The Effective Executive

“Effective executives do not need to be leaders in the usual sense of the word. They are not defined by their charisma or their ability to inspire. What defines an effective executive is their ability to get the right things done.”

1. Effective executives are made, not born

Strong leadership isn’t innate; it’s cultivated and refined over time. Effective executives learn through deliberate practice and by reflecting on their choices and outcomes. Leadership starts with personal development—knowing yourself and continuously improving.

To lead effectively, you must focus on results and understand how to translate ideas into actions. By fostering accountability throughout the organization, a leader influences not just operations but culture. An executive like President Harry Truman exemplified this by prioritizing foreign policy over domestic issues, understanding where immediate results were needed.

Self-assessment is invaluable for growth. By reviewing outcomes compared to expectations, you can identify strengths and uncover blind spots. Something as simple as noticing decision biases or delegating certain tasks to those with specialized skill sets can vastly improve outcomes for your team and yourself.

Examples

• Harry Truman adapting his focus to urgent foreign policy issues.
• A manager realizing through performance review that they made biased decisions based on vocal colleagues.
• An executive delegating marketing tasks to a specialist for more effective campaigns.

2. Knowledge workers as executives in disguise

Today’s workforce is dominated by knowledge workers—those who rely on expertise and innovation rather than manual skill. By definition, anyone making decisions that impact a system acts as an executive, regardless of title.

Measuring the productivity of knowledge workers isn’t as straightforward as it is with manual workers. For example, a nurse’s or a software engineer’s effectiveness can’t solely be calculated in hours logged. Focus should always shift to results rather than effort.

Moreover, collaboration is critical. Organizations bring diverse minds together, so directing communication effectively and fostering team alignment ensures that everyone’s strengths are maximized. A hospital is a prime example—surgeons, nurses, and pharmacists must communicate across expertise to save lives.

Examples

• A marketing strategist brainstorming campaigns with a designer and developer.
• Hospital teams harmonizing practices across specialized departments.
• Software engineers meeting regularly to align progress and goals for cross-functional projects.

3. Decisions must be tough and unwavering

The decisions you make as an executive define success—but only if you choose battles wisely. First, determine if the decision is worth tackling. Doing nothing might sometimes be the optimal action.

Executives should also set boundary conditions before making major decisions. Franklin D. Roosevelt initially anchored his strategy on maintaining a balanced budget, but economic realities forced him to shift to economic reform—a move that ultimately reshaped the U.S. economy.

Courage is vital in decision-making. Whether your plan succeeds or fails, accountability rests with you. Resistance and criticism are inevitable, but as a leader, sticking to decisions and owning them fosters organizational trust and progress.

Examples

• Franklin D. Roosevelt shifting strategies to adapt to the Great Depression.
• A product manager launching an innovation despite initial team skepticism.
• An executive canceling a stagnant project after weighing its minimal potential return on investment.

4. Learn from varied opinions and your own track record

Good decision-makers don’t work in a vacuum. They welcome different perspectives, which allow them to challenge their assumptions and consider alternatives. Diverse viewpoints encourage innovation and prevent tunnel vision.

Supporting your team’s professional growth also strengthens the organization. True success doesn’t stem from hiring the “best” people; it’s about empowering individuals to refine their strengths while tackling meaningful work. Simultaneously, reviewing your own track record anchors growth. Balancing expectations with results keeps you grounded.

For instance, the military excels at systematic reviews, often learning and improving operational strategies. Contrast this with political systems, which sometimes fail to regularly evaluate decisions, leading to stagnation or ineffectiveness.

Examples

• A general evaluating battlefield strategies to refine future operations.
• A software company conducting post-mortem reviews after failed product launches.
• Weekly team meetings dedicated to constructive evaluation of projects.

5. Time is your most finite resource

Executives face numerous constraints, but time is the only truly irreplaceable one. Time allocation should be deliberate, with non-value-adding activities ruthlessly eliminated. Tracking your time can yield surprising insights into inefficiencies.

Leaders often misjudge how their time is spent. By keeping a time diary, executives often discover tasks they could delegate or discard. A CEO who spent two years attending unproductive client dinners realized this time was better passed to staff eager to network.

Time spent reaching decisions must also be intentional. Rushed decisions often lead to wasteful rework. Focused, lean meetings with clear objectives save effort while maintaining efficiency.

Examples

• A CEO reducing her presence at social obligations to focus on strategy.
• A project manager conducting targeted 15-minute meetings to prioritize action items.
• An executive realizing through time tracking that they wasted hours on email.

6. Build on others’ strengths, not weaknesses

Organizations thrive when people align with tasks that highlight their strengths. As an executive, delegation isn’t about offloading work; it’s about matching responsibilities to those best suited to excel at them.

When delegating, ensure the person has the time and tools to deliver results. This fosters trust and collaboration. Simultaneously, define and contribute your unique expertise to better integrate into the team. Managing upward, by making yourself indispensable to your boss through results-oriented work, also improves organizational functioning.

Andrew Carnegie, for instance, famously credited his success to surrounding himself with experts better than himself. This philosophy helped him amass one of the most powerful industrial enterprises in history.

Examples

• A writer editing team members’ work while assigning all brainstorming tasks to a more creative teammate.
• A software engineer handling backend development while partnering with a designer for the user interface.
• Andrew Carnegie’s ability to recruit and empower superior talent.

7. Write clearer job descriptions for better hiring outcomes

Poorly written job descriptions can scare off potential talent or bring mismatched candidates to your doorstep. The process of hiring starts with understanding the actual demands of a position and focusing on finding people who align with those demands.

Avoid revising the role post-hire to accommodate a candidate’s tangential skills. Instead, if you need a salesperson, recruit someone whose skills fit the role perfectly. While a coding-skilled salesperson might bring extras, misfit roles reduce long-term efficacy. Create job descriptions that align with organizational strengths and opportunities.

Once onboard, focus on development. Support strengths, minimize weaknesses, and give employees opportunities to grow towards measurable success.

Examples

• A retail manager rewriting position ads after realizing previous applications were misaligned with team needs.
• A recruiter sticking to hiring criteria despite pressure to gain a technically overqualified candidate for a creative role.
• An HR leader implementing mentorship programs for new team hires.

8. Focus on opportunities, not just problems

Addresses challenges when they arise, but lasting success comes from seizing openings for growth. Problem-solving often keeps organizations stable, but only opportunity capture propels them forward.

Fixating on issues drains energy, while forward-thinking views harness the potential for innovation. For example, instead of lamenting a downturn, businesses can reposition themselves strategically to meet emerging market demands.

This perspective fosters creativity and shifts how you allocate resources. Your team will feel empowered not by patching leaks but by building new ventures and solving pressing needs.

Examples

• A company using e-commerce innovation during a retail collapse to generate new revenue streams.
• A tech startup creating streamlined hybrid working models instead of lamenting office closures.
• A teacher crafting new student engagement strategies rather than focusing on past underperformances.

9. Communication is the connective tissue of organizations

No matter how skilled your team, without strong communication, initiatives can falter. Leaders must act as facilitators, promoting open lines between diverse departments, particularly in areas where collaboration isn’t natural.

For example, in hospitals, clear communication between surgeons, radiologists, and nurses ensures better healthcare outcomes. Fostering this culture across sectors reinforces efficiency and allows skilled workers to thrive.

Clarity is key. Miscommunication breeds conflict, while direct, respectful exchanges bring alignment to shared objectives.

Examples

• Agile development teams with daily standups to mitigate missed communication.
• A nurse coordinating surgery prep alongside different providers pre-operation.
• A company's high-performing teams that hold end-of-week debriefs.

Takeaways

1. Keep a time diary to discover—and eliminate—time-wasting habits immediately.
2. Focus on hiring candidates whose skills directly align with clearly defined roles.
3. Regularly review major decisions against actual results to learn and adjust quickly.