When leaders think of being highly effective, efficient, and organized, they naturally turn to thoughts of strategy, tasks, and tactics that promote productivity. As they set their daily and weekly calendars, they organize themselves in terms of what must get done and how to efficiently complete the most important and urgent tasks. Given the sheer number of leaders who operate successfully from this approach, it is hard to argue for an alternative pathway that might produce superior outcomes. Yet, many of the world’s best leaders operate on a track they believe is better than organizing themselves around tasks, processes, and meetings.
In my line of work (and any seasoned manager, I have spoken with) we are taught there are two ways to approach management:
1. People over profits
2. Profits over people.
I ascribe to the former. It is not uncommon to adhere to the latter. I have found if we focus on the people, the profits usually take care of themselves.
Now there's no one size fits all. As managers and aspiring leaders, we must balance both. It is not easy to maintain our humanity, however it is imperative now more than ever.
Your post gives/shows us a well formulated way to do this.
A highly capable executive assistant can be an invaluable partner, integral to your daily operations and strategic initiatives—not merely someone who handles travel arrangements, social event coordination, and expense claims, though these tasks are also essential. If you currently lack an executive assistant, consider mentoring a high-potential direct report by having them support you in ensuring the regular integration of your list.
Regarding technological solutions, while there may be advanced tools available, a practical starting point could be leveraging features within Outlook contacts to manage and organize this information efficiently.
Everyone's in our firm looks a little different, and we intentionally don't put forward any kind of exemplar. The reason for this is that the process of a person thinking through this for themselves is eventually what reveals itself as the most important practice.
Some have a single written list that they intentionally transfer into new notebooks each time the notebook is full - for them the choice each quarter to carry the tracking forward is the way they are able to review effectively.
Some keep this part of their tracking the one thing they do digitally... it works for them because their review works different for them.
This is a module worth reviewing inside of our resource platform, David. We spell several things out explicitly there, and a very common request still ends up being for the physical look at the examples. :)
Oh, I know...I know the behavior in the platform well. I was interested in generating some comments on what Substack subscribers actually do. I'll share mine: I use a note taking app that utilizes bi-directional links. I create a page with everyone I encounter by enclosing their name in double brackets (e.g., [[David Morris]]. Then, every time I meet with this person, I enter their name (using the double brackets) in my Daily Notes. This links whatever notes I took on the person to their main page. I can also enter a note with a future date (e.g., Call [[David Morris]] on /date picker (enter future date here) and ask him how his presentation went at XYZ conference. That note will appear in my daily note pages when it arrives in the future.
I think this is really brilliant and an innovative concept for leadership.
My view of leadership is that it is socially constructed so this model of working absolutely lines withthat idea.
I’ve never considered operating in this way before but my day-to-day practical experience of this is that relationships definitely make things happen and also form absolute barriers to progress too
Good morning,
What a fascinating approach!
In my line of work (and any seasoned manager, I have spoken with) we are taught there are two ways to approach management:
1. People over profits
2. Profits over people.
I ascribe to the former. It is not uncommon to adhere to the latter. I have found if we focus on the people, the profits usually take care of themselves.
Now there's no one size fits all. As managers and aspiring leaders, we must balance both. It is not easy to maintain our humanity, however it is imperative now more than ever.
Your post gives/shows us a well formulated way to do this.
Thank you for your time.
Is it ever discussed as a flex, Joe?
Where there are times to approach management with the former and sometimes with the latter?
Afternoon,
I have not heard that verbiage. I like it! There are certainly times when one approach trumps the other.
-Joe
A highly capable executive assistant can be an invaluable partner, integral to your daily operations and strategic initiatives—not merely someone who handles travel arrangements, social event coordination, and expense claims, though these tasks are also essential. If you currently lack an executive assistant, consider mentoring a high-potential direct report by having them support you in ensuring the regular integration of your list.
Regarding technological solutions, while there may be advanced tools available, a practical starting point could be leveraging features within Outlook contacts to manage and organize this information efficiently.
I’m curious to know what system you use to track your relationships.
Morning David.
Everyone's in our firm looks a little different, and we intentionally don't put forward any kind of exemplar. The reason for this is that the process of a person thinking through this for themselves is eventually what reveals itself as the most important practice.
Some have a single written list that they intentionally transfer into new notebooks each time the notebook is full - for them the choice each quarter to carry the tracking forward is the way they are able to review effectively.
Some keep this part of their tracking the one thing they do digitally... it works for them because their review works different for them.
This is a module worth reviewing inside of our resource platform, David. We spell several things out explicitly there, and a very common request still ends up being for the physical look at the examples. :)
Oh, I know...I know the behavior in the platform well. I was interested in generating some comments on what Substack subscribers actually do. I'll share mine: I use a note taking app that utilizes bi-directional links. I create a page with everyone I encounter by enclosing their name in double brackets (e.g., [[David Morris]]. Then, every time I meet with this person, I enter their name (using the double brackets) in my Daily Notes. This links whatever notes I took on the person to their main page. I can also enter a note with a future date (e.g., Call [[David Morris]] on /date picker (enter future date here) and ask him how his presentation went at XYZ conference. That note will appear in my daily note pages when it arrives in the future.
This question is for anyone who reads the comment too. What does your relationship tracker workflow look like?
I think this is really brilliant and an innovative concept for leadership.
My view of leadership is that it is socially constructed so this model of working absolutely lines withthat idea.
I’ve never considered operating in this way before but my day-to-day practical experience of this is that relationships definitely make things happen and also form absolute barriers to progress too