A Day In The Life of a CEO
This exclusive group of people are under huge amounts of pressure to perform, require certain leadership qualities and are very much judged or perceived on results, the amount of time spent with colleagues.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), every company has one, some of us may have friends that are one, but little is actually known about the unique role and the challenges and constraints they face on a daily basis.
The Harvard Business Review conducted an insightful study in 2006 (article published in 2018, authors: Michael E Porter and Nitin Nohria) into how CEOs spend their time. The article (link posted below) highlights every aspect of 27 CEOs' schedules, mainly public companies, through one quarter. There are certain aspects which I find interesting and aim to summarise below.
CEO’s are essentially the face of a company and are often held responsible for all of the work completed by the company.
This exclusive group of people are under huge amounts of pressure to perform, require certain leadership qualities and are very much judged or perceived on results, the amount of time spent with colleagues (too little can be viewed as out of touch) and how much time spent making decisions (sometimes viewed as being a micromanager).
Certain characteristics have allowed CEO’s to succeed and reach the top of their field. Once at the top, they have a great deal of help and resources available to help deal with the task of leading the company. But the biggest restraint - Time.
Some of the key statistics:
On average, working 9.7 hours per week day
Conducted business on 79% of weekend days and 70% on vacation days
Average working week was 62.5 hours
6.9 hours of sleep per night
9% of their non work hours per day spent on an exercise routine (45 minutes per day)
Daily schedule planned/coded into 15 minutes blocks
75% of schedule pre planned, 25% spontaneous
36% of work time spend reacting to a crisis or problem
A comment by the authors, which is intriguing, “to sustain the intensity of their job, CEOs need to train as athletes do. That means allocating time for their health, fitness and rest.”
Upon reading the article and previous research and experience working with top CEOs around the world, it is interesting to see how many high level business executives are currently dedicating time to their health and fitness compared to how many aren’t.
It makes me wonder why many aren’t, is it due to a lack of understanding, knowledge, motivation or enjoyment?
While time is highlighted as the biggest restraint, but in general, if 75% of their schedule is pre planned, it brings the question, is there some flexibility?
The 27 CEOs in the study were able to dedicate 45 minutes per day to exercise, why can’t more?
If it is a lack of understanding or knowledge, what can be done to help educate? If it is a lack of motivation or enjoyment, what can be done to provide a support system to hold each other accountable, motivate and enjoy?
If CEOs are spending 36% of their time at work reacting to a crisis, what impact is the pressure and stress from those situations going to have on their physical and mental wellbeing and their life outside of work?
What can be done to bridge the gap? The authors of the article summarize it beautifully - “to sustain the intensity of their job, CEOs need to train as elite athletes do. That means allocating time for their health, fitness and rest.”
Dedicating 3 hours per week, 1.78% of your time per week, can have a massive impact on getting rid of chronic pain, improving happiness, quality of life, greater energy levels throughout the day, prevent early burnout and help to take your business performance to the next level.
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