Are You Being Pulled or Purposeful With Your Agenda?

In The CEO, Nitin Nohria distills three decades of research and interviews into a compelling exploration of the role, reality, and responsibility of leading an organization. As I worked through the book, I found myself returning to an early chapter focused on what may be a CEO's most precious and non-renewable resource: time.

With research showing the average CEO works approximately 62.5 hours per week, competing demands can quickly consume available time. Nohria's message is clear: successful CEOs do not leave their calendars to chance. They are intentional about how they invest their time because every hour spent signals priorities to the organization.

At Rivulets Consultancy, we often say that culture is the operating system of the business. What leaders pay attention to, reward, discuss, and spend time on shapes that operating system every day. This is why the way a CEO allocates time is about much more than productivity. It is one of the most powerful tools available for aligning culture, strategy, and execution.

A CEO's agenda translates priorities into action. The question is not whether you have an agenda. The question is whether your agenda is being shaped by purpose or pulled by demands.

Nohria warns against calendar drift. Left unchecked, the gravitational pull of urgent requests, unexpected issues, and competing priorities can slowly move leaders away from what matters most. To counter this, he recommends periodic reviews of how time is actually being spent.

Those reviews can prompt powerful questions:

• Is my time allocation aligned with our vision, mission, and values?

• Does my calendar reflect what I say matters most?

• Where am I intentionally reinforcing culture, trust, and engagement?

• What messages am I sending through the choices I make about my time?

In other words, does the way I spend my time create the conditions necessary for success?

This is where agenda management becomes culture leadership.

When leaders intentionally invest time in reinforcing purpose, developing people, and aligning priorities, they create clarity and coherence throughout the organization. When they do not, confusion, competing priorities, and organizational friction often emerge.

Drawing on his research, Nohria found that successful CEOs spent approximately 46% of their time in meetings and settings that involved one or more direct reports, and 21% in one-on-one interactions with direct reports. These investments help build the trust, alignment, and decision-making capability required to execute strategy effectively.

He also highlights the importance of spending time with influential leaders throughout the organization. I often refer to these individuals as cultural multipliers. They are the people who help translate strategic intent into everyday decisions and behaviors. By investing time with these leaders, CEOs strengthen leadership capability and create the conditions for aligned decision-making even when senior leadership is not in the room.

Agenda reviews are therefore much more than calendar exercises. They are opportunities to examine whether leadership attention is creating the conditions for the results the organization seeks to achieve.

When time allocation aligns with strategy, priorities become more clear. Coordination improves. Less energy is spent fighting fires and resolving avoidable conflicts. Culture begins to reinforce desired behaviors because leaders consistently reward, recognize, and celebrate what matters most.

Nohria's research also found that while roughly 70% of CEO time is spent internally, the remainder is invested with customers, suppliers, business partners, boards, investors, industry groups, philanthropic efforts, and other external stakeholders. This balance ensures leaders remain connected to the broader ecosystem while maintaining sufficient time for reflection, learning, and adaptation.

That reflection matters.

Organizations rarely drift into alignment. Alignment is cultivated through deliberate choices made repeatedly over time. The most effective leaders create space to reflect, adjust, and ensure that culture, strategy, and execution remain connected.

Equally important is protecting personal time tp build resilience, take perspective, and exercise sound judgment to foster renewal. Leaders who neglect their own well-being often struggle to sustain the energy needed to lead others effectively.

Intentionality with your agenda does more than improve time management. It helps build the architecture that support both human flourishing and high performance. Intentionality creates the conditions for calm, confidence, clarity, and results that matter.

So, I wonder:

• How are you setting your agenda?

• What conditions are you creating through the choices you make?

• Does your calendar reflect your vision, mission, and values?

• Are you being pulled, or are you being purposeful?

We are stronger together so let's make work better together today with culture as a success strategy.