Trends and Issues in Extension

It feels like a matter of weeks since I last posted and it’s really been months. Kind of the way life feels like these days.  I’m forever committing to multiple projects. A great (and quick read) on the need to focus and on getting more done by doing  less busywork is Graham Alexander’s Tales from the top.  Some more good advice comes from a post from Dwayne Melacon’s Genuine Curiosity  blog. Dwayne recommends a simple system. Taking the top few items that are critical to get done each day and putting them on an index card. Dwayne calls it his “Daily Watch” list and creates it from the multiple project lists he maintains (this follow’s David Allen’s Getting Things Done).

Good advice for Extension professionals caught in daily white water. If you can’t at least focus on your key commitments for at least some of each day they will slip away.

Ryan Schmiesing sent me this link to a brief interview in USA Today with A.G. Lafley, CEO of Proctor and Gamble. The article provides a good, quick read and a pretty balanced philosophy on leadership and management. It’s worth reading through to get to the last question and answer:

Q: Are leaders born or made?

A: Clearly made. You choose to lead. You choose to want to make a difference, to make the world better in some meaningful way. Until that choice is made, you don’t have a leader. You have a lump of clay.