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# Productivity from the People
- URL: https://www.kevinmeyer.com/productivity-from-the-people/
- Published: 2011-03-19T03:02:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-07T16:30:59.000Z
- Author: Kevin Meyer
- Tags: Leadership & Execution, People & Culture, #Migrated-1752356847400, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-07-12 14:48

Interesting article by Kimberly Weisul in BNet describing a study on where CEOs really spend their time. As you'd probably suspect, the vast majority is spent in meetings.

*As you might suspect, CEO’s go to meetings. A lot.* 

- *Some 60% of CEO time was taken up in meetings*
- *CEOs spent 25% of their time on phone calls and at public events*
- *Only 15% of CEO time was spent working alone.*

Time is also split between insiders and outsiders.

*On average:* 

- *CEOs spent 42% of their time with insiders-other employees*
- *CEOs spent 25% of their time in groups that included both insiders, such as employees, and outsiders, such as suppliers.*
- *CEOs spent 16% of their time as the only company representative with one or more outsiders.*
- *Among insiders, the finance department got the most time, or an average of 8.6 hours per week. Human resources got the least CEO time, or 5.5 hours per week.*
- *Among outsiders, consultants dominate CEO time, getting an average of 4.7 hours per week. Suppliers get the least attention, or only 1.3 hours per week.*

But here's the interesting data:

*As CEOs worked more hours, those extra hours went to meetings with people inside the company, so the hardest-working CEOs spent more time with their own people. Time spent with insiders seemed to improve firm performance, while time spent with outsiders didn’t seem to make much difference.* 

*A 1% increase in the amount of hours a CEO spent with his or her own people correlated to increase in \[firm\] productivity of 2.12%.*

The power of realizing there's a brain attached to the hands of your team, and tapping into that creativity, knowledge, and experiences.

Works every time.