All that effective executives have in common is the ability to get the right things done.
The effective executives I have seen differ widely in their temperaments and abilities, in what they do and how they do it, in their personalities, their knowledge, their interests—in fact, in almost everything that distinguishes human beings. But all effective executives I’ve known perform only necessary tasks and eliminate unnecessary ones.
Five practices have to be acquired to be effective.
- Effective executives know where their time goes. They work systematically at managing the little of their time that can be brought under their control.
- Effective executives focus on outward contributions.
- Effective executives build on strengths—theirs and others. They do not build on weaknesses.
- Effective executives concentrate on superior performance where superior performance will produce outstanding results. They force themselves to stay within priorities.
- Effective executives make effective decisions. They know that this is a system—the right steps in the right sequence. They know that to make decisions fast is to make the wrong decisions.
Whenever I have found a person who—no matter how great in intelligence, industry, imagination, or knowledge—fails to observe these practices, I have also found an executive deficient in effectiveness.
ACTION POINT: Commit these five tasks to memory and practice them: know where your time goes; focus on outward contributions; build on strengths; concentrate on superior performance; and make effective decisions.
The Effective Executive
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker