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In the headline, I posed he question, "What would it mean to you as CEO to free up 90% of your time?" I speak to hundreds of CEOs every year and pose the following question:
If you kept track of every activity you undertake hour-by-hour, day-by-day over a two week period, what percentage of those activities would meet the following two criteria:
- I am the only person in the company qualified to do this task.
- I am the only person in the company for whom it is morally, ethically, or legally appropriate to do this task.
The average response to the question is about 10 percent. What that means is that as CEO, doing only the things the CEO can do there is a potential 900 percent increase in your production capacity sitting on the table.
Think about how huge this is.
If you took only half of that production capacity and applied it to moving your company forward strategically, would it transform your company? If you took the other half and applied it to your personal pursuits and your family, would it transform your personal and family life?
It doesn't take a lot of imagination to realize the answer to both questions is a resounding "yes".
We live in uncertain times. Never before has your ability to fly at 30,000 feet been more important so you can make sure your company isn't running down a strategic blind alley and that you are not so buried in the trees that you don't realize your corner of the forest is on fire.
Times of great change are times of great opportunity. Do you find you and your company frozen like deer in the headlights, or are you excited with the possibilities you see opening up before you, knowing you have the people, systems and processes in place to adapt and take advantage of those opportunities while your competitors struggle and cut back?
You may not realize it, but the tradition of management and leadership with which we have all grown up was designed very intentionally to minimize employee contribution. "Check your brain at the door and do what we tell you to do" has been the underlying principle. In today's world, you have to be fully leveraging the total talent, intelligence, creativity, knowledge, experience, energy and enthusiasm of your people if you are to remain competitive.
It is never too late to start learning how to fully leverage the employees you are paying for. Start by either ordering or downloading your copy of The End of Management. As you grasp the simple principles, you will realize the opportunities that are there for you to move your business to a whole new level of productivity at the same time freeing up important bandwidth for you so you can have your dream life.
If you have any questions at all, please call me personally with no obligation in the US at 505-884-7300. Thank you.