Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More

Show up to every meeting 100 percent prepared. • Craft an opinion and deliver it with conviction (and data). • Stay open to others’ ideas, not just your own. • Let the best argument win, even if it isn’t yours (and often it isn’t). • Feel free to stand up and shout, but never make the argument personal. • Always listen—really listen—to minority vie

it’s the quality of each of these loops that helped her improve and not their sheer number.

collaboration and communication

When you work smart, you select a tiny set of priorities and make huge efforts in those chosen areas (what I call the work scope practice). You focus on creating value, not just reaching preset goals (targeting). You eschew mindless repetition in favor of better skills practice (quality learning). You seek roles that match your passion with a stron

Now their emotions lined up in Telford’s favor, and they supported his proposal.

Lining Up Emotions in the Right Ways

burnout can stem from a sense that work is stressful, bristling with interpersonal friction, and lacking in meaning.

break with convention and try new ways of working.

This public commitment signaled a high level of trust between the leaders;