Recharging batteries

A football game lasts 90 minutes. That's a lot of time to be running up and down the field in continuous motion. Even with the half-time breaks, superstars rarely play the whole game. They can't if they're going to remain effective.

Resting our players at work makes equally good sense. If someone's coming off a tough, time-consuming and energy-sapping project, I now try to let her recharge her batteries, especially if she'd been going flat out for a while. I'm going to help someone recover by resisting the temptation to dump another tough project in her lap immediately.

To this end, I've scheduled a play afternoon with the intention to help people relax, rejuvenate and recover.

Hard work is different from great work

"The hotel team works till late at night. The China team works through weekends," John crowed.

There is a big difference between hard work and great work. And while Asians love the person who "gives it his all", as a coach and sales leader, I will take the natural performer over the grinder every time.

Pareto

"For the next 3 months, just focus on the RFPs and the groups," the direction rang out.

Us, leaders with a track record of fast action have learned to set priorities based on an old maxim called Pareto's principle.

Ruthlessness starts with a cold, hard analysis of what's important and what's not. And then we have to choose what is likely to yield the most results and do that first, leaving the rest to solve itself or go undone.