ALEXANDER BANT is the Chief of Research for CFOs at Gartner (NYSE: IT), where his business insights are used by 45,000 leaders at a majority of the Global 500. His research teams quantify and share what the top companies and their leaders do differently to maximize their people, processes, and technology.

Alex has interviewed more than 3,300 C-level executives and led strategy sessions with more than 250 companies including: J&J, Boeing, Salesforce, Starbucks, GM, Disney, Heineken, Deere, Gilead, BMW, United Airlines, UPS, Philips, American Express, Verizon, Fidelity, McDonald's, Allstate, and L'Oreal. Alex's data and findings have been featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Fortune, Reuters, Business Insider, The Economist, Business Week, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, and more than seventy-five other media outlets.

Alex holds a degree from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is an Adjunct Professor at American University's Kogod School of Business in Washington, DC.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR INTRODUCTION: STRATEGY IS CHOOSING WHAT YOU WON'T DO SECTION I: REALLOCATE YOUR 168 HOURS 1: STOP TRYING TO "DO IT ALL" 2: DETERMINE THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF EACH HOUR 3: FIGHT THE FIVE FEARS THAT DRIVE US TO SAY YES 4: SHIFT YOUR MINDSET FROM YES TO NO SECTION II: BUILD YOUR NOT DOING LIST (NDL) 5: START WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE 6: WRITE WEEKLY HEADLINES TO DEFINE THE IMPORTANT THINGS YOU WILL DO 7: SELECT PROJECTS, MEETINGS, AND FLIGHTS FOR YOUR NDL 8: NAME COLLEAGUES, CUSTOMERS, AND UNDERPERFORMERS FOR YOUR NDL 9: ADD INFORMATION, PROCESSES, IDEAS, AND ROUTINE TASKS TO YOUR NDL 10: DESIGN A DISTRACTION-LESS WEEK 11: DECIDE WHAT CAN NEVER GO ON YOUR NDL SECTION III: STICK TO YOUR NOT DOING LIST 12: MAKE NOT DOING A HABIT BY CELEBRATING YOUR WINS 13: SAY NO WHILE BUILDING TRUST AND LIFTING OTHERS UP 14: BUILD HIGH-PERFORMING TEAMS WITH NDLs CONCLUSION APPENDIX: EXERCISES TO HELP YOU JUMP-START YOUR NDL