Work on what matters.

If something dire is happening at your company, then that’s the place to be engaged. Nothing else will matter if it doesn’t get addressed.

I had a recent discussion with someone who argued that new senior leaders deliberately push for major changes even though they suspect the efforts will fail. If this is your approach to leadership, please know that you’re awful and take the time to work on yourself until the well-being and success of an entire company matters to you more than being... See more

Worse, to be a successful preener requires a near invulnerability to criticism of your actual impact, and your true work will suffer if your energy is diverted to preening.

We only get value from finishing projects, and getting a project over the finish line is the magical moment it goes from risk to leverage. Time spent getting work finished is always time well spent.

The final category of work that matters is the sort that you’re uniquely capable of accomplishing. This work is an intersection of what you’re exceptionally good at and what you genuinely care about.

A surprising number of projects are one small change away from succeeding. With your organizational privilege, relationships you’ve built across the company, and ability to see around corners derived from your experience, you can often shift a project outcomes by investing the smallest ounce of effort, and this is some of the most valuable work you... See more

Instead, the most effective places to work are those that matter to your company but still have enough room to actually do work. What are priorities that will become critical in the future, where you can do great work ahead of time? Where are areas that are doing ok but could be doing great with your support?

This is also an important factor to consider when choosing a company to work at! Dig into what a company values and ensure it aligns with your intended personal growth.

Whatever it is, things that simply won’t happen if you don’t do them are your biggest opportunity to work on something that matters, and it’s a category that will get both narrower and deeper the further you get into your career.

As a senior leader, you have to maintain a hold on your ego to avoid investing into meaningless work at a grand scale. Taking the time to understand the status quo before shifting it will always repay diligence with results.