Three days after a Metrolink commuter train crashed killing 26 people, the spokeswoman for rail agency Metrolink has been forced to resign after she made statements indicating that the agency was responsible for the accident.

There is some indication that the Engineer may have been involved in text messaging at the time of the accident and the National Transportation Safety Board is going to court to get the records.

My question is why was Denise Tyrell forced to resign? Is it because she stole some of the glory from the NTSB who concurred that the engineer apparently was at fault?

There was a time when taking responsibility for wrong actions was viewed as being noble and the right thing to do. That day in our nation is long past.

The board of Metrolink who forced Ms Tyrell out of her job should make a public apology. A spokesperson for a major corporation would never take it upon themselves to make a statement to the general public without authorization. I sincerely hope that the Mayor of Los Angeles and maybe even the Governor will intervene for this woman who was just trying to do her job.

By Matt Platts

It can be hard to fully 100% complete tasks. You begin a task with all the intentions of completing it, but then something more ‘important’ or ‘interesting’ drags you away from it. Soon there are half completed tasks all over the place, and it can lead to stress. It used to happen to me but now I have the knowledge in my mind to get around it. I acquired this knowledge through reading and listening to self development tapes. Luckily you can cut out the hard stuff and comfortably read my blog (wish I could have done that).

I’ve condensed the information into two easy steps. Firstly you need to set deadlines for yourself. Even if you set a deadline and don’t meet it, keep setting new deadlines. You will soon become talented in picking how long tasks will take, and will set deadlines more accurately. In psychological terms, putting a time limit on tasks brings it more clearly into your consciousness. It becomes more real and definite. Imagine telling yourself ‘I must complete this task within four days’, as opposed to ‘I should probably do that at some point’.

Step 1 – For every task set a deadline.

Great job – you have your task and your deadline. Next you must make sure you complete the task 100% before this deadline. This makes a very big difference. Don’t reach the deadline and tell yourself ‘oh that’s pretty much done’ – this will not work. Every time you complete a task 100% before a deadline, amazing things will happen inside of you. You feel good about yourself and your mood soars. You feel fulfillment and a strong desire to do more productive things. It’s as though you climbed another step up in life; progress feels so much better than stagnancy. These powerful postive feelings I will call posicoms (pos(itive)com(pletions)). A steady flow of posicoms are the key to being a very positive and enthusiastic, let alone a very productive person. People without posicoms will cruise through life with small highs. They never really achieve anything, and it’s not until they get their first dose of posicoms do they start achieving things.

Step 2 – Become addicted to posicoms by completing the tasks 100% before the deadline.

Now that you know the steps, here are some tips to maximising them to keep a steady flow of posicoms. Firstly you need to remove all of the bad distractions in your work area. Let me give you an example of how important this can be. When you go for a walk, you always 100% complete your walk. Why? The answer is because you have to get back home. By walking (performing a task) away from your home you are freeing yourself from any distractions that would otherwise prevent you from completing your walk. Thus you always 100% complete it. Let’s apply this.

If you have very good self discipline, then you should be able to complete tasks in any situation. However for us normal people, the best way is to switch up or alter the physical locations you work in. I personally get distracted by the internet; and always find myself aimlessly cruising the net. So to stop this from completing the steps and getting my posicoms the solution was to complete the tasks in an area where I couldn’t access the internet. This could be a library or a room which no internet access. If you are stuck at a desk at work, you could pull out the internet cord and give it someone, telling them not to give it back to you until you have finished. When you begin a task you usually have the good intentions of completing it, so use those good intentions to stop your future self from sabotaging you (yes you have to think about the future you as a different person to you right now). That sentence may need to be re-read to be properly understood.

Tip 1 – Prevent your future self from stopping early – remove yourself from all future distractions at the beginning.

Secondly you need to benchmark yourself. You need to have a goal within a task. Say your task is to produce a 500 word report. Obviously you could smash out 500 words and say that’s 100% complete. The posicoms may flow but they will be a trickle, because you know you could do better. You need to set a goal to produce the report at a level of quality that will get you some kind of external results. For example you could get an external observer (a friend) to critique the article, and make it a benchmark for yourself to always impress your friend. I need to stress that it must be an external benchmark. You can’t be the judge because you can change the benchmark – the benchmark needs to be firmly set in place. Competition is also a very good motivator. If you are performing the same task as other people, then set a benchmark to beat them. Without benchmarks you will not push yourself and gain the great rewards (posicoms).

Tip 2 – Set benchmarks based on external results to propel yourself to full completion

Write out the two steps and the two tips (if you want) and make them visible at your work area. It may be hard at first, but once you feel the powerful posicoms you will soon become addicted, and start setting more tasks and almost unknowingly become extremely productive.

If you like articles that help you towards brilliance such as this, check out http://www.williamsmind.com/blog

About the author: Matt is a budding university student studying Commerce and Law. He likes to make change for the good and help others achieve their goals

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Are you a real leader? Not if you’ve ever tried to put one of these over on someone.

1. It’s not my fault.

Oh yes it is. The leader steps up to accountability for whatever happens on his or her watch. Did the President personally screw up the response efforts to Hurricane Katrina? No, but it was his fault. That was his team that dropped the ball.

2. Hey, I didn’t hire so and so.

You thought you had me on this one, didn’t you? After all, when you inherit a job with people in place, you can’t be responsible for everything they do, right? You’re supposed to be responsible for your own team.

Correct, and unless and until you make some changes, the team you inherit is your own team. Don’t waste time making changes if they are needed. And don’t hesitate for a second when it’s time to support the people on your team, whether you hired them or not.

3. We had a miscommunication around expectations.

This is one of the most over used excuses in the book. Good leaders know the importance of clear communications, and they know how to test understanding early on in any program or project to make sure people are communicating effectively. What this really means is that we didn’t start managing this effort until it was already too late.

4. I don’t have enough resources to get the job done.

Staffing levels, budgets, required technology are all things that get negotiated going into a job or a project. Once the starting bell has rung, you are on the line. Do surprises occur? Yes, and when they do the leader does not make excuses. He or she clearly and effectively outlines how the game has changed, and engages all parties needed to figure out how to respond.

5. I wanted to (hire/fire/approve/disapprove/start/stop) that one, but my boss made the final decision.

Then you’re not the leader, are you? Leaders have bosses too. Even CEO’s have to answer to a Board. But when you turn around to those who view YOU as the leader, you have to own every decision.

Leaders and excuses? They really don’t go together.

The organization that isn’t changing is probably dying. For more information about managing change and developing leaders, please visit www.thomasjodea.com.

Tom O’Dea has more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in companies ranging from startups to multi billion dollar corporations.

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