How CEOs Manage Time

Time is the scarcest resource leaders have. Where they allocate it matters—a lot.

by

Michael E. Porter

and

Nitin Nohria

by

Michael E. Porter

and

Nitin Nohria

From the Magazine (July–August 2018) · Long read

01

How CEOs Manage Time

02

What Do CEOs Actually Do?

03

One CEO’s Approach to Managing His Calendar

Summary.

In 2006, Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria launched a study tracking how large companies’ CEOs spent their time, 24/7, for 13 weeks: where they were, with whom, what they did, and what they were focusing on. To date Porter and Nohria have gathered 60,000 hours’ worth of data on 27 executives, interviewing them—and hundreds of other CEOs—about their schedules. This article presents the findings, offering insights not only into best time-management practices but into the CEO’s role itself. CEOs need to learn to simultaneously manage the seemingly contradictory dualities of the job: integrating direct decision making with indirect levers like strategy and culture, balancing internal and external constituencies, proactively pursuing an agenda while reacting to unfolding events, exercising leverage while being mindful of constraints, focusing on the tangible impact of actions while recognizing their symbolic significance, and combining formal power with legitimacy.

What Do CEOs Actually Do?

A look at the data on how CEOs allocated their time among various activities, places, priorities, and constituencies

One CEO’s Approach to Managing His Calendar

In an interview, Tom Gentile, the CEO of the $7 billion aviation supplier Spirit AeroSystems, shares what he learned from tracking his time in Porter and Nohria’s study—and what he’s trying to change as a result.

The complete Spotlight package is available in a single reprint.

In Brief

The Problem

Managing the immense demands on their time is one of the biggest challenges CEOs face. Yet knowledge about how CEOs actually use time is almost nonexistent.

The Study

The authors tracked the activities of CEOs at 27 large companies 24/7 for 13 weeks and then held intensive debriefs with them. The resulting data set offers deep insights not just into time management but into the CEO’s role itself.

The Findings

Leaders must learn to simultaneously manage seemingly contradictory dualities—integrating direct decision making with indirect levers like strategy and culture, balancing internal and external constituencies, proactively driving an agenda while responding to unfolding events, exercising leverage while being mindful of constraints, focusing on tangible decisions and the symbolic significance of every action, and combining formal power and legitimacy.

In the lexicon of management, the CEO is the epitome of leadership. Yet surprisingly little is known about this unique role. While CEOs are the ultimate power in their companies, they face challenges and constraints that few others recognize.

A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2018 issue (pp.42–51) of Harvard Business Review.

Next In

What Do CEOs Actually Do?

A look at the data on how CEOs allocated their time among various activities, places, priorities, constituencies, and meetings

Michael E. Porter is the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School. He has served as an adviser to governments and campaigns around the world on the advancement of social policy and economic policy, including Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. His latest paper is The Role of Business in Society. He is an academic adviser to the Leadership Now Project.
Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. Professor at Harvard Business School and the former dean of HBS.

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