Top executives have no more time in the day than the rest of us, and May Busch suggests a novel way of ensuring they get the right things done.
How are you spending your time and energy? The more senior you become in your career, the more important it is to be clear on the answer.
That’s because not only are you an increasingly valuable asset to your organisation, your time is finite and you can’t make more of it.
The way you choose to spend your time and energy sends a message to others about who you are. It’s part of your reputation.
For example, early in my career I was obsessive about getting every detail right; people would say: “Oh that’s May, the perfectionist.”
Later on, when I finally learned to lift my head up and look at the big picture, it was thankfully: “Yes, May is strategic.”
Where you choose to deploy your talents drives the impact you can have in the world.
Back in my perfectionist phase, I spent all my time on my little job and had a very small circle of influence and impact — maybe that’s why I now want to serve a million people!
So what’s worth spending your time on and what isn’t? Here’s one way to think about it.
A friend of mine who is a former executive at British Petroleum introduced me to the concept of ‘blue chips and white chips’, as in poker chips, which is his shorthand way of setting priorities.
In this case, let’s say the blue chips are worth 10 and the white chips are worth one.
When tasks or issues come up, you make a conscious decision on which category they fall into.
Thinking about tasks first, and where you want to spend your time and energy, the blue chips are where you want to focus, and the white chips are ideal areas to delegate.
What’s a white chip for you could be a blue chip for people junior to you, and a great chance for them to gain experience under your guidance.
This also applies to where you choose to spend your personal capital.
Let’s say we’re talking about issues rather than tasks.
Then the blue chips are the issues worth fighting for (or against) and spending personal capital to win the argument.
The white chips, on the other hand, are the ones where you can be flexible and don’t need to fight to the death.
We all know people who have to win every argument — that’s an example of someone who treats all chips as blue chips. Not a great reputation to have, is it?
To take it a step further, the white chip arguments may not be worth winning even though you can win them.
For example, making sure my boss knows he was grammatically incorrect when he is in full flow, making a point in a meeting.
There’s no positive outcome from winning that one.
So, go out there and be known for being a leader who’s focused on blue chips.
How do you best spend your valuable time, energy and personal capital?
*May Busch’s mission is to help leaders and their organisations achieve their full potential. She works with smart entrepreneurs and top managements to build their businesses. She can be contacted [email protected].
This article first appeared on May’s blogsite
