Results

According to Drucker, effectiveness can be learned. If you haven’t read, The Effective Executive, I highly recommend it. Somehow, leaders get confused. I’m fearful I do myself from time to time.

How many meetings I attend is not a measure of my effectiveness.

 

How many emails I get or send has no bearing on my effectiveness.

 

How many frequent flyer miles I amass is not an indication of my effectiveness.

 

How many followers I have on Twitter is not a measure of my effectiveness.

 

How many people report to me is not a measure of effectiveness.

 

How often I’m asked to help solve a problem speaks nothing of my effectiveness.

 

How tired I am at the end of the day is not a metric of effectiveness either.

 

How many Christmas cards I get cannot be equated to effectiveness.

 

For a leader, effectiveness is: Doing the right things. The metric is results.

Effectiveness is a path to results – not productivity. You get no credit for doing the wrong things well.

Don’t get me wrong – I do not think we should waste time. It is our greatest currency as a leader. I support any system, strategy or tactic to improve efficiency. I just have to remember, getting more work done is not an indication I’m fulfilling my role as a leader.