With some of the best business knowledge in the world being generated or spoken about at Goizueta Business School, what better place to answer some of the biggest questions facing the workplace? This edition of “Goizueta Advice” (originally published in Emory Business) features advice from Steve Walton, Associate Professor in the Practice of Information Systems and Operations Management, Rob Kazanjian, Vice Dean of Programs, Emily Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Organization and Management, Doug Bowman, Senior Associate Dean of External Relations and Clarence Otis, CEO of Darden Restaurants who visited Goizueta as a Dean’s Speaker.
HOW DO YOU STAY SHARP AND ENSURE THAT YOU ARE ALWAYS PERFORMING YOUR BEST?
STEVE WALTON: Take care of yourself. I schedule time on my calendar to go to the gym and work out—it’s a great way to work off nervous energy. The key is putting it on the calendar so that it has a set place, like any other meeting. Otherwise, it risks becoming the first casualty of a busy schedule.
ROB KAZANJIAN: Always live below your means. It is important that you have the flexibility to be aggressive and to take appropriate risks in your career. You need to be able to walk away from something if it isn’t working for you.
EMILY BIANCHI: Keep decisions in perspective and be sure to differentiate the important ones from the unimportant ones. Most decisions are not ultimately that important; focus your time and energy on the ones that are.
CLARENCE OTIS: You have to consistently give yourself time off. You have to create space every day where you’re not thinking about tasks or projects—some amount of time not consumed with what you’ve got to get done. I exercise an hour a day; [in that hour] I zone out.
DOUG BOWMAN: Fire yourself . . . every six months or so. You almost certainly know all the non-value added activities that are taking up your time and limiting your job performance and personal life. Come in the next day as a ‘new hire’ who focuses on key tasks, refreshes workplace networks, and has license to question how and why things are done the way they are.
