By Julie Rains
A recruiter friend once told me that a good manager is one who gets things done and honors appointments or at least calls and reschedules, but a true executive makes time for priorities even in the midst of crisis. At the time, we were trying to figure out how to accommodate a mutual client, who was dealing with too many urgent items. I hadn’t thought much about my friend’s observation until I reflected on the advice in Executive Stamina by executive coach Marty Seldman, Ph.D. and endurance athlete/fitness coach Joshua Seldman. I’ll share ideas that can help you become calm, focused, energetic, and successful.
Breathe (deeply). Joshua offered this tip as the most cost-effective and easiest way to reduce stress. Detect your tension or anxiety by noticing changes in your breathing and calm yourself through deep breathing exercises. For more on stress reduction, there is an entire chapter on yoga in the book.
Identify and focus on high pay-off activities. If you’ve made it to mid-level management, you should be able to establish what these are. If you are working in an entry-level or staff-level position, studying your performance objectives (rather than job description) is a good place to start; you might also arrange time to speak with your manager about priorities and talk with colleagues who are a few steps ahead of you on how to concentrate your efforts.
Define what needs to be done extremely well, what just needs to be done, and what can be left undone. The board presentation and preparation for a client meeting should (most likely) receive your highest attention and best effort. If you have too many “extremely wells,” re-evaluate your priorities.
Hire the best possible person for each job opening and be aggressive about filling openings. Finding the right person can make a huge difference not just in your group’s long-term performance but also in your day-to-day working life. Having diligent, responsible, and responsive employees allows you to focus on priorities rather than spending time correcting or covering for other people.
Delegate effectively. I like this guide:
- “Explain the task as clearly as possible. Take the time to explain in specific detail what you are delegating. Are you delegating a task, an overall function, or a goal that you want to achieve?
- Explain the scope and responsibilities, and assign the appropriate decision-making authority.
- Be clear about how much communication you expect regarding progress and decisions on issues that arise.”
Control your calendar, which is tough but essential to effectiveness. Here are ways:
- Look at all of your activities and find the ones that used to be high priority but now should be lower priority; shift your time commitments to reflect current priorities.
- Limit interruptions particularly for creative activities that require intense concentration (for me, that is returning calls and responding to emails in batches).
- Plan your spiel for saying “no” to new projects. Examples given are: “I don’t have time right now to attend the meetings that will be required if I join the task force. I agree with you that I have some relevant experience. I might agree later to review the findings of the task force and give you feedback before the final report is published.” Or, “My team and I are fully committed to two projects that are high priorities. But I can recommend an excellent consultant who could provide the support you are looking for. If this project is really urgent, maybe you can find the funds to hire her.”
- Minimize contact with time-wasting people.
- Overcome procrastination, especially for things you don’t like to do are intimidated by; get training or support to help you move forward.
- Avoid technology addictions such as Internet surfing and always answering your cell phone.
Get a good night’s sleep. Exercise, combined with avoiding excessive use of alcohol and caffeine, can help you sleep at night. The promise of a good night’s sleep is often the key to motivating clients to exercise, Joshua told me in a phone conversation. After a few days of working out for just 20 minutes or so, they become believers in the power of exercise. That their employers, major corporations such as T. Rowe Price, are paying for executive/fitness coaching probably helps too.
Build stamina through exercise. Joshua, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology and Minor in Sports Psychology, recommends exercise in moderate, but consistent, amounts. Pushing yourself is encouraged but not required in the exercise regimens included in the book.
Though he has trained elite athletes, his coaching of cancer survivors and those associated with cancer treatment helped him to realize that anyone can become an endurance athlete. He trained a 5-person team for the Lance Armstrong/Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope (also see this rider's account), an 8-day, cross-country bicycle ride to raise awareness of the need for cancer research. Four teams rode 100 miles at a time, rotating with other teams and resting on tour buses between stages.
I asked him: “what is most important to physical endurance: training, mental toughness, or nutrition?” He told me that often there is one “weak link” that breaks the endurance chain. Here are ways to strengthen all of them:
- Training: exercise consistently though not necessarily intensely; take small, progressive steps so that your workouts build upon themselves; take pride in successes so that you can gain confidence; when challenges appear, tackle them as you are able.
- Mental Toughness: see yourself as capable; give yourself a chance to succeed.
- Nutrition: get consistent energy through 3 regular meals and snacks comprised of low-glycemic foods; replace things that give you energy spikes (such as sugar and caffeine) with healthier alternatives; make sure you get enough to eat and drink all the time, including the days leading up to an event so that you will not be in a deficit going in to the event.
Basic fitness tips:
- More (exercise) is not always more beneficial and can even be detrimental, leading to injury or requiring a relatively long recovery
- Do interval training (small doses of high intensity exercise with lower intensity or recovery periods); these bursts of intensity can increase your fitness level in relatively short, rather than hours-long, workout sessions
- Measure your effort by your breathing (from level 1: normal conversation to level 5: can't talk)
- Get mental and emotional support from a workout partner
- Combine activities, especially if you don’t enjoy exercising: socialize by walking with a friend; read or listen to music while riding on a stationary bike; spend time with your family by hiking or bicycling together
- Keep yourself motivated and enthused by reflecting on the positive aspects of your workout
Joshua recommends determining your level of fitness before starting an exercise regimen. You can use Rockport Walking Fitness Test and/or see your physician. Ask about the condition of your heart and see if he or she has any concerns. If you have any questions, get a stress test. And, ease into a program not just to protect your heart but also for your muscles and joints.
Make sure that you have the time or can make the time to respond to crises and opportunities that may arise in your work or personal life. This flexibility may be what separates the contender from the champion. It threatened to derail the career of the soon-to-be-unemployed senior manager who my recruiter friend and I were trying to help. He was so busy taking care of his employees that he nearly failed to have time (we needed just an hour of his schedule) to tend to his career.
Executive Stamina is a mixture of fresh insight and others' wisdom (books mentioned include Good to Great, Now Discover Your Strengths, and Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience). I received a copy of the book in exchange for a book review. There is more to the book but I found the sections on controlling commitments and fitness particularly useful for both managers and non-managers.
译文:
放松心情，战胜困境
一个负责招聘的朋友有一次告诉我，一个优秀的管理人员要能够将事情完成，胜任自己的职位或者至少能做好接电话和定计划等工作，但是作为一名名副其实的执行官员，那就要求即使是在危机中也必须优先考虑时间的安排。当时，我们正准备安排要招待一位与我们有着多项重要项目来往的客户，直到我看到由管理人员辅导师Marty Seldman, Ph.D.和耐力运动员兼健康辅导师Joshua Seldman所著的《管理人员持久力》中的一些建议，我才开始考虑到我朋友的观点。我将和你共同分享那些能帮你保持头脑冷静、注意力集中、充满活力和获得成功的方法。
吸气（深呼吸）。Joshua介绍了这个最经济、有效又简单的方法减轻压力。注意呼吸的变化，检测你的紧张、焦虑程度，通过深呼吸的练习使你冷静下来。更多关于减压的内容，在书中会有一整章的瑜伽介绍。
认清并关注高收入的工作。如果你已经处于中层管理人员，你就应该确定自己具体都需要做什么。如果你还处在入门级或是员工级的工作阶段，把工作目标弄清楚（而不是任务的描述）对你来说才是一个好的开始；你也要找时间和你的领导谈一下哪些事是需要首先完成的，和那些比你更能集中精力努力工作的同事也要多沟通。
弄清楚哪些需要完成得非常好，哪些只需要完成就可以，以及哪些可以不用做完。一次大型的会见客户的准备工作应该（最有可能）需要你的高度重视和努力。如果你有太多的工作需要完成得“非常好”，那么重新分配那些首要完成项。
雇最有可能干好工作的人去做每一项工作的开头部分，积极地把这部分工作做完。找一个合适的人，他不仅在你们小组的长远目标上同时也在你日常的工作中能与众不同的。拥有勤奋、负责和敏感的雇员对你来说就能花精力在那些重要事件上而不是浪费时间在纠正或掩盖别人的错误上。
有效地授权。我喜欢这个指南：
“尽可能地将任务要求解释清楚，花时间将你所委派的细节也要交代清楚。你是要分派一个任务，还是委派一个综合职能，还是一个你想要实现的目标？
解释责任范围，适当分配决定权。
要清楚对于提出的问题所涉及的决定及其进展你希望做何种程度的交流。”
掌控你的日程安排，这对提高效率是很艰巨但又很重要的。以下介绍一些方法：
1.纵观你所有的活动，找出那些曾经需要优先而现在应当降低其优先权的项目，灵活调整定期的任务以反映当下的优先项。
2.特别注意减少干扰去做一些必须集中注意去做的事（对我来说，那就是定量地回一些电话和答复部分邮件）。
3.你要备好一套说辞对新的项目说“不”，举个例子：“如果我参与这项任务那我现在就没有时间去开一个重要的会了，我可以答应你，我也有相关方面的经验。我可能晚点答应你，我好看一下这项任务的调查结果，在最后报告成形之前我会给你答复的。”或者是“我们小组和我正全力以赴两项很重要的计划，但我建议你可以找一个出色的咨询顾问，他可以提供你想要的支持。如果这个计划确实很紧要，也许你可以动用一笔资金雇佣她。”
4.尽量减少去和那些浪费时间的人接触。
5.不要被任何事耽搁，尤其是那些你被迫去做而且自己也不想做的事；锻炼自己，得到支持，帮助你进步。
6.不要沉迷于像网上冲浪和不断接听手机这些琐事里。
晚上一定要睡好觉。保持运动，同时不摄取过量的酒精和咖啡因能有助于你的睡眠。高质量的睡眠通常是激发运动的关键，这是Joshua打电话告诉我的。持续几天在工作之外大约花上20分钟时间，他们都更坚信了运动的魔力。他们的雇员，重要的领导例如T. Rowe Price，只要请了健康教练的都感觉到很有帮助。
通过练习增强耐力。运动生理科学学士同时辅修运动心理学的Joshua建议中强度的运动，但必须持续达到一定数量。我们鼓励你不断鞭策自己但书中不提倡正式训练时太过于表现自己。
尽管他训练过精英运动员，但是他那些癌症患者的辅导人员和那些接受癌症治疗的人帮他意识到任何人都能成为耐力运动员。他为Lance Armstrong和Bristol-Myers Squibb的希望之旅训练一个5人小组（也可以参考这位骑手的记录），一次为提升研究癌症需求的意识举办的八天环城自行车赛。四个队每次绕着其他小组骑100米，分阶段在旅游大巴上休息。
我问他：“对耐力来说最重要的是什么：训练，坚忍不拔的毅力还是营养？”他告诉我通常这些都存在一个“弱连接”，以下就有些方法能增强它们：
1.训练：持续练习但没必要高强度；循序渐进，建立自己的训练模式；以成功为傲你就能更有信心；面对挑战，尽你所能客服它们。
2.坚韧不拔的精神：相信自己是可以的，给自己成功的机会。
3.营养：从一日三餐和低糖食物里获得持续的能量；把那些高热量的（像糖和咖啡因）替换成更健康的食品；时刻都保证你摄取了足够的食物和水分，包括那些你为比赛做准备的日子，这样你才能以健康的体魄迎接比赛。
基本健康小贴士：
1.训练并不是多多益善，过多（练习）反而会有害，导致受伤或需要较长一段时间才能复原。
2.不时地做做运动（少量高强度的练习同时也伴随较低强度的练习，或者处于复原阶段）；这种运动强度的变化能在相对短而不是几个小时那么长的工作外时间内提高你的健康水平。
3.用你的呼吸测量你的努力程度（从从第一步：正常的会谈到第五步：不能说话）
4.结交工作以外的朋友获得精神上和情感上的支持。
5.把各类活动结合起来，尤其是如果你不喜欢锻炼：通过和朋友散步来交流；在健身车上运动的时候看书或听音乐；通过远足或者一起骑车与家人共渡美好时光。
6.通过工作外时间积极的活动使自己奋发向上，充满激情。
Joshua建议你在开始正规的训练之前先要确定你自己的健康水平。你可以做一次rockport步行体能测验并（或者）去看一下医生。询问一下你心脏的情况，看看他或她是不是会给你些建议。如果你还有任何问题，做一个压力测试。同时，以轻松的心态投入到一个计划中，这不仅仅为了保护你的心脏同时也对你的肌肉和关节都有好处。
确保你有时间或你能腾出时间对危机进行处理，对你的工作中或生活中出现的机会能好好把握。你的这种应变能力能使你在竞争中脱颖而出。这会威胁到一位即将失业的高管的职业生涯，我和我那位负责招聘的朋友曾试着帮助他。但他忙于看好他的员工以至于几乎没有时间注意到他事业的发展（我们其实只需要他1个小时而已）。
决策的活力来自于新颖的见解和其他人的智慧（书中提到的从优秀到伟大，接下来发现你的能力，然后释放出来：最优经验心理学）。我收到一份这本书的复印件，作为交换我得写一份书评。这本书还有很多别的方面的知识，但是我觉得其中关于调节努力工作和保持健康的部分不管是对管理人员还是非管理人员都非常有用。