CEOs have access to near unlimited resources...tech, capital, employees, partners, ideas. Their only fixed resource is time.
CEOs invest 90% of their time on 3 priorities.
There are just 13 weeks in each quarter in which CEOs (and you and me!) have to deliver quarterly results.
And CEOs have a multitude of priorities, projects, processes, meetings, places, activities and stakeholders to work through.
So where they invest their time matters.
𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗘𝗢𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿?
A study by Harvard Business School gives us valuable insights, on where CEOs of large companies ($2B+ revenues) invest their time every quarter.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟭: 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀, 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
Managing external and internal stakeholders and relationships is priority #1 for large company CEOs. These include relationships with customers, vendors, investors, partners, executives, and employees. CEOs invest just over 40% of their time on this work every quarter.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟮: 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀
The CEO has the ultimate responsibility for delivering results, so it makes sense they invest 25% of their time on functional and business reviews every quarter. The reviews help the CEO track and course correct for results.
𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝟯: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀
CEO spend 25% of their time on strategy and operating plans. The work involves setting the long-term direction for the company, making high-stakes strategic and investment choices, and developing the annual and quarterly plans to deliver on long term strategy.
Source: HBR July-August 2018; What do CEOs Actually Do? by Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria