The Power of Precision: Choosing Great Over Good -Juliet Funt - Global Leadership Summit 2025

Lessons from Juliet Funt on Strategic Leadership

How many times this week have you said yes to something good, only to realize it crowded out something great?

If you're like most leaders I work with, that question hits close to home. We're drowning in a sea of opportunities, requests, and "important" tasks, yet somehow feeling like we're missing the mark on what truly matters.

This is exactly what Juliet Funt, founder and CEO of the Juliet Funt Group, addresses with surgical precision. Having advised Fortune 500 companies from Nike to Wells Fargo, Funt has identified the core challenge facing today's leaders: we've confused busyness with effectiveness.

The Real Problem Isn't Time—It's Choice

Here's the truth that might sting a little: Our problem isn't time management. It's choice management.

We are finite beings trying to tackle infinite work. The struggle isn't about finding more hours in the day; it's about developing the courage to drop what's good for what's great.

Leadership, according to Funt, equals precision in the "yes."

Think about that for a moment. How precise are your yeses? When someone brings you an opportunity, a project, or a request, are you saying yes out of habit, people-pleasing, or genuine strategic alignment?

The Liberation Cycle: Your Path to Focused Leadership

Funt offers a powerful framework that creates a continuous cycle of intentional choice-making:

Liberate → Generate → Separate → Evaluate → Eliminate → (back to Liberate)

This isn't just another productivity hack. It's a systematic approach to freeing your potential by unburdening yourself from the weight of endless tasks that don't serve your highest purpose.

• Liberate: Create space from the noise

• Generate: Allow fresh ideas and possibilities to emerge

• Separate: Distinguish between options clearly

• Evaluate: Apply strategic criteria to your choices

• Eliminate: Have the courage to say no to good things

The cycle repeats because precision in leadership isn't a destination—it's an ongoing practice.

The 4 Rs vs. The 4 Ps: Where Are You Spending Your Energy?

Here's a diagnostic tool that will transform how you evaluate your daily activities:

The 4 Rs of High-Level Work:

• Revenue: Activities that directly impact your bottom line

• Reputation: Actions that build your credibility and brand

• Relationships: Investments in meaningful connections

• Readiness: Preparation that positions you for future opportunities

The 4 Ps of Bad-Level Work:

• Panicking: Reactive, crisis-driven activities

• Pandering: People-pleasing without strategic value

• Procedure: Busy work that feels productive but isn't

• Padding: Filler activities that consume time without purpose

The challenge: Be in the Rs. Stop spending time in the Ps.

Take a moment right now. Look at your calendar for tomorrow. How much time are you spending in each category? If you're honest, you might discover that the Ps are consuming more of your day than you'd like to admit.

Executive Maintenance: The Hidden Work of Great Leaders

Funt also highlights three crucial "maintenance behaviors" that high-performing leaders practice:

• Keep certain ideas in the fridge: Not every good idea needs immediate action. Sometimes the wisest choice is strategic patience.

• Anticipate and feel: Develop your intuitive intelligence alongside your analytical skills.

• Yearn for new things: Maintain curiosity and openness to innovation, even when you're busy executing.

These aren't luxuries—they're necessities for leaders who want to stay ahead of the curve rather than constantly playing catch-up.

Your Next Step: The Courage to Choose

The path forward isn't about doing more—it's about choosing better.

Ask yourself:

• What good things am I doing that are preventing me from doing great things?

• Where am I spending too much time in the Ps instead of the Rs?

• How can I build more precision into my decision-making process?

Remember, you are not infinite, but your potential impact can be when you focus it with laser-like precision.

The leaders who will thrive in the coming decade won't be those who can juggle the most balls; they'll be those who can identify the few balls worth catching and let the rest fall.

What will you choose to let go of this week to make room for what truly matters?

The world needs leaders who can cut through the noise and focus on what counts.

The question is: Will you be one of them?

Want to dive deeper into Juliet Funt's methodology? Check out her book "A Minute to Think: Reclaim Creativity, Conquer Busyness, and Do Your Best Work" for a comprehensive guide to transforming how you approach leadership and productivity.