The Effective Executive

Lesson 1. Importance of Effectiveness.

Effectiveness. All top executives are in a race to increase the productivity of their company, with the help of increasing the efficiency of the employees. No person is born with effectiveness. It is not an exceptional gift or aptitude. People acquire skills and become competent over time. This means anyone who aspires to be efficient can be so. It’s just a matter of hard work, practice and perseverance. It needs to be practised regularly until it becomes a habit. Executives who do not exercise effectiveness at their workplace set a wrong example amongst their subordinates and colleagues. Without efficacy, the overall performance starts declining. 

An executive is an individual who monitors his or her usage of time, makes appropriate decisions that have a significant impact on the organization, and takes responsibility for his or her contribution. He or she is the most prepared person in the organization and possesses the authority to take important decisions. The effectiveness of these executives is reflected through the cultivation of five habits.

Firstly, these executives carefully follow the amount of time they spend on individual activities. They do not hesitate to reorganise their timetables in order to guarantee that their time is being spent effectively.

Secondly, they focus more on outcomes rather than focusing on the work. Given that they are in the managerial segment in the hierarchy of the organization, laying emphasis on work would be against their professional code of conduct.

Thirdly, effective executives try to build on the strengths of their employees and colleagues. They try to utilize the maximum potential of all the individuals working in the company. Also, they do not aim at average performance across all the tasks. 

Their primary focus is on performing exceedingly well in certain key areas and producing exceptional results. 

Lastly, these executives make effective decisions. 

Lesson 2. Time-Management.

Executives who aim to achieve effectiveness do not start with planning what is to be done and how. The first thing which they do is that they start listing things which can consume time. Since time is the most important factor, the goal is to manage time efficiently. In order to practice time management, they decrease the time spent on activities which do not enhance productivity. 

It is a three-step process. 

The first step is to understand that time is limited