P1. Focus on what really matters
Constantly have razor-sharp awareness of what you are doing and how it's adding value to you or to your problem.
Be extremely careful over a single word or a phrase because that really matters.
Numbers matter the most.
How to be focus and prioritize: 1) use sense of urgency and deadline, 2) creating or following the critical path of the goal, 3) linking it to money( financial impact)
P2. Start with the hard stuff in the morning
Work on the hard and painful tasks in the morning to deliver productive output.
"Early bird catches the worm". Hard stuff?
- It's the work you least want to do
- It's the long result, not the low-hanging one.
- It's the work you usually say you'll do in the afternoon when you have a solid three or four hours to get a good bite at it
- It's also work where you need full attention
- It's the work that is painful
- It's the work you know least how to tackle. Probably you need help. You need to launch it and think through
- It's also work than later on, if you don't start early and delegate some of the tasks, you will be stuck doing all by yourself.
Examples, it's not changing, fixing or destorying something:
- Writing your executive summary
- Creating work packages and timelines for the next three months
- Producing end output and goals
- Drafting important materials for a CEO or C-level executive workshop
- Giving new inputs to team members's work
- Draftign action emails
Tips: if hard to concentrate or get going, start by reading a business book, and reading favorite passages.
P3. Catch small signals and make a difference
Apply the Pareto analysis 80-20 rule to your everyday life.
Focus on being distinctive - follow the Pareto principle - 80-20 rule to make a huge difference from small things, such as catching a distress signal from someone.
P4. Have a 30-Second answer to everything
Form an answer beforehand by mastering the "double-clicking" techniques and coming up with short answers.
To impress someone fast, short (30-second) answers are important.
1st rule is "double-clicking": tell you enough to get you interested but not nearly enough for you to know what's happening. So you end up clicking the link to find out more. 30-second answer gives your listener the opportunity to keep refocusing the attention to the topic of his or her interest.
2nd, get in the habit of taking apart the main question. such as being asked: "how is the project coming along?", underlines 4 detailed questions:
- What is the overall project status, good or bad?
- What are one or two examples that support the status?
- What do I plan to do about any problems?
- What can the C-level executive do to help?
3rd, you need to constantly think of your answer like a dartboard "preempting the question several steps beforehand", to practice the 30-second answer:
- You develop a keen sense of what people want.
- You practice your synthesis skills
- You become a better presenter
- You subconsciously train your mind to reach the CEO level
P5. Frontload your project
Build the necessary trust and credibility by completing work as much as possible during the first week, following the basket of essentials.
"The first day of any project needs to be as exhausting as the final day of the progress review". You need to shine in the first week because that is when most of the impression about you will be decided by all of your stakeholders - bring in as much as you physically and mentally can during this period.
1. Get senior leaders to spend as much time as possible with you.
2. Complete your end story line up front. - Have people to stick on your storyline, create a timeline)
3. Get all your burning questions answered. Don't say, "I will ask that later." - asking is not a sign of ignorance or weakness - 1) ask questions upfront quickly before the week is over, "risk free" period. 2) use casual setttings, ie. coffee break. 3) Try to reserve fact-based questions in the lower priority, unless urgent to know. 4) Develop a sense of priority in deciding which questions to ask.
4. Do a quick due diligence on your team members. 1) call around and check the strengths and development before project kicks off. 2) have 30-minute, one-on-one talk with each inidividaul in the first day
5. Organize all necessary meetings. - lock in all the 1st week. Like going to concert, the earlier you book, the better you seat.
6. Delegate any work you don't need to handle yourself.
Push as much as possible during the first week. The trust, credibility, and confidence you raise will be distinctive and unbeatable. Don't wait until later; get the chance to do it whenever possible.
P6. Create the right end output image
Try to get the habit of creating the end output image aggressively to earn various stakeholders' trust early on.
Having an ending brings a sense of accomplishment and clarity. McKinsey tries to put together an end-of-the-project output image as quickly as possible such as, internally, a level of completed document is already in circulation in the first week:
Fifty pages of half-completed deck, with approximately 25 blank pags scattered throughout the document. But you see the first and last three pages are fully completed.
People don't like to wait. That's why you should learn to create an end output image all the time. If end output image, the "dummy chart", is unclear, we instantly raise the issue. People like to hear a top-down vision for the whole team to follow - have prepared the end product. End output image = blueprint or backbone or something you're trying to create. Your goal is a work in progress, but you know how it'll turn out.
