By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you take more control over changing dynamics. Reading time: 2:56

So what if your desk is buried beneath a paper blizzard of memos, reports etc ? Consider shoveling a few more “snowflakes” around to stay more alert and ready when the winds of change swirl even harder.

Counter-intuitive?

Not to Donald Rumsfeld, the former corporate CEO and a two-time Secretary of Defense.

Rumsfeld shoveled a daily dose of 20-60 snowflakes.

That’s the term his staff gave to the flurry of followup memos and notes-to-self he would dictate and they would print and distribute after every key meeting Rumsfeld attended.

Call it Meeting After Care Instructions-some 20,000 snowflakes in his career that his staff carefully and meticulously filed and tracked in an extensive tickler system-so that he could more fully lead no matter how windy the conditions.

Some snowflakes were one-line long. Others were 2-3 pages that captured an idea at the meeting and projected outcomes that needed his followup. All of his snowflakes were designed to maintain a keen focus on the objectives, timelines and milestones of a key decision. Continue reading →