CEO Series: How to get sh*t done
"Your career is your business and you are its CEO." - Andrew Grove
Being a CEO requires mastery of leadership practices. Beyond psychological aspects, how you manage your time and retain focus can make or break any leader.
This week on Learning to Lead Live we continued our CEO series shifting to a discussion on how to get sh*t done, including time management, finding and staying in the zone of genius, and maintaining focus. Here are a few key takeaways:
Know Thy Time: A leader of any level needs to first understand how they are spending their time. A CEO masters this skills by being defensive of their time, knowing what is critical to do (or not to do). As you evaluate your time, pay attention to the disruptors that may show up:
Getting stuck in your own head
Bouncing from one thing to the next
Procrastination, overthinking and avoiding what needs to be done
Working long days to catch up
Neglecting personal time and self-care
Spending more time in a state of reaction
Challenge: set a goal is to free up 5 - 15 hours a week. This will require awareness of how your time is being spent, brutal honesty about what you are doing, creating lists of what needs to be done, and letting go of what you don’t need to.
Structuring Days to Promote Effectiveness: Leaders need to be intentionally focused on what needs to get done and executing at the highest level. You can practice this by:
Start by looking at the coming month and planning on the macro level
Get more organized versus trying to be ing a stat of “flow”
Focus on the bigger picture, mission and goals and why they are important
Maintain balance without sacrificing personal healthy, relationships, or happiness. CEOs perform at a higher level while maintaining balance (without sacrificing health, relationships or happiness). Find the non-negotiables in your life and protect them fiercely.
Implement a morning ritual or practice to set yourself up for success. Questions to consider: Who do I need to show up as today? What are today’s top goals and priorities? What challenges, situations or stress do I see myself facing? How can I deal with these challenges as my best self? Today will be a great success if at the end of the day I feel…What can I do today to bring me joy?
Leverage the Evolve Method which asks you to spend time defining what your “ideal life” would look and feel like. Once you define this life, schedule, structure, and build everything around it (what matters most). This is a defining factor for CEOs who move from “hoping” to creating intention and taking action.
Try a planning spreadsheet by looking at the coming month and plan out big objectives, target results you want to achieve, items without specific deadlines, and where you want to spend time on learning.
Remember to make time to reflect and learn. CEOs are always learning and evolving. Consider how you practice reflection. You might start an evening practice to assess what went well, what could be improved, or what was learned during the day. This practice can be as simple as ranking on a scale of 1-10 how the day went, and what would make your ranking move up even one point.
“In business what’s dangerous is NOT to evolve.” - Jeff Bezos
Zone of Genius: This is a zone where CEO’s can have the greatest impact. By focusing on the things that only a CEO can do, they are able to empower their teams, focus on the growth of the company, and achieve goals. Where can you lean into your zone of genius? What can you delegate or outsource to others?
CLOSING:
Being a CEO requires we master many of the leadership practices we’ve discussed in this group. However, these practices take time. Start today, no matter your level or years of experience, and hone your leadership craft.
And always remember, you are the CEO of your life!
“I learned that focus is key. Not just in running a company, but in your personal life as well.” - Tim Cook CEO Apple
Learning to Lead Live Replay
Learning to Lead will be back Live on Saturday, November 19 @ 9:30 am PT as we continue our C-Suite series. Reminders and recaps are shared here so be sure to subscribe and consider sharing with someone who might benefit from our content.
Resources
Effective CEO Planner: resources provided by leadership coach Byron Morrison
Video on CEO Planner: an online course to discover the process highly effective CEOs are using to prioritize their time, manage their workload and maximize what they get done in a day.
TECH UP FOR WOMEN CONFERENCE - Tuesday, November 15, 2022: A one day conference event to advance through technology knowledge. The program offers a fast moving event to embrace technology.
Newsletters I read daily to stay informed and get inspired: The Hustle, Morning Brew, Seth Godin’s Blog, Atlas Obscura, Oprah Daily, Newsette
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