I am a big believer in setting priorities and then working hard to stick to them. It can be very easy to drift away from your big priorities and to get distracted by inconsequential tasks that are easier to do (reading email, for example). My primary strategy is to keep a personal task list, prioritize it, and keep it up on my desktop for regular viewing. I use it to pull myself back to the high-priority tasks when I get distracted.
Here is an interesting article, "Stop Chasing the Wrong Priorities," by Kelly Goldsmith and Marshall Goldsmith. This article encourages me to take an broader view than I normally do when I am setting my daily priorities. Happiness, family, friends, dreams, fun, helping colleagues, and striving for the big win are also easy to overlook when I get too focused on my daily task list. To be a successful leader, one must balance all the important things in life.
I especially liked the advice to be happy now. When I was younger, I was always focused on the next big goal, the next big accomplishment, and I promised myself that when I got there, I would be happy. When I finally earned my doctorate, I was shocked to discover that I wasn't happy. At that point in my life, I took a big step back and made changes in my approach to life so that I could be happy along the way.
In your leadership journey, be happy along the way.
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