What will your professional 'legacy' be in 2011? I am referring to that single achievement for which you will be remembered. What will it take, beside your strength, motivation and a sense of opportunity? Probably a significant and effective investment of time. Here are a few simple lessons learnt from successful chief executives.
With so many daily tasks, constraints and unexpected disturbances at work, how can chief executives achieve anything great at all? Ask them, and they will tell you that their legacy demands a lot to clarity about what matters most and a relentless focus. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Once they have chosen what they want to accomplish above all else, they must set aside and protect time to achieve it. Because - as the saying goes - "failing to plan is planning to fail". A simple tip is to book sufficient time in your agenda. Do you also allocate recurrent time-slots for your most important tasks throughout the year? For example: three hours for "strategic planning" every second Thursday of the month? Unforeseeable meetings, trips and urgent tasks will surely get in the way, but then you reschedule the time you had protected and end up investing the same amount of time you originally budgeted.
Another common feature of successful chief executives is their decisiveness about what they will not do, in full awareness of the possible negative impact on the business. This saves time for them to better achieve assignments that add superior value to the company. Are you practicing that, as well?
One more typical mindset of outstanding chief executives is to look at all tasks coming their way with the questions: "how can I avoid doing this myself? How can I split it and delegate some parts?" Whilst you may not have many colleagues to whom to delegate, can you do more of it?
This of course requires that you invest serious time in coaching your co-workers, helping them to fly higher so that you, also, can fly higher. Booking at least one hour a month with your direct reports, to help them expand their talents and performance is a real "must". Former GE chief executive Jack Welsh claimed to spend 80 per cent of his time coaching his people.
Yet another discipline needed to boost your effectiveness is to neutralise your time-wasters. Start with e-mail. How much time does e-mail take from you? How much should it take? A healthy discipline for most executives is to consult and reply to e-mail only three times per day - early in the morning, before or after lunch and at the end of the day, like antibiotics.
Last tip, but not the least: protect time for "self-renewal", to refresh and re-energise yourself, such as time with family and friends, sports, meditation or hobbies. As you know, you will be much more effective and clear-minded afterwards. When I work with overwhelmed executives on their priorities and time management, we often start by adding to their overloaded agendas those moments for renewal. We also forbid them to skip these moments, and that forces them to streamline the way they work and kick out their time-wasters.
There is really no magic involved in accomplishing your legacy in 2011. As Stephen Covey said, "the key is not in spending time, it is in investing it". A discipline of effectiveness based on the tips I have given will help you go a long way!
Finally, an invitation: this column is also yours. It aims to give managers useful insights and practical tips for management and leadership improvement. Feel free to e-mail me at jfc@1-2-win.net with topics you would like me to cover.
Jean-Francois cousin leads 1-2-WIN Executive Coaching (www.1-2-win.net) and is a former managing director of a Fortune 500 company in Thailand.
