Page 229 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

218 HBR Leader’s Handbook

solving and “experimental process.” First, talk with key stakeholders in
each domain (e.g., at work, with peers and subordinates; at home, with
members of your family; and so on). Use the discussions to learn from
them about who you are and what matters to you. Then define personal
objectives and assess your level of satisfaction against that. Then, over
time, develop new rituals, undertake new opportunities, or create other life
changes that help you progress toward objectives you have defined in each
of the four domains.
As your experiments become more successful, you’ll find more oppor-
tunities to unify the activities and goals across the four and start to achieve
greater harmony in your personal and professional life. Friedman under-
scores that success in any one of the domains can foster success in any of
the others: by practicing your leadership with diverse talents and constit-
uencies in a community setting, for example, you can prime yourself to
achieve similar competence at work.
Andrew Géczy, CEO of Terra Firma whom we met earlier in the book,
described a similar approach that he has used to take care of himself over
the years:

Once a year I sit down and look at the five dimensions of my life—
personal health, relationships with family, relationships with
friends, contributions to the community, and achievements at work.
I’ve been doing this for a long time, and each year I try to make con-
scious decisions about where I want to put more or less of my time
and energy, and what trade-offs might be needed. I then share and
discuss the five topics with a couple of trusted friends and mentors.
It’s never a perfect pentagon, and it changes year to year, depending
on what’s happening with the family, or the job, or my own health.
It’s not a perfect framework, but it gives me the discipline of reflect-
ing and adjusting among all my priorities at different times.

Setting course: measuring your life
In his landmark HBR article “How Will You Measure Your Life?” re-
nowned Harvard strategist Clayton Christensen proposes a different but