Key Takeaways - Buy Back your Time

"Most entrepreneurs think that a profitable business sprouts from hard work. That may be true, but a thriving empire only comes when the leader - you - learns how to buy back their time."

The mindset shift for the leader is change from "I hire people for growth" to "I hire people to buy back my time." He makes the argument that the leader should give 95% of the tasks they are performing right now to work on the top 5% and other new opportunities.

Martel's definition of what a leader should be spending their time on are tasks that: a) you excel at, b) you truly enjoy, and c) add the highest value to your business. There's likely only a few tasks that fit this description and that's perfect. Martel's point is this "new job" that you create for yourself will be one that you enjoy AND provide the highest value for your company. The goal is to "buy back your time" and "buy back your life." When you focus on the 5% the joy in your life will skyrocket.

What are your top 5% tasks? What would you spend your time on if you freed up 95% of it? Who do you have in your life that would enjoy the 95% of the tasks you do and look to give up??

"80% done by someone else is 100% freaking awesome."

Many leaders delay handing parts of their job off because they believe that no one can do it as well as them. The truth is that you are correct. The reason you should still hand that part of the job off is because it doesn't make you much money and it drains your energy. The quote above is one to keep in mind. If someone did the job at an 80% level of what you could do and it removed a task that makes you little money and drains your energy, then you should celebrate a victory.

Leaders have to get into the production zone as much as possible. We have to leverage our gifts and pay close attention to our activities to ensure we are making money and building energy momentum. When we do those tasks our business and our lives will grow.

Practically, we can determine how much we are able to offload by calculating what Martel calls our "Buyback Rate." Buyback references buying our time back. The tasks we are discussing above should be outsourced at what you are paid annually by the business divided by eight thousand (to give the new hire's hourly rate). So if you are making $200K per year, then you should outsource at $25 per hour.

Are you spending time on Productive tasks? What can you afford to pay someone to offload the remaining tasks??

"Entrepreneurs can also become so accustomed to stressful and unknown environments that they become downright addicted to chaos."

This morning Martel pointed out his "5 Time Assassins" that disrupt entrepreneurs. There is deep research available that proves a majority of successful startup founders grew up in very chaotic environments. Their ability to handle adversity was refined over their whole lives starting at a young age. This background and develop gives them the ability to operate comfortably in chaos which most employees will appreciate. The problem is that these leaders will look [subconsciously] for ways to manufacture chaos. They won't feel normal unless there's a fire to put out. Martel's list is the five most common ways entrepreneurs create chaos for themselves. We must avoid them.

Martel didn't write this, but I feel we must create freedom in order to avoid these behaviors and be a steady leader. This starts with becoming very self aware and labeling the feelings you have prior to committing to one of the five time assassins. If you are worried about something, then label the feeling "worry" and ask yourself what could be done to eliminate the worry (besides committing to the assassin). Partner with someone that you trust to hold you accountable to avoiding manufactured disruption and share your plan with them. I'd also diagnose why you feel worried. Who told you to worry about whatever it is you are struggling with? Don't let the world drive the way you operate. Worry can be a useful feeling for a leader, but not if the reason you are worried is because of someone else silly standard that you adopted.

Is your growth slowing because of one of the time assassins? Are you subconsciously creating chaos in your business or personal life? Are you truly free from the world's influence??

"Your calendar can't lie."

His quote that drove the whole chapter was "$10 million companies are not built on $10 tasks." We need to audit our days and find what tasks are sucking the time and energy then transfer those tasks to someone else that is made for that type of work. We next should fill our time with what's most important for our roles.

His best practice for auditing your day is what he calls, "A Time and Energy Audit." There are four steps in the process: 1) Determine your Buyback Rate, 2) Audit Every 15 Minutes of Your Workday for 2 Weeks, 3) Assign Dollar Amounts Against Each Task by Noting $ to $$$$ Next to the Task, and 4) Highlight Everything in Red or Green. By assigning values and noting which tasks give or drain energy, it becomes very clear what you need to delete/delegate from your day.

Entrepreneurs need to move from Level 1 (trading time for money) to Level 3 (Trading money for more money) as efficiently as possible. Their professional freedom and happiness depend on it. When's the last time you did a time audit? How could you implement this exercise immediately??

"If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job. And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic! -Michael Gerber

I had a good laugh at this quote when I read it because it's somewhat true in my case. I'm constantly thinking about how things can improve for myself and my business. It's an obsession for sure. I'd like to think it makes me/us better and isn't a hinderance. The reality is that I don't lead myself with healthy expectations if I allowed my obsession call the plays. There has to be a process to eliminate my importance to the company and that's where Martell's chapter 5 comes in. He delivered to us his "Replacement Ladder."

It's a systematic approach to grow your business and work yourself out of importance. I said this previously and it's important to remember - "80% done by someone else is awesome." As you are finding key hires to replace you in parts of the business, your expectation should be that 80% of how you'd do it is acceptable. The reality is that when you hire well, they'll likely do it better than you because it will be their sole focus. Because most entrepreneurs think highly of themselves, you won't have full confidence during the hiring process. Check your ego here. Can they safely hit 80%? If yes, then part of your role will be to train, equip, and motivate them. You also must develop them. If they don't reach 100%, then it's partially your fault.

The last part of the process that was meaningful for me to see is Ownership. When someone takes a job on your team, what do they own? Make it clear and make it decisive. This will prevent you from trying to take it back in the future. That is key. The second you take ownership back is the second you lose the freedom that you created with the hire.

Where are you at on the ladder? What feelings are you experiencing in your business? When could you build a job description for the first point of leverage??

"Make a rule for yourself: I am no longer ever, ever allowed to touch an email that wasn't first checked by my assistant."

Martell is clearly passionate about implementing an assistant as soon as you possibly can. He believes it's the most productive hire you can make and I agree. When you hire a great assistant, they will literally double your personal production. The reason for that is they take all of the tasks away from you that don't drive the business forward AND they help keep you focused. You'll be happier too. The satisfaction of increased momentum and focusing on energizing tasks will be extremely emotionally rewarding.

The effectiveness of an assistant starts with how well they take your emails, calendar, calls, and texts away from you. The biggest hurdle being email. Martell has shared a great framework to start with that is in the photo capture that I posted this morning. I'd digest this and use it immediately with your assistant. It will change your world.

Who in your network would be a great assistant for you? Are you willing to release your email and calendar to focus on higher level tasks? What else could an assistant take from you so you could focus more on the most important tasks??

"Strategic thinking requires both diagnosis and design." -Ray Dalio

Martell ends chapter 7 by saying, "now you'll never have to perform that task again." This is true for him after he delivers a "playbook" on how to accomplish a task. He has made creating and updating playbooks [operating procedures] a part of his culture. He wants everything documented so that anyone new to the team can come in and get productive quickly. Sticking with his 80% value rule, Martell is wanting the playbooks to be good enough for a new employee to an 80% solution. His company also leverages new employees to update the playbooks at the end of their training. He believes if and when they do this their learning is complete.

The goal is predictability in employee actions and outcomes. A byproduct of the playbooks is clear expectations. When you have a checklist for a task, it becomes very clear what all has to get done for a project to be fully complete. Martell uses his 4 Cs model (see photo) to create his playbooks and is sure to use live documents such as Google Docs so future edits are easy. If every position did this in your organization, then the risk of disruption when someone leaves the company majorly reduces. The speed to production also goes through the roof. Having standard operating procedures is precious as you scale your organization.

What tasks rely on you to complete them because of your specific knowledge? Could you record yourself executing the task next time? Where are you most vulnerable if a teammate leaves? What tasks could you require them to make videos of? Who could be the lead for creating the company's playbook?

"Your Perfect Week." The goal was to move the reader from being reactive to proactive with their time.

Martell gave labels for three ways people lose time that I thought was good for all to read and identify in their work week. The first is "buffer time." This type of lost time is the time that's open in between scheduled meetings. 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there. These blank spots add up and can kill productivity. This is especially true if you are a person who is susceptible to being reactive. The second is "bleed time." This type of lost time is when something scheduled for an hour lasts another 10 minutes. Lose 10 minutes on top of every meeting you have scheduled and you will have a lot of lost time. This is why Martell recommends having a tightly stacked day. The last is "switching time." This is the lost time as a result of transitioning from one task to a completely different task. This can be as simple as moving from one software application to another which costs people on average of 10 minutes (Cornell University study). You want to be in a flow and switching prevents, or at least delays, that from happening.

Once you identify these in your day, you can start to organize your calendar to prevent them from occurring. Your calendar is your weapon and you must obey it for it to be effective.

How can you organize your week so that it is completely stacked? How can you group like kind tasks to help you stay in an energy flow? Can you start with placing what's most important in your calendar, then adding everything else into it??

Martell carved out a chapter in his book to share four "time hacks" that he says will save leaders "immense time and energy." See below for a summary of the four:

1. The $50 Magic Pill - This hack is giving your team the freedom to spend money, up to a certain approved dollar amount, to solve a problem without involving the leader. $50 is a placeholder, but the point is to give your team the freedom to use resources to solve problems without you.

2. Sync Meetings with Repeat Agenda - This is mainly for your assistant's ability to grow their role with you. During these meetings they will learn how you think and eventually move in lockstep with you.

3. Definition of Done - This is a statement you give people when delegating a task that gives clear expectations of what a project looks like when its 100% complete including facts, feelings, and functionality.

4. 1:3:1 Rule - This hack requires your team to not present a problem unless there is "1" very clearly defined problem, "3" very clear ways to solve the problem, and "1" clear recommendation from the team.

All of these "hacks" require you to let go of your ego. You don't have to solve every problem. You don't have to even know about all of the problems. People are paid to do this for you. Get comfortable with allowing people to step up. Your company's productivity will grow because of it.

"When it comes to hiring, I have one simple rule. I can't work with you until I work with you." -Seth Godin

Hiring is one of the most important tasks you have as a leader. It's important for a successful start and it's important to teach your team as you scale. A players don't work well with other people who are not A players so you must be good at picking them. Martell has six rules that keep him on track in his hiring process. The six are:

1. Be clear about what you are after

2. Cast a wide net for applicants

3. Require the candidate to load a 3 minute video

4. Use profile assessments

5. Execute the "Test-First" hiring method - give them a real paid project to work on

6. Sell the future to the candidate

Remember, the goal of hiring is to save you time. The most effective way to achieve that goal is to only hire special people. What rules are you going to set for your team to ensure you do that well?

"Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." -GEN George Patton

How to move a leader from executing "Transactional Management" to "Transformational Leadership." His steps for Transformational Leadership were 1) Outcome, 2) Measure, and 3) Coach.

Once you starting focusing on Outcome instead of telling your folks "how," they start talking about results instead of tasks. "They begin offering their energy, not their skills." They find better ways of doing things which increases your company's capability drastically.

Giving your team a measurement to focus on increases their motivation. When they know how to win, they get focused. Think of a five year old boy that you just share how to score in basketball. You don't have to tell him how to get the ball in the hoop. As soon as he knows how to score and the highest score wins, he'll make it happen. It's natural in all of us. A Players will keep track of their "score" and self-adjust to be successful. You just need to provide the measurement.

See the graphic for Martell's suggestion on a coaching framework. He said, "coaching often comes down to a series of small conversations at pivotal moments that help adjust someone's steering." Ask great questions, keep your folks focused on the priority, and steer their thinking to be effective. Remember, "you build the people, and the people build the business."

I love that last quote and think it sums up everything in leadership well. How are you building your people?

"No Feedback = No Productivity"

Martell starts the chapter off by saying, the "F-word will save your business." The F-word represents feedback. He says that most people are shy when it comes to giving feedback and that's especially true up the chain of command. You have to create a culture of feedback to be really good at it. Martell shares a model below that he learned from Matt Mochary help with the feedback conversation. You don't have to use this model, but finding a way to eliminate the feedback shyness in your company is key.

Here's Mochary's CLEAR framework:

C - Create a warm environment

L - Lead them to offering critical feedback

E - Empathize

A - Ask if there's more

R - Reject or accept the feedback

Feedback will no doubt increase your company's productivity by making everyone aware of the deficiencies. A Players especially will experience real gains from it because they will put in the improvement work. The other benefit is you'll be made aware of those employees that aren't satisfied with their work. McKinsey & Company reported 70% of employees find their life's purpose inside their jobs. If we aren't helping people feel that, then they'll leave for a place where they can. Feedback means retention.

How are you intentionally creating a culture of feedback? Are people comfortable with providing you (as the leader) feedback? Can you implement CLEAR in your business?

"Dream Big, Achieve Bigger."

That's Martell's chapter header. The overall argument he is making in the chapter is to achieve big things a leader needs to have big goals. The leader needs a big, clear vision of the future. He said it this way, "Think of racing a car around a track: if your goal is to shave off a second of time, you'll practice taking tighter turns and shifting a little better. But the moment you think, I must double my speed, your brain kicks into high gear." To invent something that will massively change your trajectory, you must think big change.

The two details to stress in order to connect dreaming with big achievements are size and clarity of the dreams. Big, massive, dreams make future decisions easier. The answer will either get you to size you are after or they won't. Making a decision on a hire becomes easier because you know you need them in the future to make your massive dream a reality. Clarity in your dreams make them believable and sustainable. If you hand wave the details of your dream/vision, then your team will smile and shake their heads while you share it but it will spur little action. You need clarity so people know how to make success happen. Think of a sports team trying to win a championship. The scoreboard makes it super clear what the team has to do to make a championship happen. It drives their activities in practice and in the game.

Martell suggests working through 4 elements when you are writing out your dream. His areas of focus are: 1) Team, 2) A single business, 3) An empire, and 4) His overall lifestyle. Bring details to these four areas and you'll know exactly where to go.

How often do you give yourself time to dream big? Are you clear on your dreams? How are you sharing these with your team??

"The Preloaded Year" - Final Chapter in "Buy Back Your Time"

Playing off Stephen Covey's "big rocks" analogy, Martell leverages the concept of building an annual calendar in December every year where big rocks are placed first, then pebbles, then sand, and then water. The key to it all as you have likely read or heard about is to front load the most important things in your life. There's always time for the small stuff to fit in. The big stuff will not if you fail to plan and missing those will ruin your life.

I feel like most people can tackle this task as long as they schedule time to do it so I want to share Martell's model for stress testing his preloaded year. He does this with four questions.

1. If I accomplish what's in my Preloaded Year, will I think, "Damn! That was an amazing year!"?

2. Does the current Preloaded Year make you feel overwhelmed?

3. Does the current plan seem impossible to tackle?

4. Does the plan jazz you up?

Obviously, you want to feel good after answering those questions. If you don't, then there's more planning to do. When the plan is in place, share it with your assistant and work the plan. Martell is open to changing the plan, but he only does that 5-10% of the time. He only does this if he, and his wife, agree that it's a "Heal-yeah opportunity." If it's not, he stays on track.

Be intentional with your time. Find models that work for you and work them. You'll find more productivity AND happiness when you are in control and can "Buy Back Your Time."

Every day I spend time in the early morning reading books to grow my knowledge in business, wealth, religion and more. I share the key takeaways from my week of reading with in?Exclusive Weekly Leader Note?to a group of motivated business professionals – if you would like to join the group, you can sign up here.

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