Execution... I Mean The Book

Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan have created quite a stir in corporate circles with their book entitled "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done". The book outlines the behaviors and elements required for leaders to become successful in executing their plans.

What struck me about the book was the number of time management elements involved.

The 5 behaviors

The authors talk about required behaviors for leaders to successfully execute. These include being: committed, engaged, focused, clear and realistic. These very same characteristics are required when becoming a more effective time manager. If you don't recognize and maintain these behaviors, you are sidetracked from moving forward. You find it difficult to accomplish anything. You become frustrated. You become ineffective at your job.

The 7 elements

In the first building block, the authors list these elements as crucial: 1) Know your people & your business; 2) Insist on realism; 3) Set clear goals & priorities; 4) Follow through; 5) Reward the doers; 6) Expand people's capabilities; and 7) Know yourself.

Setting clear goals and priorities is at the pinnacle of practicing effective time management. Without written, specific, measurable and realistic goals it is difficult to move forward. And it leaves you vulnerable to distractions by people or things that can get you off course.

Moving forward happens when obstacles are considered, decisions have been made and paths have been cleared. This involves the time management principles of planning and scheduling. If you don't plan and clearly if you don't commit work to your calendar, the ability to focus and follow through is seriously diminished. Delegating is another time management principle. Getting work done through others involves expanding people's capabilities and rewarding doers.

Know thyself.

If you know yourself and your patterns, you can more readily move towards overcoming roadblocks and taking action. That's one reason why I test workshop participants in their style of paper management, time management and procrastination. Knowledge about your self and your habits is a powerful tool for learning, growing and making change.

Copyright 2003 Cynthia Kyriazis. All rights reserved.

Cynthia Kyriazis is an organizing and time management consultant, trainer, speaker, coach and author with over 20 years management experience in multi-unit corporations. Organize it, a division of Productivity Partners, Inc. is an organizational training firm she founded in 1995 and has been serving Fortune 500 clients ever since. Cynthia works with business and their employees to help improve performance and realize productivity gains.

Cynthia has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Kansas City Star and the Legal Intelligencer. She currently serves as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), member of the Kansas City of the International Society for Performance Improvement ? (ISPI-KC) and consultant to the American Coaching Association.