5 Microhabits of CEOs
Science shows that repetitive daily habits can help leaders reduce decision fatigue. Here are five common habits many top leaders rely on.
Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs famously ate chicken before every game of his 18-year career. Jerry Seinfeld marks an X on the calendar every day he writes jokes to see how long he can keep the streak going. Winston Churchill espoused the virtues of afternoon naps as a key to productivity.
Successful people in all walks of life have small habits or rituals that they use to enhance performance—and CEOs are no different. From wearing the same outfit every day to waking at 4:30 AM and hitting the gym to writing thank-you notes by hand, many CEOs have idiosyncratic behaviors that they believe make them better leaders. “Every CEO has a unique personality, style, and set of circumstances that require a bespoke set of habits and routines to help them, their team, and the enterprise operate at an optimal level,” says Jamen Graves, global leader of CEO and enterprise leadership development at Korn Ferry.
Science shows that repetitive daily habits can help leaders reduce decision fatigue, improve execution, relieve stress, and more. There’s even a best-selling book series you may have heard of detailing the top habits of highly effective people. With that in mind, we asked our experts for the microhabits they or their CEO clients employ, and why. Here’s what they said:
Take a “forest bath.”
Kevin Cashman, a vice chairman in the practice at Korn Ferry, says the leader of one major industrial firm he works with takes a “forest bath” each morning before heading into the office. “She uses the walk in the woods to set her intentions and impact for the day,” says Cashman. Not every leader has access to a forest, of course, but taking some alone time each morning to focus and set priorities is a microhabit leaders anywhere can follow.
Have a 30-minute rule.
Being a CEO is a 24/7 job, and entire weekends and holidays can be easily lost to it. But in the aftermath of the pandemic, CEOs started getting serious about putting hard guardrails around personal time. Alan Guarino, a vice chairman in the Board and CEO Services practice at Korn Ferry, works with two CEOs who follow a 30-minute rule: They spend only a half hour on work emails every Saturday and Sunday. “The rest of the time is protected as a way to recharge and pace themselves,” says Guarino.
Find the skeptic.
After an important meeting or presentation, many leaders follow what Cashman calls the “one last question” rule, intentionally giving the final word to the most skeptical person in the room. The idea behind this ritual is to challenge groupthink and surface better insights by uncovering hidden or overlooked risks.
Create a priority list.
Given the number of issues and decisions they face, many CEOs find it helpful to end the day with a list of the top three priorities they plan to tackle the next day. Experts say writing down want they want to accomplish for the next day helps leaders focus their time and energy on the most important priorities while delegating other issues and decisions to their team.
Give yourself a daily pep talk.
Graves works with one CEO who takes time out of every morning for positive self-talk. It takes less than five minutes, says Graves, but the ritual pays dividends by negating this leader’s tendency to be self-critical about themself and their performance. “The intentionality of the habit helps set a positive tone for the rest of the day,” says Graves.
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