Learn in Public – week 03

I finished listening to “The Great CEO Within” by Matt Mochary and Alex MacCaw. A few thoughts:

1️⃣ A tactical cheat sheet
I view the book as a tactical cheat sheet: short, practical chapters you can skim for ideas. It’s great for quick exposure, and most chapters include references for deeper dives. For me, this book has excellent value for time.

2️⃣ Revisit in the LLM era
Two well-known ideas in the book are Getting Things Done and Inbox Zero.
Inbox-zero and productivity advice hit differently today. With LLMs helping triage emails, summarize threads, and highlight what actually matters, the principles remain the same – but the execution is far more automated.

3️⃣ Optimizing meetings
TL;DR: come prepared, use written communication in advance, and don’t deviate from the planned agenda.
The authors suggest holding all meetings, including 1:1s, on the same day. From my experience, for 1:1s that go beyond status updates and require real attention (e.g., feedback), stacking too many of them on the same day can be overwhelming for most people.

4️⃣ “The first thing to optimize is yourself”
One of my favorite quotes from the book. It emphasizes founders’ and leaders’ health, mental and physical, something that has historically been overlooked. A good reminder that sustainable leadership starts with managing your own energy.

The book also mentions principles of conscious leadership: listening to feedback and acting on it, and not being afraid to make (and admit) mistakes.
This week, I also read a blog titled “Reflection is a Crucial Leadership Skill”, which made these ideas more actionable and down-to-earth.

What should I read next?