Cover image: © iStock / samxmeg
Cover design: The Digital Marketing Institute
Copyright © 2016 by Val Wright Consulting. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
Thoughtfully RuthlessSM is a trademark of Val Wright Consulting LLC and cannot be used without permission.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
ISBN 978-1-119-22257-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-119-22258-3 9 (ePDF);
ISBN 978-1-119-22259-0 (ePub)
For Andy, for your love, friendship, laughter, and boldness to move across the other side of the pond, and utmost unwavering confidence in me.
This book would still be floating around my head as a “perhaps-one-day” aspiration if it weren't for the following people:
Jeannene Ray, Heather Brosius, Lauren Freestone, Michael Friedberg, and the team at Wiley. Your thoughtful feedback and great partnership resulted in a book that will transform how executives rapidly grow their businesses.
Alan Weiss, my strategic advisor, author of over 60 books and godfather of the most dramatic vibrant community of consultants, speakers, and authors in the world. Thank you, Alan, for continuously pushing and challenging me, and creating the ultimate community that I learn from every day.
My remarkable circle of clients, colleagues, and friends who kept asking me to write this book and cheered me across the finish line. Your positively relentless optimism is infectious.
My three daughters, Naomi, Keira, and Olivia, whose boundless energy, continuous curiosity, and love for everything adventurous teach me valuable lessons each and every day.
Finally, my mum and dad, for teaching me that anything is possible with the right confidence and support.
In 30 years of executive and entrepreneurial coaching around the globe, I've observed that people tend to begin their day in one of two ways: It's either yet another glorious opportunity for success, exploration, and personal growth; or, it's a long, slow crawl through enemy territory.
Mind-sets inform behavior, whether consciously or subliminally. My dogs' mind-sets are always positive. If there's an open gate, run through it. Many people's mind-sets default to the negative. Let's do an analysis of the rewards and risks of proceeding through a gate unexpectedly found open. Is it a trap? Could there be danger lurking? What resources should we gather?
Of course, by the time these questions are meticulously answered, someone else has launched Uber, invented the iPhone, and won the Super Bowl. “He who hesitates” these days is no longer “lost,” but rather a nonperson. In a turbulent world, we need speed and boldness and a carpe diem attitude. The metaphoric gate doesn't remain open for long.
Can you imagine John Donne (and Ernest Hemingway after him) taking the time and analytic intensity to write, “Identifying the populace for whom and not for whom the cacophony in the campanile sounds” instead of “For whom the bell tolls”? Yet in the age of big data and persistent turbulent times, I see too many people slowing their pace rather than increasing it.
Val Wright has opened the gates at firms such as Xbox, Starbucks, and Microsoft and then urged talented people through them. For a quarter century, she has fine-tuned what she calls “thoughtfully ruthless” approaches to better create and exploit opportunity by intelligently leveraging time, energy, and resources. She has coached, worked with, and interviewed leaders globally and found the wisdom in what I call healthy selfishness: If you don't put your own oxygen mask on first, you're not as able to help others and will eventually be useless.
The filters we are blessed with in the aging process, as the horizon becomes closer and we begin to regret what we might not complete, can be used at much younger ages if you allow yourself the opportunity. Val doesn't assume the reader is damaged—as so many business books do—but does believe that there are behaviors and skills that aren't always understood, let alone utilized at the most propitious moments. That's why suggestions here such as avoiding regret roulette and letting go of the mediocre seem so obvious and useful, while also so neglected.
I've known Val for several years, and she is one of the true all-stars I've had the pleasure to coach and support. She practices what she preaches, in that she's forthright, fast, and factual. She suggests nothing that she doesn't practice herself and that I've seen a thousand successful people employ consciously or naturally. Val will drive you toward the conscious competency of ensuring that the techniques that follow can immediately and pragmatically improve your life and career.
The question that remains is whether you have the thoughtful ruthlessness to do so. That bell tolls for thee….
Alan Weiss, PhD
Author, Million Dollar Consulting, Million Dollar Maverick, and more than 50 other business books
Not enough people can say I feel in control, I am achieving my priorities, I am energized and inspired, and I have discretionary time to use as I choose. Too many people are exhausted, miserable, and focused on the short term. Leaders who are thoughtfully ruthless with their time, energy, and resources will catapult themselves ahead of the competition. Unlimited energy, increased discretionary time to use as you choose, and a backup team who support you is your reward for being thoughtfully ruthless.
When I suggest to my executive clients that they need to be more ruthless, I often see them wince. It has connotations of being brutal, selfish, and heartless. Once I explain my definition of thoughtfully ruthless, I get more nods and acknowledgment that this could accelerate results. For me, being thoughtfully ruthless means managing your energy and resources by being direct, being imperturbable, and focusing on the long term, while recognizing that your time is precious and you can control it, ruthlessly.
I have been part of teams that broke the mold and created groundbreaking, innovative products such as Kinect for Xbox. This book will include that story as well as conversations with innovative founders, such as Gregg Glassman, who built the multimillion-dollar business of CrossFit Inc., which created the billion-dollar industry of affiliates, equipment, nutrition, and apparel. After starting as a personal trainer at Gold's Gym, Glassman catapulted his success by being a thoughtfully ruthless leader. You will also hear other executive insider stories, including how Amazon broke into the fashion industry and turned it on its head. Yet this book goes beyond storytelling and includes a tool kit of exercises, assessments, and proven practical ideas that a leader can implement in his or her business immediately to accelerate growth.
I have been accelerating growth for leaders in Fortune 50 companies for the past 23 years, and I have noticed that leaders who become thoughtfully ruthless make faster progress at changing behavior and letting go of lifetime habits. In this book, I share my insights and conversations with executives from Fortune 50 companies and reveal how we did it, including our mistakes, successes, and advice.
The principles in Thoughtfully Ruthless go beyond the boardroom; as a mother of three small children, I exemplify being thoughtfully ruthless. This is not about work–life balance; you need to throw away the scales because they constantly cause you to evaluate and question your choices. This is about creating one life that you lead in a thoughtfully ruthless way, and I will share proven techniques to increase discretionary time, energy, and the ability to be imperturbable.