The Essence of Time
by edavis on 13/04/10 at 8:51 pm
Vacation. The perfect time to unplug, relax, and have fun. I just took my first vacation in quite awhile and it was the perfect time to relax and reflect as well as catch up on my reading. During the past week, I started reading Brian Solis’ Engage, Ted Leonsis’ The Business of Happiness, and Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen Design. The other book I started reading before vacation that I was determined to finish during my break was F.A. Manske’s Secrets of Effective Leadership. 
I first read this book as part of a leadership course I took in graduate school. When I first read this book, I was just a newbie getting ready to enter the workforce. So, I had a difficult time relating to some of his lessons. Thirteen years later (wow!), I decided to read it again and now, a lot of his lessons make sense. I mentioned some of his lessons in a couple of earlier posts: Lead and Learn and Leaders vs. Managers.
Another lesson I would like to share is Manske’s take on time management. He believes that leaders should make every minute count. And that goes for both the leader and his team. Below are some tips Manske provides on how to make this happen:
- Identify the areas of your job with the greatest payoff for your organization.
- Develop goals for each critical success area.
- Set weekly priorities to facilitate the accomplishment of goals.
- Do the most important things first and never waste time on unimportant activities.
- Concentrate on a few things at at time.
- Establish deadlines for yourself.
- Don’t be a slave to your [e-]mail
- Set aside a few minutes each day to think about creative ways to improve the performance of your organization.
- Do not arrange for or attend unnecessary meetings.
- Do not let visitors steal your valuable time.
- Delegate.
- Make every minute count for your personnel.
- Shield yourself from energy losses due to worrying.
- Coordinate your schedule with your team.
- Learn to utilize small chunks of time.
- Get off to an early start each morning.
His lessons seem simple, but they seem to work. I’m a fan of referring back to them on a regular basis just to remind myself of ways I can lead better and be more effective in my job. This is another Manske lesson I plan to add to my daily readings.
