What I learned from Mr. Anthony McLachlan at Nortel – Part 5

Continuing from last week, today I will share another invaluable lesson from Anthony.

One must use time effectively.

Anthony had to travel a lot and he spent at least half of the month traveling. He was expected to be on business calls even as he traveled. And he was making decisions all the time. And he also spent time with his family and used to share a little about cricket he played with his sons and vacations he took with his family.

I used to wonder how he managed to get all the information he required to make those decisions while he was on the road. But then as I had some opportunities to travel with him, I found that he used his time very effectively, he started business discussions in very casual manner and collected useful information and ideas. He wrote his own thoughts and questions that came to him mind about specific opportunities and sent those emails into the “outbox” etc.

Leaders have limited time, like everyone. The only way you can get more done is by being efficient about it. I do hope that you can learn to make the best of your time, rather than cutting down on family time to make up for the lost office time during the travel.

Stay tuned for more next week.