More
On Going Home And Time
I
promised I'd share more about the need to be more effective and
efficient at work, and NOT add more time to your day. As it turns out,
the Journal did a profile of a billionaire CEO recently, and it plays
right into my hands.
The
profile was of Kevin Ryan, who is CEO of Gilt Groupe, an online fashion
(and more) site. If you don't know him or Gilt, I wouldn't be
surprised. But you might have heard of the company he sold a few years
ago: DoubleClick.
(Before
I go through this, though, a caution: it's really not fair to pick
apart someone's day this way, just because he was profiled. If I were
coaching you, you would be paying me, and you'd of course want the
scrutiny. Mr Ryan seems like a lovely person, and could buy and sell me
a billion times. Honi soit
qui mal y pense.)
Anyway,
he's a CEO of 850 person firm. Not trivial (to say nothing of the other
two going concerns he spends some time on). And the article highlights
one of his days, I think instructively.
Up
at 6:15 am. I can't imagine
that's that much different than most of us. He walks 2 blocks to the
gym, where he swims 30 laps training for a triathlon. Most of us talk
ourselves out of fitness, but we oughtn't.
7:15
am - Breakfast of cereal
and fruit with his kids. See, senior people eat with their kids. They
have a life. And frankly, if he'd have had pancakes and tons of bacon,
I'd have forgiven him, because he just went to the gym.
Then,
he takes his kids to their school in a cab, 12 blocks. More time with
the kids. I'd argue that a car service would be smarter, but that's me.
You're probably thinking, wow, a cab in NYC to school and then to work
everyday, that's expensive…and you're right. But he can
afford it, and that's how
he's spending his money - to get more time with his kids and for work.
8:30
am - Arrives at the office.
Interestingly, that's NOT that early, at least for folks I
know…but it says in the article that's before most of the
employees. He wears very nice clothes (but then doesn't put an
undershirt beneath his very nice shirt. Guys, don't do this.) He's in
the fashion business, and can afford them…thought bought at
his own site, very clever sir, a tip of the hat there.
9:00
am - He meets with his
assistant to start the day. Well,
whaddaya know, a stand-up. Five
morning meetings. The article points out: no individual offices. He's
in good company there: Andy Grove had a cube when he made Intel the
powerhouse it is today. 300+ of the employees have been hired in the
past year, and Ryan interviews people almost every day. (YES, and more
on which later.)
12:30
pm - Lunch with an advisor
and others in the industry. And he has, in part, haricot verts.
Classic. Bet HE can pronounce them to rhyme with fair.
2:00
pm - "Like any unscheduled
time in his day, this (30 minutes) is spent returning emails. Sound
familiar? He got 200 emails this day. He has 2 phone calls and 7 texts
between his wife and children during the day. That's a good thing I bet
some of you are not doing. I could do better at that, I suspect.
6:00
pm - Travels 11 subway
stops before a 6 pm parent teacher night at his kids' school. See?
Family first. You can do this too.
7:00
pm - Stops home quickly to
say goodbye before catching a flight from La Guardia.
9:00
pm - Flight to DC to
address a conference. You could argue about this, but he IS CEO, and I
don't suspect he does this every night. When we all are having
breakfast with our kids and going to all of our parent teacher nights,
I'll ask him to be home every night. ;-)
By the
way, what is he speaking about in DC? Why
80% of Business is Choosing the Right People. I love you, Mr. Ryan.
Thank you.
On the
way, he has read: Monocle, The Economist, WWD (Women's Wear Daily,
folks, an industry publication.) Also, WSJ, NYT, Politico, and NY Post
(those on his iPhone). READ! READ! READ!
11:30
pm - Hotel check in.
**
Even
though on this day, he traveled for business, I'd argue this proves my
point still: GO HOME.
CHOOSE.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584004576417660051568454.html
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