The 100:0 Rule - Leadership Nudge #310

One of the things that's gonna help you maintain quality relationships, but at the same time stay sane is what I call the 100:0 rule. And the 100:0 rule means this, either give someone 100% of your attention and focus or zero percent. Now, here's what happens. If you never give 100%, you're not going to earn the right to give zero percent because people will continuously be dissatisfied, and they're going to be asking for a little bit of attention. And what we sometimes do is we try to keep doing what we want to be doing but give a little bit of attention. I'm picturing like kids in the household. It doesn't work. It’s not satisfying for either person. So stop what you're doing. Close your computer. Spend 100% of your attention and focus on the person or schedule time when you can spend 100 percent of your time. I'm David Marquet, that’s your Leadership Nudge.

[LeadershipNudges]

One of the best illustrations of the power of this rule comes from the book: How to talk to kids so kids will listen and how to listen so kids will talk by Faber and Maslisch. Genius book which I highly recommend.

[Mactryb]

Thank you David for very interesting session yesterday. Looking forward for the next one.
Maciej

[vincentfournier]

It makes a huge difference indeed. In today's world, people are more focused on their cell phones rather than on the people they are talking to. Multi tasking during meetings is the norm. If you really listen to somebody, he will remember it. David, you talked about a book on talking with kids yesterday during the live. Can you give the reference please ?

[marcbledsoe]

I like how you describe earning the right to give 0% attention. This is especially poignant as a leader who has many duties/responsibilities.