What Essentialism Taught Me About Truly Leading Others
If you’re anything like me, you sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that being a great leader (or simply a productive person) means doing everything. More projects, more meetings, more emails answered before breakfast.
But recently, while reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown, I realized something that struck me deeply:
Leadership is not about more, it’s about better.
 |
|---|
| Photo by Demile Seguin on Unsplash |
McKeown’s philosophy is simple but radical: success comes not from doing more things, but from doing the right things really well.
In today’s post, I want to share three practical lessons I pulled from the book - and how they’ve already started changing the way I lead and work:
1. Say “No” more often than you say “Yes.”
Most opportunities aren’t actually opportunities: they’re distractions with a shiny bow. Learning to say “No” gracefully is the first muscle every leader must build.
2. Protect your Deep Work time like your life depends on it.
One hour of focused work moves the needle more than 10 hours of reactive busyness. (German efficiency, anyone?)
3. Success demands clarity, not effort.
Effort without direction is wasted energy. Clear, prioritized goals create momentum and that’s where real leadership shines.
Challenge for you this week:
Look at your calendar. What’s one meeting, one task, or one obligation you can respectfully decline or remove?
Free that time. Use it for something truly essential.
I’ll be sharing more insights like this every Thursday - from books, conversations, and my own leadership experience.
Danke fürs Lesen - thank you for reading! Until next time, keep leading intentionally. – Matthias
Disclaimer: For this article, I used generative AI support. As a basis, I used my notes back from when I initially read the book. I used AI specifically for creating a first draft of an article based on these notes and then edited it manually.