in Hiring

The Eight Lessons of Leadership

• “Making Tough Decisions”
• “Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing”
• “Keep Your Stars Shining”
• “The ‘Do Right’ Rule”
• “Hire Tough”
• “Do Less or Work Faster”
• “Buckets and Dippers”
• “Enter the Learning Zone”

Types of Employees

• “Superstars” are great at their jobs.
• “Middle stars” either were superstars who lost motivation or lack knowledge and experience to become superstars.
• “Falling stars” do not care about their work and do not put effort into doing their jobs well.

Three Rules of Three in Hiring

• Interview at least three qualified candidates for every position
• Interview the candidates three times
• Have three people evaluate the candidates.

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“Monday Morning Leadership” Quotes