Take the Lead by John David Mann & Betsy Myers & David Gergen & Warren Bennis

Author:John David Mann & Betsy Myers & David Gergen & Warren Bennis [Mann, John David]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2011-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

LIVING WITH AN OUTBOX STRATEGY

David Gergen was speaking once at the Center for Public Leadership about the strengths and weaknesses of George H. W. Bush’s presidency, and he said something I’ll never forget: “The Bush White House approached things with more of an inbox strategy than an outbox strategy.” They had been so consumed and distracted by all the issues coming at them that they were never able to formulate or implement their own vision.

I’ve seen this time and time again: part of what makes a leader effective at her job is the ability to help people become clear about which tasks are essential to the goal—and which are not. As Jim Collins puts it, “Stop doing lists are more important than to do lists.”

No one can do it all—but we all know people who try. We have all seen family, friends, or colleagues who consistently stay late at the office or work weekends to “catch up” on their work. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, given project deadlines or unusual circumstances, but it has always seemed to me that people who consistently stay at the office until 10:00 or 11:00 at night either don’t delegate or have difficulty prioritizing. Either way, it’s not something to wear as a badge of honor.

I remember admiring George Stephanopoulos, then White House senior adviser, for his ability to leave the White House most nights at a reasonable hour. George was there early every morning and put in a full day, even by White House standards, but he was committed to going to the gym every day after work. Everyone was pretty clear that if you needed George, you’d better reach him before 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. No one thought less of him for it; in fact, there was much respect for him, and his position and portfolio only grew during his six years there. He knew how to set boundaries for his life, to prioritize and get his work done.

Living with an inbox strategy, as David Gergen put it, means we respond to every phone call or email, request or interruption as they come at us. It means we put ourselves at the mercy of others’ needs and agendas. It’s so easy to get lost in the details and responsibilities of our lives. For example, one common complaint I hear is how easily people lose precious hours of their day swallowed up in their email. Living with an inbox strategy, we often find ourselves at the end of the day wondering where the time went and why we didn’t seem to accomplish anything.

Living with an outbox strategy means taking control of our day by setting clear and focused goals and then following that road map to get the work done.

My sisters and I first learned this from our father. During most of my childhood my dad was an executive at Lockheed, where we watched him go from test pilot to vice president of quality. He is a very focused person: every day before he left work,

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