On your way to work, you’re mentally checking your list of things to do for the day. The agenda seems manageable, barely. But there are other people inbound to the same office who are also thinking about their plans. They have something really important they need to see you about. Since they’re not on your list yet, your day will be punctuated by irritating interruptions.
Better time management clearly is on the minds of many senior executives. The evidence is a continuing stream of articles, books, and newsletters on the topic, along with the popularity of seminars such as Day-Timers and Franklin Covey’s TimeQuest. Managing time is difficult for any chief executive. It is especially tough for family business owners who must contend with family as well as business problems.
Peter Drucker alerted us 40 years ago to the importance of strategic thinking in the allocation of a leader’s time. He distinguished between doing things the right way, which is the manager’s responsibility, and doing the right things, which is the task of the leader. The culture of too many organizations favors inefficient and ineffective use of time. Often an underlying cause is the chief executive’s own inability to establish priorities. When CEOs violate basic rules for good time management, they set a poor example that soon becomes part of the corporate culture.
While organizations today stress the need for open, continual communication, there is necessarily a chasm between the responsibilities of the man or woman at the top of the ladder and those on lower rungs. The gap between the president and the vice president might be described, to borrow Mark Twain’s metaphor, as “the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
To extend the metaphor, leaders provide the lightning that keeps organizations active, alert, and moving toward their larger goals. At the same time, they are lightning rods for all the anxieties and conflicts that bubble up from below. Successors often come into the office pledging, in so many words, to “continue be the same person I was before I was promoted to this job—accessible to all the folks I’ve worked with.” While that pledge is admirable, it isn’t always feasible. Everyone in the organization has to respect the fact that promotion to the top job requires establishing a different set of priorities, perhaps allowing less time for family members and employees.
Finding the right balance
The essence of the challenge here is to find and maintain the right balance. Pulling too far back from people helps your personal productivity but also risks isolating you. You have to be kept informed. The folks who help share your load can become a problem if they screen out things you should know. Interestingly, that seems to be a larger risk for chief executives who have been in the job for a long time. When I point that out to them, they acknowledge the risk and usually comment that they’re weary from all the communication, much of which is worthless to them.
At the other extreme are those who make themselves available to an excessive degree. These tend to be CEOs who are relative newcomers to the job. As they struggle with long hours and their neglected families, they become more receptive to advice on delegating and better time management.
Efficient time management in a large organization screams for large dollops of delegation. In most companies, it requires fully comprehending and paying most attention to what drives the business—what determines results from week to week and in the long run.
For example, some businesses are driven by customers’ demand for a reliable, predictable, and complete supply of every item they will need every day. If you own a supermarket or convenience store, you better make sure that the shelves are perpetually stocked with bread, milk, and other staples. This means the CEO has to focus on hiring and training competent staff and on processes that ensure reliable performance. The owner whose company does most of its business during holidays had better keep after his or her staff to come up with new ideas for Christmas gifts. Likewise, the head of a software company has to focus on R&D and getting the firm’s new product update out the door on schedule.
There are, of course, many family firms in which the boss is an operating star, such as chef of the restaurant, the chief designer or engineer or creative person, or the super-salesperson. In such cases, quite a few of the confidential high-level tasks are performed by outside professionals—accountants, attorneys, consultants—hired to assist the star.
Surprisingly, some of the best ideas on effective time management come from the U.S. military. As large organizations go, the armed forces are generally well managed, despite all the jokes about army life. One reason is the special attention they pay to “flag rank” officers: the 1,200 generals and admirals among the 1.5 million people in uniform.
Before their promotion to flag rank, these men and women attend a school that teaches them, among other things, how to reorder their time priorities in their new situation. They are warned to get away from hands-on supervision of troops, and avoid getting mired in details. They review case studies of military situations that teach them to concentrate on their new responsibilities as leaders who set policies and develop long-range strategies.
Regular channels
What’s the upshot for family business owners? One piece of advice might be to find yourself a good major- or colonel-type to go through your in-box and sort out the matters that can and should be handled by others. These executive assistants should have the knowledge, judgment, and authority to dispose of much of the trivia themselves, make minor decisions, delegate, and provide interim guidance to others if you’re away. They may even be able to stand in as your representative on ceremonial occasions.
Of course, any successful approach to time management demands that you let your staff know when they can see you, and that you establish effective ways to communicate with them, such as regular meetings or an e-mail intranet. To reduce interruptions, be available two or three times each day to deal with important messages or unplanned visits to discuss urgent matters. If people know they can see you for a few minutes, if necessary, at the beginning, middle, or end of the day, they’ll be less likely to break into prime-time periods when you do your serious thinking.
Finally, most of the chiefs of family firms I work with complain about the amount of time they spend dealing with family matters that involve the business. Others ignore this part of their job until it boils over. The few who think strategically about this aspect of their lives tend to involve other family members in resolving issues that arise. They institutionalize discussion of family issues, using committees, councils, and task forces. In addition to being a subtle form of delegation, these efforts provide an opportunity for others to participate and develop personally. They also provide extra communication channels—always a plus. And the senior person gets a bonus: He becomes less visible as a target for resentments that can accumulate.
James E. Barrett heads the family business practice of Cresheim Consultants in Philadelphia.