What do you contribute to your organization that is unique to you and would seriously move the organization forward if you were left to focus only on those activities? As you think about these questions, let me go over some High Payoff Activities for all CEOS:

1. Think Time – This includes strategic thinking, planning and goal setting. As CEO, your role is to map out the direction in which you want your organization to go.

2. Providing Strategic Direction and Leadership for your team –It is your job to be a leader that followers want to follow. Work on developing yourself so you can provide direction to your team.

3. Building a goal-directed and results-based culture. Create a family of Key Performance Indicators that show your progress toward your goals and monitor them regularly with your team. Doing this will keep everyone on the same page and build a culture of productivity and accountability.

4. Attracting, recruiting and building your leadership team with “A” players. Set up a coaching program to unlock your team’s potential for greatness. This will help you retain and develop your very best talent and give you a true competitive edge for your future.  Use assessments to get the slight edge in hiring and developing your people.  Life and business is all about where you focus your attention. Pay attention to the growth of your people and they will grow your business.

5. Communicating the vision, purpose, strategy, shared values and goals to all stakeholders. Gathering buy-in from your team is necessary to successfully execute your plan. Create a meeting rhythm and time for face-to-face coaching and feedback. You cannot over-communicate your vision and goals.

6. Capital Allocation & Human Capital Allocation – Your responsibility is to make sure you are making the most of the organization’s resources. Make sure you have the right people in the right positions and that you are spending money in the right places.

7. Delegating or Outsourcing all other tasks to someone else on the team.

When you engage in Low Payoff Activities (LPA’s) it is costing you and your company tons of money, real dollars and psychic income. Doing LPA’s is the surest way to de-value yourself, limit your income and reduce your profitability. Doing work that is worth less than your hourly value is a serious form of negative leverage: you accomplish less than you are capable of achieving and contributing to your organization.

The key here is to develop a relentless pursuit of doing HPA’s every day and also being very vigilant and aware not to let the insidious LPA’s creep into your life. You have to develop the courage and muscle to say no to all LPA’s that get in the way and derail you from your vision and mission and goals.

So let’s go back to my question – What do you do for your organization that is unique? What are your top 6 high payoff activities? How can you ensure that you spend your time doing these and eliminate your time-wasters (everything else)?