Lawrence Kellner, CEO of Continental Airlines, offered some managerial wisdom in a recent interview with the New York Times. His words of wisdom ring true for every executive and even low-level workers. But can you put them into practice?
- Keep your to-do list short and sweet: Kellner says don’t pester yourself with “a million things to do.” Take each day one at a time and for that day determine the three most important things to do. If the first thing takes 12 hours to do, then so be it. You’ll only do that one thing. But you don’t want to get tied up in multitasking and trying to do several things at once. It only dilutes your energies.
- Make sure your employees are comfortable giving you bad news: If something is going wrong, you need to know about it right away, but if people feel like you are likely to “shoot the messenger” they won’t rush to your office with bad news. This only delays the repair work that needs to be done to make things right, so project an attitude that you are a practically minded can-do individual who doesn’t throw blame around.
- Don’t trust interviews, trust your network: Interviewing candidates to fill an open position is just too risky. Hire from among the people you know and trust already. Ask trusted employees and coworkers if they have worked with any others they would recommend. Widen your net to include all the people you know and trust and their recommendations. It’s a far wiser strategy for finding suitable candidates then just posting a want ad!
Take this advice from Kellner, a highly paid and highly successful business man. These three tips all come down to one thing: don’t make extra work for yourself! When making your to-do list, keep it simple. When dealing with employees, make it easy for everyone. When hiring new employees, go with those who come recommended by trusted sources. It’s amazing that even at the top levels, simplicity is key, so no matter what level your current job enjoys, use Kellner’s tips for improved success.
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