You Have No Clue How Busy Execs Really Are

Below’s a travel day breakdown of an exec friend –– wild!

For context:

→ He lives in Western Europe

→ Senior director at a large corp.

→ Has approx. 400 people under him

→ Mid 40s, married, two kids below 10

Last year, he logged 36 trips in 52 weeks, Ø 2-4 days/trip. That means he’s been on the road each week on average.

Plus different time zones: travels span from Europe to North America, South America, and APAC –– including Australia.

(He uses hotel brochures to remind himself where he’s at.)

His usual schedule on a work trip:

5.30 – get up, workout

7.30 – breakfast with colleagues (“Work mode begins. As a boss, I always need to be present and show interest.”)

8.30 – work officially starts at local office branch

Meetings with stakeholders: sales, finance, HR…. “Most just want to complain. I need to be prepared for what each could say to appear like I know the answers by magic.”

“After that, it’s 1:1s with my team or skip level down (their ambitions, expectations, etc.). My opening question: how do you wish to use the next hour?”

“When I’m on site, I’m mindful of my liquid intake, since meetings are back to back and I can't pee all the time. Often, I get dehydrated.”

 “Lunch is also not guaranteed. Sometimes my team will bring me a snack. If I’m in Spain, there’s no lunch until 2 pm usually.”

PM:

“Roundtables with front-line colleagues. I want no more than 8 people in the room on purpose so it doesn’t get too unwieldy.”

“Again, lots of unscripted questions. People complain. Many can’t filter their content or their emotions. I must stay calm and switched on even when I think: “Wtf are you even saying?”

6 pm-ish:

“Uber to a restaurant for dinner with colleagues (2-4h). With a few drinks in, people get ‘Dutch courage’ and are more brave about their feedback.”

“Again, I cannot zone out because I’m the boss. That’s why I can’t do more than a few wines at the most.”

“What’s extra hard: variety of accents and topics, so I must lean in even more intensively to understand everyone.”

11 pm to midnight:

“Back to hotel. I’m still buzzing and can’t sleep so I read, usually until 2 am.”

Same spiel again next day.

(“Important to know: Since I was a kid, I could get by with 4-5h of sleep. I’m quite healthy, except some cholesterol from the poor diet when I travel.”) 

“When I’m on the plane, I feel empty. I get energy from speaking to people, brainstorming, and connecting. But tuning in for 15h with no reprieve is hard. You can’t gather yourself.”

Back home:

“I need to get my energy back up right away. The kids want to play.” [He’s an amazing dad!]

And those 300 unread LinkedIn messages from salespeople?

“I don’t read 98% of them. If someone is aware of a real gap or it’s a referral, I might check. But if I need something, I just ask around.”

That, my friends, is the reality of most buyers.

If they don’t reply, be 99% sure it has ZERO to do with you. 🫠