Let me tell you about Jim. He’s one of the top performers in his organisation—a real highflyer. He brings in more revenue than most of his peers, leads a high-performing team, and still finds time every week to coach his son’s basketball team. Impressive, right?
So naturally, I asked him, “How do you manage it all?” His answer was straightforward: “absolutely ruthless.”
In this video, I want to share the simple rules I’ve observed from high performers.
I work with leaders in large companies, and the demands on them are through the roof. The number of emails they get is ridiculous, the meetings are endless, and they’re constantly jumping from one thing to the next. It’s relentless. There’s so much pressure to get everything done, to do it well, and in the end, many are completely overwhelmed. Some even freeze up because it’s just too much.
Jim’s approach, however, is different. He said something that really stuck with me: “I accept that I’m going to do a poor job on many things so I can do a great job on a few.” He’s ruthless with his time. He doesn’t respond to every email, skips many meetings, and says “no” more often than not.
So, here are the three key things:
1. Be clear:
It all starts with being crystal clear on what’s really important—both at work and in your personal life. You need to know your priorities before you can protect them.
2. Protect:
Jim guards his diary fiercely. The things that matter most to him? They’re locked in, non-negotiable. If it’s important, it gets time boxed.
3. Be Ruthless:
When I say ruthless, I mean it. Jim doesn’t just say “no,” he says it a lot. And because he’s a high performer—bringing in more revenue than anyone else and keeping his team motivated—people accept that he won’t be at every meeting or respond to every email. They understand he’s focused on what truly matters.
If you try to do it all—respond to every request, attend every meeting, answer every email—what impact will it have on your priorities? And worse, what will it do to your personal life?
So, my question to you is this: Are you ruthless enough? Do you say “no” enough—to emails, to meetings, to requests?
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip.
Hope you have a lovely day!
A bientôt,
Cyril
