Seek Efficiency

One of my favorite books of all time is The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko.

I was listening to the audiobook version again the other night.

One of the breakthroughs for me was their discussion of how high-net-worth people are often entrepreneurs who apply lessons from their businesses to their personal lives.

And one of the keys is seeking efficiency in everything.

This is a POWERFUL concept in leadership because time matters so much. And not just in terms of getting things done. But in terms of having time — YOUR time — to be as effective as possible.

Hearing it again reminded me to look, again, at my own workspace and ways of managing my work.  It’s a reminder that I should regularly try to eliminate anything that takes too much time, wastes time, or steals it in some way.

Although I have developed what I think are pretty good systems over the years to keep things organized, I came in on a Sunday to go through them again, clearing things out, assessing what’s working and changing anything that is not.

That very act — slowing down so I could speed up — required a major decision to NOT do work, but rather focus on tuning the engine I use to do that work.

Take the time to seek efficiency in your own leadership life. Examine:

• Filing methods.
• Calendering.
• Project management processes.
• E-mail handling.
• Phone call handling.
• Processes for attracting and converting clients.