You’re trying to be as effective as possible each day.
Likewise, you try to organize your time and your priorities to maximize productivity.
But important tasks keep surfacing.
People keep tugging at you for your time and attention.
What is the overriding driver for you each day?
What is the major filter you use to identify your priorities?
You need to keep goals in mind — your personal goals, your team goals, and those of the organization.
You can stay busy all day — every day — focused on what other people think your priorities should be.
Identifying the highest and best use of your time is critically important, just not always easy.
When in doubt, seek the wisdom from people whose advice is timeless.
There is a reason why Stoic philosophy is having a rebirth in the 21st century.
It is also why people continue to turn to Peter Drucker.
He suggests you not focus on goals and tasks based on your area of expertise, but to challenge yourself to ask, “What can I contribute?”
Contribute. Sounds a bit lame, doesn’t it? Kinda passive.
Don’t be misled.
When you break it down, it is powerful. Your contribution can bring massive value. It can make a difference.
Drucker’s ideas about contribution suggest a mindset that can help you lead.
It can help you succeed. Bigly. 😎
Drucker’s Definitive Guide Coming to a Bookshelf (or iPad) Near You
One of the staples of your leadership library should be Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done.
In Chapter Three, he suggests that the effective executive continually asks: “What is the most important contribution I can make to the performance of this organization? “
It forces you to look beyond the tasks in front of you and your own expertise.
Instead, you focus on the organization and your team. It enables a broader look at what is possible and what is necessary.
Drucker suggests that there are three areas where contribution can be made.
● Contribution to the organization.
● Contribution to the values and behaviors that define the (desired) culture.
● Contribution to your direct reports and team members.
Example #1 — Sometimes You Wear the Goofy Cowboy Hat
When Paul Sherman was first hired as CFO at ABB Optical Group, he scheduled introductory meetings with his peers. Only he didn’t seem like a peer once they looked at his resume. He’d been CFO of a $4 billion company. Wall Street experience. He had worked in finance, strategy and operational excellence at Burger King. Another multi-billion-dollar behemoth.
ABB was on a $300 million run rate, profitable and doing well by anyone’s standards. But this new guy was next-level.
Team members were somewhat intimidated and expected a high-powered know-it-all to walk in the room. He’d probably require new information from them and want to make sure that things were done “his way.”
After his introductory session, I asked one of the members of the team how it went.
“Actually… great. It was refreshing.”
Paul had introduced himself and his first question was, “What do you need?”
Say what? Excuse me?
“What information do you need to make better decisions and better fulfill your role?”
It wasn’t about Paul. It was about discovering how he could contribute. To make others successful.
It was no surprise when I later spoke to his direct reports. He communicated his expectations (in writing) for their performance, outcomes and attitude. He shared the group goals and performance metric targets. He scheduled 1×1 meetings with each of them.
Over time, he held them accountable to meet those expectations. He shared updates towards progress on team goals. But he also created a relationship that was grounded in several key areas:
- Trust
- A willingness to listen in order to understand their goals and aspirations
- Conversations about work challenges and personal needs
Paul was also mindful of walking the talk. Communicating appropriately. Listening actively. Displaying a willingness to admit his mistakes. Doing what he said he would do.
He made sure that the organizational and department goals were understood and pursued. He prioritized the growth and development of his team members.
He challenged the CEO to make hires in finance that he thought would have a material impact on the company’s performance. The CEO reluctantly went along. Fear of the cost. Fear of the uncertainty around the role. Fear that the new guy was creating his own empire.
Those fears subsided in a matter of days after the new hires began. Ninety days later I was told that the new hires had paid for themselves already. Almost immediately.
I had known Paul to be the consummate professional. He joined a culture that was serious about results and personal accountability, but equally serious about having fun and exercising humility. Not too long after he joined ABB, the annual Halloween costume contest took place. Senior leadership was expected to participate and the more outrageous the outfit, the better.
I had to go see. As employees gathered out in the warehouse, sure enough, there was Paul dressed as a cowboy. He wasn’t the rough and tumble western tough guy, but more like Woody from Toy Story.
Somewhat ridiculous.
It was perfect.
Why? To lead by example.
Paul challenged the organization to bring in talented people across all departments that took the company to a new level of performance. It wasn’t a matter of just “meeting budget.” It was setting up the company for the future.
He also supported his boss(es) to leverage their own personal leadership strengths and to utilize his strengths — and those of his team — to create a high-performing company doing $1.4 billion in revenue.
Growth. Value.
And be the kind of organization where A players want to work.
Paul was intentional about making both a short-term and long-term contribution.
- Contribution to the organization.
- Contribution to the values and culture.
- Contribution to the people who work for him.
Example #2 — Sometimes the Coxswain in Your Boat is a Baseball Player
Lou Zaccone spent most of his career at Trane, the commercial air-conditioning company. He was Vice President of Service nationally, then became General Manager for the state of Florida, and ultimately Executive Vice President of Harshaw Trane in Louisville.
Through that progression of roles, there were some elements that remained consistent:
He expanded the pie
Lou constantly looked at the footprint of customers and the portfolio of products and services offered by his team. And then he asked a lot of questions.
What if…?
How might we…?
Who could help us…?
What are the stumbling blocks for our customers?
For my employees?
And then he went to work. He identified organizations that gave him access to decision-makers. His efforts resulted in legislation that allowed businesses and homeowners to invest in energy efficient equipment provided by Trane (among others) and pay for it over an extended time period. He created “As a Service” offerings, which allowed companies to move forward and upgrade equipment and make investment — even in a pandemic.
Creating new markets. New customers. New opportunities.
Not because the Trane Mother Ship required it or suggested it. But to grow his business. To lessen the risks. Create opportunity.
He built his rowing crew
On a weekly basis, Lou recognized an employee who had exemplified the company’s core values in a significant way. Invariably it was someone who went “above and beyond” in demonstrating those values. In a newsletter to all employees, he would recognize that person and tell the story about them.
To acknowledge the effort and the values-in-action.
To reinforce the culture.
To let people know he was watching.
The story would always end with the phrase “She (or he) rows for us!”
The recipient would be given the Oar Award, a small metal sculpture with a rowing crew, with each figure pulling on oars. The recipient kept it for a week until it was passed on to the next Oar Award winner.
Over time, the important behaviors got recognized and reinforced. It also forced leaders at all levels to keep an eye out for the behaviors. If leaders never recognized one of their team members, it was a reflection on the team…or the leader…or both.
He created a great farm system
Lou made it a mission to develop his direct reports. Sales training. Leadership training. Mentoring. Reading books as a team.
He would stretch his leaders and give them opportunities and responsibilities that may have been beyond their capabilities — on paper. But he saw their potential and wanted to nurture it. Develop it.
When he acknowledged that it was a significant stretch for the individual, he would include what he called a “Get out of jail free card” (which resonates for everyone who ever played Monopoly).
It was his way of saying, “I am acknowledging that I am stretching you. If this doesn’t work out, it’s on me.”
Too often we set people up to fail, and when they do, we fire them.
Lou took the risk out of the process. Invariably, people rose to the occasion. Because they did have the capacity to stretch. And they felt trusted. They felt respected.
High performers were constantly being recruited out of Lou’s office for roles with greater responsibilities. While they represented great opportunities for the individuals, it forced Lou to start all over again, hiring talented people, developing them and setting them up to grow.
Rather than dial back the development so that he wouldn’t keep losing talent, he embraced it. As a former professional baseball player, he took pride in being the farm system for great leaders.
When your leadership brand includes creating new opportunities, accelerated growth and greater career opportunities, that becomes the kind of person that people want to work with. And maybe line up to do so.
Like Paul, Lou demonstrated:
- Contribution to the organization.
- Contribution to the values and culture.
- Contribution to the people who work for him.
This is a Club You Want to Join
When you get results as a leader, you get recognized. More opportunities come your way.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that more tasks tug at your time. More people want your attention.
Trying to prioritize merely based on your skillset and your to-do list can keep you busy.
But to be truly effective, you should take a lesson from Peter Drucker.
Consider how you can contribute.
Like Paul, you can challenge the status quo and surround yourself with great people. You set the bar high. You communicate your expectations. You listen. You learn. You encourage. You make sure that they do what they said they would do. Just like you.
Sometimes you participate in the culture and sometimes you drive it. Even if it means wearing a vest and a sheriff’s badge. And a funny hat. And then smile happily and proudly when they take the picture of you and your team.
Or you can contribute like Lou.
To challenge yourself to look at your market differently. From the customer’s point of view. From your employee’s point of view.
You create opportunities that didn’t exist yesterday. For the market. For your team.
You celebrate when they attain new levels of performance. When they get promoted. When they get recruited to a better job.
It forces you to learn new things and take new approaches.
But it allows you to contribute.
To build a great company.
To role model the culture you want in your organization.
To be the kind of leader that others want to work for.
And ultimately, to be the kind of leader that others want to emulate.
Like Peter Drucker suggested. Like Paul. Like Lou.
Like you.