Author Archives: Larry Janis

Time Management 101: 6 Tips Highly Successful Leaders Use Daily

 

 

 

 

by Peter Economy

 

Research shows that only 18 percent of people actually use a time management system.

Time management is a tremendously important skill in today’s fast-changing world, especially for leaders who find themselves juggling so many balls in the air all at once. Consider: We all have the same 24 hours in a day to work with, but some of us are better at managing those 24 hours than others. Surprising research shows that only 18 percent of people actually use a time management system.

1. Determine your priorities and stick to them.

To manage time, you must first know what you are focused on and keep it at the forefront of your mind. Effective leaders recognize that all work is not created equal. What matters is staying focused on the activities that move their business forward. Consider the two-list strategy that Warren Buffett uses to focus on his top five goals. Only after his top five goals are complete does he turn his focus to other, less-important goals.

2. Protect your valuable time.

Highly successful leaders guard their time like the valuable gold mine that it is. They set firm boundaries to stop timewasters in their tracks. Manage your calendar and set blocks of time for deep focus. Saying no to off-track requests and distractions ensures your time is available for the things that really need your expertise.

3. Master the art of delegation.

Delegation is a gamechanger for leaders. It frees them to concentrate on what makes a big impact while their team handles the rest. Trust your team with tasks not needing your direct input. It not only maximizes your time but also helps your team grow independently. Set clear expectations and provide resources—this way, everyone wins.

4. Optimize your meeting strategy.

Meetings can eat up time if you’re not careful, so only schedule meetings when they are absolutely necessary and ensure you’ve got a clear goal in mind for them. For essential meetings, distribute concise agendas in advance to ensure they’re efficient and productive, letting everyone make the most of their time.

In the digital era, technology is a key tool for time management. Calendar apps and project management tools like Asana or Trello keep commitments and deadlines in check, reducing mental load. Use apps that block distractions or track online time. These give insights for improvement and help you stay focused on priority tasks.

6. Schedule regular downtime.

With all the hustle going on around them, leaders often forget about taking some time for themselves. However, breaks are crucial for effective time management and leadership sustainability. Schedule breaks to prevent burnout, and engage in practices such as meditation, exercise, or screen-free time. These can recharge your energy, enabling you to return to your tasks with fresh focus.

These strategies won’t just boost your own individual productivity but also inspire your team to follow your example, becoming more effective in the process. It’s truly the gift to your team that keeps on giving.

This post originally appeared at inc.com.

The Vice President Sales/Chief Growth Officer

                         

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The Vice President Sales/Chief Growth Officer is responsible for cultivating a presence and expanding top line growth for our client delivering premium technology solutions. This includes identifying new markets to enter, creating strategies to achieve growth targets, and growing the firm’s presence and revenues across specific markets – including New Logo Sales, Account Acquisition and Organic Expansion. Leadership span of control is global and includes both top line and bottom-line revenue responsibilities.

  • To be successful in this role, the candidate must bring significant experience and relationships in retail and restaurant markets—motivated by winning financial incentives as well as career growth.
  • This person will bring a deep understanding of the delivering premium technology solutions marketplace and familiarity with competitor offerings in support of growth strategy and investment initiatives.

The Vice President Sales/Chief Growth Officer will have oversight of the following:

  • Developing named account strategies, building consensus on targeted logos and pursuing delivery of high value and high growth new logos.
  • Building a predictable pipeline of new business to generate repeatable and profitable revenues across
  • Developing and executing a Go-to-Market Strategy that will hit or exceed revenue targets.
  • Executing go-to-market plans thru targeted campaigns and other sales channels including advisors, influencers, conference attendance, industry events, etc.
  • Collaborating and developing 3rd party and advisor relationships to build credible analytics voice globally to generate new opportunity channels. Generate opportunities from this channel
  • Submitting and handling proposals with full ownership and accountability for the opportunity – working closely with the Sales Enablement teams to ensure high quality of proposals.
  • Building relationships is key to this role and possessing established and current relationships with COO’s, CFO’s, CEO’s, CDO’s, CIO’s/CTO’s and Customer Service Directors is critical to this role.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, please let me know. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Larry Janis

Managing Partner I Integrated Search Solutions Group

P-516-767-3030

Success

 

 

 

 

Success is something that everyone in any career field would like to achieve. Success may mean different things to different people.

 

 

 

Here are some perspectives:

 

  • Success should not measured by the number of likes or number of followers on social media.  Nor should it based on the amount of money you make. Rather success should be measured by the impact you have on making the world a better place.

Kate Vitasek | Faculty, Graduate & Executive Education,

University of Tennessee | Haslam College of Business

 

  •  I think achieving success professionally and personally is something that is not separate but integrated. To me it is the ultimate goal.

Joe Hogan,

 

  • Success can be measured in many quantitative and qualitative ways.  But ultimately, if an individual has strived to do their best for oneself and others, in a moral and ethical manner — then their success can be measured by their degree of fulfillment in life.

Dario Mazurek,

 

  • So, let’s start with defining success. Success is the accomplishment of a set of aims goals and/or purposes.A classic consulting measure is: SMARTR = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, and Relevant. These measures can help with reviewing your success criteria. 

    I also like to think that success is a mirror for oneself, those that you manage, and the culture of the company that is created.

Sarandos BV

 

 

 We would welcome your thoughts/input, for our next blog on success.

Sincerely,

Larry Janis

Managing Partner I Integrated Search Solutions Group

P-516-767-3030

The 10-Minute Rule To Stay Focused: How To Manage Distractions

 

 

By Luciana Paulise

 

One of the biggest challenges to maintaining focus is the constant urge to check your phone, browse social media, or engage in other distractions. These interruptions can break your concentration and derail your productivity. The 10-Minute Rule is a simple yet effective technique to help you manage those distractions and stay on task.

The 10-Minute Rule is a powerful strategy to help you resist distractions and maintain focus, whether working on a big project, studying, or even trying to keep your child engaged for a more extended period. It works like this: When you feel the urge to do something distracting, tell yourself to wait 10 minutes. This rule creates a small, manageable delay that helps you resist the temptation to give in to distractions immediately. Often, by the time those 10 minutes have passed, the urge to check your phone or divert your attention has subsided, and you can return to your task with renewed focus.

The beauty of the 10-Minute Rule lies in its simplicity. Instead of trying to fight off distractions by force, you’re simply postponing them for a short time. This can be a surprisingly effective strategy because distractions often feel urgent, but when you delay them, you realize they aren’t as pressing as they initially seemed. Giving yourself a brief window of time to continue focusing on your work helps you break the cycle of giving in to distractions every time they arise.

Using this rule, you train your mind to tolerate those urges without acting on them immediately. This builds your self-discipline and strengthens your ability to focus for extended periods. Over time, you’ll notice that your tolerance for distractions increases.

How to Use the 10-Minute Rule to Stay Focused

Here’s how you can use it to your advantage: (more…)

Why Taking Time Off from Work Makes You More Resilient

 

 

 

 

Wharton professor Michael Platt is using neuroscience to make the business case for better work culture.

During his keynote speech at the recent Wharton Neuroscience Summit, Platt shared charts, graphs, and illustrations to show what countless studies have revealed about resilience: People need a healthy dose of physical, mental, and emotional support to perform at their best. And they need real time off from work.

“Business leaders out there, why should you care? You should care deeply, and not just because it’s interesting, but because it matters for your bottom line,” Platt said to participants gathered for the summit hosted by the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative (WiN).

Resilience was the theme of the daylong meetup. For his turn at the podium, Platt, who is faculty director at WiN, deftly combined anthropology, neuroscience, business, climate change, and monkeys into a 30-minute presentation titled, “When Disaster Strikes: Resilience in Context.”

Walking the audience through a brief history of human development, Platt explained why the brain isn’t wired for the modern world. It’s made for prehistoric times, when people lived in small, close-knit groups, spent most of their lives outside, got plenty of activity, and ate natural foods.

“Time off is necessary, not just to rest but also to reconnect with your families, your friends, to engage in play, to make music, to be joyful.”— Michael Platt

“Our brains are designed for an environment 200,000 years ago. And the way our brains, our bodies, our mental health, our well-being actually play out in the current environment reflects that,” he said.

Man-made stressors are challenging enough, but natural disasters “turn up the volume knob” on trauma, he said. For 30 years, Platt has been studying a colony of rhesus macaques that live freely on Cayo Santiago, an island off Puerto Rico. Their genetics, brains, and behaviors are very similar to humans, enabling scientists to collect a range of helpful data.

The monkeys were thriving until Hurricane Maria hit as a Category 5 hurricane in 2017, killing more than 3,000 people. None of the animals perished in the storm, but the physical and emotional toll triggered premature aging that was measurable.

“The molecular landscape of their bodies is changing. This is a function of stress,” Platt explained.

Some of the monkeys fared better than others, which made scientists interested in the root cause of their resilience. They discovered that the monkeys that thrived had forged deeper social bonds and were more cooperative in the face of disaster. They became friendlier, nicer, and more tolerant. Those parts of their brains even grew bigger.

Humans can change their behavior to do the same, Platt said. To prove his point, he shared a Microsoft Labs survey that found companies with the highest employee engagement have leaders who invest in resilient cultures that support workers.

In his final message to business leaders, Platt offered a finding from a research paper he co-authored on deaths from the “epidemic of despair” in the U.S. The biggest difference between the U.S. and other industrialized countries is a dearth of paid time off.

“Time off is necessary, not just to rest but also to reconnect with your families, your friends, to engage in play, to make music, to be joyful. That’s part of the human toolkit,” he said. “And look, we just ain’t doing it, so we have to do better.”

 

Source:  Why Taking Time Off from Work Makes You More Resilient – Knowledge at Wharton