Organized for Success : Top Executives and CEOs Reveal the Organizing Principles That Helped Them Reach the Top

by Stephanie Winston

In this groundbreaking guide, Stephanie Winston explains how she discovered, after more than two decades as a leading organization expert and bestselling author, that senior executives and CEOs seem to possess unique conceptual skills in the areas of time management and organization that enable them to dramatically increase their productivity. Intrigued by this revelation, Winston set out to interview dozens of senior executives in an attempt to better understand the work habits and mental discipline of the supersuccessful, and to quantify their skills and translate them into techniques that will enable managers and ambitious workers at all levels of an organization to develop their own productivity and time management style. The result is a concise, practical, inspiring, and information-filled book that will help any reader get organized for success.

Among the strategies that Winston uncovered are two that may surprise—and give heart to—many readers. top executives deal very differently with the day-to-day interruptions that cause most of us to lose focus and get sidelined. They view them not as a menacing obstruction to workflow but instead as a means to connect with fellow workers and enable more work to be done. supersuccessful businesspeople do not multitask; they focus their complete attention on each task at hand until it is done, and then move on to the next thing. And they employ powerful delegation strategies to enhance their own productivity and that of their team.
Among the many other lessons Winston brings to the reader are insights on how

• conquer e-mail and paperwork gridlock
• run and participate in meetings more effectively
• develop your own best productivity and time management style
• create techniques to find valuable private time in the middle of a hectic day
• use follow-up strategies that ensure you respond to others consistently and complete all necessary tasks

Throughout Organized for Success , Winston shares practical tips and tested techniques geared to helping workers and managers at every level to adopt the strategies that highly successful executives have employed on their way up the corporate ladder.

Even more, she helps us all—not just those who aspire to the senior executive ranks—to adopt an organized and disciplined mind-set in every aspect of our professional lives.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Productivity, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Personal Growth

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof. Note to self: check the publication date before you start reading any nonfiction. Yeesh.

A lot of this book was outdated when it came to anything having to do with technology – the chapters upon chapters about phones, palm pilots, and emerging Internet technology were all pretty useless. BUT there were some helpful tips in there about how you keep a planner, best practices of managers, and how to set yourself up for success and make it easy to earn a promotion.

[Sean Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although now almost 20 years old, the principles Ms. Winston writes of are timeless. By shadowing corporate executives and CEOs, Winston shares timeless wisdom and practical tips and tricks for solid, personal and professional organization. These are no gimmicks, they are based on foundational time and life management principles. Although some of the tools and companies are now outdated or obsolete, the content is worth revisiting for decades to come.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit dated (PDA’s, Compaq computers) but it was a good read. There are a few good nuggets of info to take away. The idea of Senior Exec’s and CEO’s not multitasking but “Spotlighting” was extremely interesting. I also love the many examples of successful individuals describing what they do to attain success at the highest level.

[Daryl Lorette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me about a month to read before going to bed at night. I'd read as much as I could before getting sleepy, but because my father was a manager of bars and restaurants and me working with him over the years, I understood a lot already from working with my father so it was a great read.

[Louie Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books about getting seriously organized and becoming more effective at work. Highly recommend.

[TK421 · Rating 3 out of 5]

See Carmen's review. Perfectly summarized.

[Brian W · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read on a compilation of personal organizational habits of over 40 CEOs—lots of good advice and tips on improving personal organizational skills.

[Bjorn Sorensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this about five years ago, and it organized my brain enough to remember a few things. Firstly, some of the best managers don't multitask as much as they concentrate on doing one thing at a time - and getting it done. More tasks get done, and they can be checked off the paper checklist and the mental worry list. Secondly, they get back to EVERYONE that contacts them, for any reason. They close the mental worry list of the person trying to contact them with a solid "yes", "no" or "I'll work on it", and create good karma wherein more people get back to them. It saves time overall as well because people who don't get contacted back will then worry about what's going on at the other end - and contact that manager again and again looking for an answer. Style-wise, we've talking about an easy to read, interesting, accessible book. More research might have helped flesh out/clarify the themes or added to them, but then again this book comes in an efficient size.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A "collective wisdom" book is a dangerous task: either those who contribute offer wisdom that is all over the place and can leave the thrust of the book incoherent or the editor's voice can monopolize the conversation and the contributor's voices become flattened. Winston does an excellent job of avoiding both follies in "Organized for Success." There isn't much new ground covered here, the majority of the book is taking the simple TRAF (Toss, Refer, Act, File) method and applying it to the different categories of a leader's life. The book is more than that, however, as Winston also focuses on being a people-centered leader and adeptly uses the voices of the leaders to personalize and bring options in what organized leadership might look like for different people and personalities.

A few things I found particularly helpful:
1) Report-killing: holding annual "kill report" meetings;
2) What effective daily To Do lists should look like;
3) The Priority Quadrant
4) Successful meetings.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some helpful tips and provides a peek at what makes CEO's so successful. It's pretty to easy to skim; although some of the pull out boxes didn't make a lot of sense to me.
The two tips I found most useful were about interruptions and working in 10 minute chunks of focus. I tend to dismiss these shorter spurts of time, but if you can "swiss-cheese" a task you really can get a lot done in 10 minutes before a meeting. Also, executives don't see people stopping by their office as interruptions, they see it as their job. (to manage & influence people).

[Cathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephanie Winston interviewed and shadowed a number of CEOs to discover how they structured their days and managed their time. All of her sources advanced to the top, rather than started the company. Her premise was that they all had to have certain habits or skills to enable them to manage all that they had to do. The book distills what she found out, and it's a practical, informative read. Most of the principles would be transferrable to those of us in other fields, and I learned several new, helpful tactics for organizing my work time.

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read book on executive ability in managing your career.