Friday, November 08, 2013

Leadership, hard work, and meetings


Found this over at Photon Courier:

HOW TO BE AN EXECUTIVE WHO LEARNS/DOES NOT LEARN

Your job as a leader is to be right at the end of the meeting, not at the beginning of the meeting.”
The quote is from David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell.

It is good advice, as far as it goes. But I can’t help asking, why have the meeting at all?

As Gen. George Marshall told Dwight Eisenhower in the early days of World War Two:

Eisenhower, the Department is filled with able men who analyze the problems well but feel compelled always to bring them to me for final solution. I must have assistants who will solve their own problems and tell me later what they have done.
Cote also offers this advice:

the biggest thing I learned was that hard work doesn’t always pay off. If you work on the wrong thing, it really doesn’t matter how hard you work, because it’s not going to make a difference. So make sure you put some thought into what you’re working on.
See previous post:

When hard work doesn't pay
Related:

George Marshall

The Best Strategic Planning Advice Ever

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