You know when you meet someone and you start the conversation with, “How are you going?”. The typical answer is, “I’m fine.”. I don’t know why, but that day something prompted me to re-ask. I said to Logan, “No, really, how are you doing?”
That is where the conversation completely changed.
In this video, I am very pleased to announce the launch of my new book, Less Achieves More. It is coming early next week, two years in the making, and I am very, very excited.
Now, what is the connection with Logan? Logan and I had known each other for years. Our daughters played on the same football team, so we would see each other every week at the game. Logan was a lovely dad, really dedicated, there every week supporting his daughter. You could feel what a wonderful family man he was, and I had come to grow very fond of him over the years.
On that day, when I asked, “How are you going?” and he said, “Fine,” I could feel he was not fine. That is why it pushed me to ask, “No, really, how are you doing?”
Then he opened up.
Logan was the GM of an international company in Australia. He loved his job and was very dedicated to his team, really focused on growing the company. But there was a big “but”.
He was starting to work crazy hours, working late, travelling a lot, and feeling super stressed with the amount of work he had to do. The responsibility was really carrying its weight to the point that it was starting to have an impact on his health. He shared his health problems and how he had to see a doctor quite a few times. Because of the stress, the heart episodes had become more and more frequent, and he was risking of having a serious heart issue.
Not only that, but he also shared that he was in the middle of a messy divorce. He said this, and I’ve never forgotten it:
“Cyril, my wife and I are only speaking by lawyers, despite living in the same house with our kids.”
The example of Logan may be very extreme, and you’re right, most people don’t reach that point of getting heart problems and getting divorced. But what I’ve found is it always starts the same way:
- You start staying a bit later a few days to finish some work.
- You come home and check a few emails while you’re at home.
- You start bringing a bit of work home, thinking, “I’ll just finish it while I’m home in the evening or on the weekend.”
What starts as an exception, little by little, becomes the norm. It starts impacting your stress level, it starts having an impact on your personal life, and in the end, ultimately, it starts impacting your performance.
This is why I spent the last two years writing Less Achieves More. I wanted to share what I’ve seen in the last 20 years working with leaders around the world about how to work smarter and how to do less, so you can still be the partner, the parent or the person that you want to be at home, while increasing your performance.
Performance is not about doing more. It’s not about working harder and harder. True performance is being ruthless about the things that matter less so you can spend more time on the few things that matter most, at work and at home.
I’ve shared a link in this newsletter where you can get a copy of the book. I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think about it. Please email me and send me some feedback; I’m very curious and hope you will really enjoy it. I’ve given it my all.
You have a lovely day.
À bientôt,
Cyril
