Page 200 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

Calendar Test. When Dave coaches senior leaders, he often
asks them to do a time audit or “calendar test”:

• • In the past 30, 60, or 90 days, what would you say were
your top priorities?
• • What did you talk about in your public speeches?
• • What were your stated goals?
• • What percentage of your time did you spend on these
issues?
• • Whom did you meet with, and what were the topics of
conversation?
• • What were the agenda items in your meetings?
• • What else did you spend time on, and how important
were those things?

This calendar test helps leaders know if their intentions
are consistent with their actions. A leader once said that his
priorities were building stronger customer relationships, but
his calendar made clear that he spent most of his time inside
his organization in meetings and planning sessions. Another
leader claimed managing cost was the priority, but this pri-
ority did not show up in her calendar.
Hypocrisy is a leadership killer. Employees pay more
attention to behavior than rhetoric and will observe what
leaders do more than what they say. Leaders build abun-
dance by living up to the values that give meaning to work,
including the value of integrity between their intentions and
their calendars.
A new leader wanted to send a message to his organiza-
tion about the importance of inclusion in the workplace.
Instead of just talking about the value of inclusion and
diversity, he regularly scheduled meetings with employees

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