The Priority Promise Life Management System

2014 ARMA SOUTHWEST REGION LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

The Priority Promise

“Most of us spend too much time on

what is urgent and not enough time

on what is important.”

― Stephen R. Covey

Sean Kouplen Before TPP

•Great resume

• Looked very successful

•Pleaser

•Always say yes and figure it out later

•Work early mornings and late nights

Sean Kouplen Before TPP

•Superficial relationships

•Enormous to-do list with little progress

•No time to call family or friends

•Very little joy in my life

Sean Kouplen Before TPP

The Priority Promise Process

•Life management system- not time

management

•Prioritize your life

•Live your priorities

•Accountability

The Priority Promise Process

•List your roles

•Prioritize them in A,B,C categories

•Allocate time to ‘satisfy’ each role

The Priority Promise Process

•Place this time on your calendar

•Set weekly goals for each “A” role•Share your goals and results with your accountability partner

List Your Roles

•Family and Home- dad, husband, son, brother, lawn care, maintenance, CFO

•Work- manager, strategist, business developer

•Extracurricular activities- boards, church, little league

•Personal activities- self improvement, enjoyment

Prioritize Your Roles

•A- Critical. Failure to satisfy this role would be catastrophic and life altering.

•B- Important but not critical. Failure would have a negative impact, but would not be catastrophic.

•C- Not important. Failure would not have a discernible impact on your life.

Allocate Time To Each Role

•How much time will it take to succeed in the role (daily, weekly or monthly)

•Must satisfy yourself and other stakeholders

•Reduce or eliminate roles if they do not fit in your schedule

Stakeholders

•Family- wife, mother, grandmother, children

•Work- clients, employees, boss, shareholders

•Extracurricular- peers, the organization,

leadership

•Personal- you

Place ‘Role Time’ On Your Calendar

•Work role time example: Mondays- employee focus• 5-6:30: Organization, reading and exercise

• 6:30-8: Breakfast, get ready, take kids to school

• 8-9: Say hello to staff, answer emails and phone calls

• 9-11:30- Meetings with direct reports (10 min break at 10:30)

• 11:30-12:30- Answer emails and phone calls

• 12:30-1:30- Lunch with a direct report

Place ‘Role Time’ On Your Calendar

•Work role time example: Mondays- employee focus

• 1-3: Meetings with direct reports (break at 3)

• 3-4:30: Prepare Monday Memo, thank you notes to staff

• 4:30-5:30: Return emails and phone calls• Client service- Tuesdays; Business development- Wednesdays; Investor relations- Thursdays; Strategy, projects, personal- Fridays

Place ‘Role Time’ On Your Calendar

•Family role time•Wife- Date night on Wednesdays, quarterly 3-day getaway

• Kids- 6:30pm to 9:30pm, date night on Thursdays

• Mom and Sister- One lunch per month, one Sunday brunch

• Dad- First Saturday from noon to 5pm, take kids

• Grandma- First Saturday from 9am to noon, take kids

Weekly Goals for Each Role

• Husband- Send Angela flowers on Wednesday

• Dad- Take Finley to the batting cages

• Business Developer- Develop strategy to call on BOK clients

• Client Service- Complete all loan renewals by Wednesday

• Friend- Call Jeff and Jason this week

• Personal- Work out 30 minutes per day, 5 days this week

Accountability Partner

•No “Yes Men”

•Teach them The Priority Promise

•Sunday- email all role goals for the week

•Friday afternoon- conference call to report

results

Sean Kouplen After TPP

•Still a pleaser•Make sure commitments fit into my schedule

•Likes to work early and late

Sean Kouplen After TPP

•Still looks successful, just more transparent

•Fewer apologies to Angela

•Views being ‘overwhelmed’ as a weakness

•Much less distracted

Sean Kouplen After TPP

•Deeper relationships

•Smaller daily to-do list based on that day’s role(s)

•Calls family and friends weekly (Friday afternoon)

•Feel much more ‘caught up’

The Priority Promise

“Action expresses priorities.”

― Mahatma Gandhi