You will never hear me brag about how full my calendar is…anymore.
Hello friends,
Any one else really enjoying this change in the weather? I’m writing this post on my back porch, my dogs chasing squirrels and a variety of birds taking advantage of my several bird feeders. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to appreciate having more birds in the backyard, prompting my wife to get me this shirt. 🤦
My next book is available for pre-order!
I’m so excited to share that my next book, The Purpose Playbook, is available for pre-order 🎉🥳. And while you’re ordering that book, for a sweet deal of $9.99 I might add, you can also get…
The Crisis Turnaround for $5.55!
That’s right, The Crisis Turnaround, which I wrote in 2020 to help leaders and teams work their way through a crisis, is only $5.55 on Kindle for the next week.
And if you haven’t signed up yet, I’m giving a talk on September 20th to launch The Purpose Playbook. It will be at the Inspire Brands conference center and Ken Bernhardt (my mentor, friend, and the greatest guy in Atlanta) will be introducing me. Sign up now as it’s already filling up!
Read, Listen, Watch
Read: The very social, not-so-good-at-his-job Russian beluga whale spy (I’m not making this up)
Listen: On the latest episode of Who Has Time to Read?!, Adam and I share the books we read last month, plus we interview Michael Palma about his new book, Walk With a Humble Swagger
Watch: Episode 3 of my new podcast, Planting Seeds, where I ask Adam Walker a bunch of absurd questions. I promise these things will get more serious, but for now, let’s laugh together a bit.
Once upon a time, my calendar equaled my value
Early in my career, I wore my over-filled calendar like a badge of honor. When I reviewed my calendar on Sunday night for the upcoming week, it felt like a failure if there were any gaps of open time. In my mind, the more packed my calendar was, the better.
My mentality back then was to outwork the competition to augment my inexperience as a leader. I started my first business in college, with little to no experience working in "business." Sure, I had plenty of jobs - coaching tennis and stringing racquets, running vending routes for my father's company, working on the cleaning staff at a hospital, managing my college's athletic website, making bagels at Bruegger's Bagels (the 5 am to 10 am shift during college), and even being a telemarketer for four days - but in no way had I been responsible for building a business and leading other people.
This was all new to me, and my solution to overcoming my deficiencies was to work my brains out. And my calendar became a visual representation of how hard I was working.
And then Raj went to a conference
Raj Choudhury and I started Spunlogic out of the dorm room at UNC-Charlotte. We worked together for 15 years, building the business, selling it, and then working for the next company (Engauge) for five years before eventually selling it. Then, Raj and I went on different journeys for ten years, only to come together earlier this year to partner on building Purpose Group. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how lucky I am to work with Raj again for what I hope is decades to come.
Raj went to a conference in 2007 and heard the CEO of a major tech company give a fireside chat. When he returned to the office, he shared an insight that the CEO mentioned during his talk.
The CEO's weekly goal was to ensure he had as little as possible on his calendar. At that point in my career, hearing that was akin to hearing a marathon runner say their goal was to run as little as possible. It simply didn’t make sense to me.
His viewpoint was that leaders need time to think about the strategic direction of the business (many refer to this as working "on" the business rather than "in" the business.) You also need time to react and problem-solve, and you can’t predict when exactly you'll be needed. If your schedule is completely packed, you'll never have the space to consider the company you're building. It's a bit of a "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of thing.
Ever since hearing that, I have thought differently about my calendar. It took years, but eventually, I was able to architect my calendar so that I had many gaps in my schedule throughout the week, allowing me time to think strategically about the business or jump on any problems that needed my attention—or, sometimes, just to breathe.
Ultimately, I upped my calendar game even further, going as far as color-coordinating events to ensure I spend my time in the right areas. And I don't just schedule every meeting for 30 or 60 minutes when many times 15 minutes will do. (Oh, and I mostly have moved my meetings back to (GASP) phone calls vs. Zooms, as I find them to be much more efficient and convenient… and almost always shorter.)
I have another friend who schedules time away from the office several times a year to allow himself to disconnect and examine the business from a higher vantage point. He's come away with some quite honestly ground-breaking ideas from those escapes.
This is also part of the reason that Dragon Army initially decided to have "no meeting Fridays," giving the team, especially the leadership team, time to decompress and think about the business.
The Point
I always like a leadership or business lesson that can be applied to daily life. It can be so easy to be swept up in all the things that life throws at you and never stop to take stock of whether or not you're making progress toward your personal goals. Or, for that matter, what your personal goals are.
Giving yourself "open" time might seem lazy or irresponsible, but I think it's quite the opposite. Having the space to take a step back and move your life or your work forward is something you should do consistently to be the best version of yourself. Please don't fall into the same trap I did, believing my worth or importance was directly tied to the fullness of my calendar.
I hope you’re happy.
Recent podcasts
I used to produce a podcast called Begin the Begin and I co-host a podcast called Who has time to read?!, and I’ve started a new YouTube series called, Planting Seeds. I hope you'll consider subscribing. Here are some of the latest episodes:
What has time to read?! Episode 6: Walk With a Humble Swagger
What has time to read?! Episode 5: From Fantasy to Forecasting: Unpacking Our Latest Reads
Who has time to read?! Episode 4: Road Trips, Reading Rituals, and Resilience
Force of Nature: A Celebration of Girls and Women Raising Their Voices (with Kate T. Parker)