As leaders, we chase shiny. We chase fast. And, we chase what’s new.
But the secret to great leadership is not the shiny ideas. It’s the boring stuff.
I know what you’re thinking… how can boring stuff be any good?
Please, hear me out.
I’m talking about the routines that are so dull that they’re easy to skip. The practices that feel too simple to matter.
And yet, these are the very habits that matter in the long run.
I’ve tried every new app, read every trendy book, but none of it stuck. What stuck were these 7 habits, and they changed how I lead.
Here’s your chance: make them yours, and watch your leadership compound over time.
Ready? Let’s go.
1. Write Down Your Top 3 Priorities. Every. Single. Day.
Most leaders I talk to wake up and dive into Slack, email, or meetings.
Yup, I used to do that, too.
That’s not you leading. That’s your calendar leading you.
Instead, before the chaos of the day takes over, ask yourself:
What three things matter most today?
These might look like:
Block time to prepare for Friday’s executive presentation and avoid scrambling last minute.
Have a 1:1 conversation with a team member who’s been disengaged lately.
Carve out 90 minutes to think through the org redesign and sketch out the options.
Write them down on a sticky note, a journal, or your Notes app. I do this on my morning walk using my Notion app.
This habit forces you to pause and filter. It brings clarity. It stops you from reacting all day.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
2. Block Time to Think
If your calendar has zero time for thinking, you’re not leading.
You’re just going through the motions.
Block 30 minutes a week to sit quietly with a notebook and a pen. Keep your phone in a room at the other end of your house.
Notebook and pen. Really?
Yes, I know it sounds boring, but trust me, it’s powerful as hell.
Ask yourself and write down:
What’s going well?
What’s not?
What am I avoiding?
What needs to change?
These questions sound simple, but they let you zoom out and actually uncover what you might be missing all along.
In fact, many of the big strategic moves I have made started as ideas on this very list.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
3. Ask the Same 3 Questions in Every 1-on-1
I know what you’re thinking… are you kidding me?
No, I’m not. I’m dead serious.
You don’t need a fresh agenda for every 1-on-1. You just need rhythm.
Try these three questions every single time:
What’s working?
What’s frustrating?
What do you need from me?
Trust me: if you ask them regularly, while being fully present and alert, I guarantee you - magic will happen!
Your team will open up
Small issues will surface early before they explode
You will uncover blockers you didn’t know ever existed
Most importantly, you will build genuine trust with your team.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
4. End Every Meeting With Clear Action Items
I hear many managers swear by 15-minute meetings.
I’m not against short meetings, but here’s my take:
You don’t need to make meetings shorter. What you really need is to make meetings count.
I’ve been to countless meetings that were a complete waste of everyone’s time because they failed to ask a simple question at the end:
“Who’s doing what, by when?”
Two minutes of clarity can save 10 hours of confusion, missed expectations, and worst of all… passive-aggressive follow-ups.
Here’s what this looks like in real teams:
After a discussion on your platform strategy: “Sara to draft the first version of the deck by Wednesday, and Mike to get the 3 stakeholders' inputs by Friday.”
After a planning meeting: “Each team lead to review their resourcing and send revised plans by EOD Thursday.”
After a leadership alignment call: “Jane owns the final decision on pricing. Everyone else to send input by tomorrow noon. Final call by Friday.”
Even if the discussion is fuzzy, the next step should be sharp.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
5. Send One Thank-You Note Every Week
I’m not talking about adding hearts all over your Slack threads. That you should avoid for sure.
But true gratitude isn’t cringe. It’s human, and it’s real.
Send a simple note: a slack message, a quick shoutout in a team meeting, or a simple pat on the back. Do this every week to someone who has demonstrated what ‘good’ looks like.
And most importantly, it needs to be real, tangible, and honest.
It might seem boring to you, but if you do this consistently, your simple message will have a larger impact than you can ever imagine, and it will remind the team that you notice and you care.
Here’s what this habit might look like in action:
You DM an engineer: “The way you stayed calm during that customer escalation was masterful. Thanks for having our back.”
You post in a public Slack channel: “Shoutout to the Ops team for pulling off the migration with zero downtime - it saved our customers countless wasted hours.”
You send an email to someone’s manager: “Just wanted to let you know that Leo has been incredibly responsive and thoughtful in every discussion. I genuinely feel that he is a real asset to this project.”
These moments take 90 seconds, but their impact could last for days or even weeks.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
6. Audit Your Week Like a CEO
No, you don’t need to be a CEO to do this.
Every Friday afternoon, pull up your calendar for the week that’s ending, and ask yourself:
What drained me?
What energized me?
What should I drop next week?
Now, take those insights and run them through the Eisenhower Matrix (see deep-dive link below):
Urgent & Important → Do it
Important & Not Urgent → Schedule it
Urgent & Not Important → Delegate it
Not Urgent & Not Important → Delete it
A boring habit, but this combo of reflection + prioritization to plan your calendar for next week can supercharge your impact as a leader.
Remember: no matter what you say, your calendar represents your real priorities and what you care about. Don’t just fill it, fix it.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
7. Read One Leadership Idea or Article Every Week
Not ten, not five.
Just one.
It could be:
One chapter from a leadership book.
One long-form article or substack post that makes you pause.
One new idea or insight related to leadership
Do this weekly and, in a year, you’ll have digested 50+ new perspectives.
This is how learning compounds, one week at a time.
Remember: I’m not asking you to read 10 books in a week and then go on a book diet for months.
Just be consistent, and most importantly, reflect and start applying the ideas you learn in your own role.
That’s how you grow.
Shameless plug: if you’re looking for one powerful read a week, subscribe to The Good Boss. I share practical leadership insights straight from the trenches.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out:
Conclusion: Leadership Isn’t Glamorous. It’s Repetitive
By now, I hope you’ll agree with me on this one.
Leadership is not built in moments of brilliance.
It’s built in repetition, day in and day out, of boringly simple habits.
These habits may be boring, but they’re powerful, and they will compound over time.
💬 Which one habit are you planning to pick today? Let me know in the comments!
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Nice reading though, some of the points I am doing, with your message , I will refresh it.
THANK YOU.
Thank you for the excellent advice. I’m a longtime leader (in higher education), and I think I have been productive, but I could do a better job of identifying three priorities for each day. I hope you don’t mind if I offer a tip of my own. You mentioned learning something every week. I suggest that leaders also jot down some notes on what they learn and then review those notes on future days. Every day, for years, I have been taking at least five notes (usually just a sentence for each “note”) and reviewing 20 notes from previous days. This method, I think, helps to ensure we really to take away (and keep) all those takeaways from our reading.