Hi Reader,

After my formative financial years as a lender in a commercial bank, I accepted my first private industry job at a company in Miami. They were a client of the bank and offered me a position as the Assistant to the President.

I liked the people I had met there -- mostly at trade shows -- and the job "sounded like" an early stage role for a young executive.

The Company was enormously successful and growing wildly so it seemed like a solid opportunity. So, my wife and I packed up and moved from Boston to Miami.

The first day on the job spoke volumes of the world I had entered. I sat in the President's office for the first half day, learning nothing except a few offhand remarks and what I observed amidst the whirlwind that marked his day - phone calls, countless interruptions, snippets attempting to explain what I would be doing, etc.

By midday, my impatience at doing nothing was growing, so I asked where I would be sitting. The President took me to a desk in the open space at the back of the main floor and said something like, "somewhere back here."

I picked an empty desk -- he said something like, "that'll work" -- and returned to his office.

I barely saw him the rest of the day. In the meantime, I met a bunch of people, found someone to give me a tour and got some supplies to satisfy my empty desk.

As the days went by, my role became better defined with ruffles and flourishes added every day. But, I quickly learned it was a rough and tumble environment -- with no particular protocols except "watch out for the Chairman's wrath".

There was chaos at every turn.

And an unforgiving culture whenever you made that turn.

It felt like I had stepped in something you'd find in a cow pasture.

When I got home that night, my first thought was ...

"What the hell have I done?"

Looking back, I eventually realized that the real problem wasn't the people.

It wasn't the workload.

It wasn't even the chaos.

The organization had never learned some of the principles we've been discussing over the last several weeks.

It took me a decade+ from there to understand and embrace some of the principles we've been discussing, which I firmly believe should be the bedrock of effective executives and companies everywhere.

So far, we've looked at some of the mechanisms that can help you Become a More Effective Leader.

In 4 Ways to Create More Time for Actual Thinking​, we discussed how to defend your workspace -- protecting WHERE you're working and how you're going to keep the intruders out of the Castle Keep which in medieval times was designed as the lord's primary residence and a final defensive refuge.

In the 8 Ways to Avoid Working 8 Days/Week​, we covered HOW to organize your workspace once your defenses are arranged -- how to set tighter parameters to maximize the controllable time in your working space.

On Wednesday, we'll address what you MUST do to control your own agenda – WHAT you're going to do now that you have established and defended WHERE you're Working and HOW to maximize the opportunities to get things done.