Effective CEO

Business owners and leaders of organizations are always short on time and the to do list can be endless. As the organization grows in size at times things can feel out of control. Growing management ability is key to growing the organization, being competitive and succeeding.

Peter Drucker’s “The Effective Executive” is a short, insightful and timeless book on management and leadership.

Peter Drucker, the “Founding father of the science of management…..”, wrote “The Effective Executive” in 1966 in the middle of his storied and lengthy career of study, writing and teaching. He has authored many texts that arerequired reading at business and management schools around the world. When herecently died the “Economist” opted to not feature him in the weekly obituary column but honored his seminal life’s work with a lengthy flourish.

“The Effective Executive” focuses on managing oneself for effectiveness. Getting “the right things done..” is the mission of the executive. Drucker observed and studied executives in action and enumerated the most effectiveshared habits:

• Know where your time goes and systematically manage your time
• Focus on outward contribution….results not work
• Build on strengths….your own and that of others
• Set priorities, stick to them and concentrate on the few major areas where superior performance will produce outstanding results
• Make effective decisions, know the right steps in a decision. What is needed are few, but fundamental decisions.

The challenge is to remain focused on the mission of being effective notefficient. It is easy to lapse into the rut of simply being efficient-managing piles of reports, mail, phone calls, text messages and emails; endless arrays of meetings and the depressingly long to-do list. Working longer and longer hours to keep up is the bellweather of the “efficient” but not “effective” executive.

The overworked and frustrated executive will find direction and solutions in the 174 pages of Drucker’s “The Effective Executive”.