--- title: "The Leadership Playbook: The Lifeboat Exercise | The Sales Blog" description: You are in a lifeboat. You are sinking fast. You are surrounded by your ten biggest initiatives. They’re all important to your success, and they’re all heavy. To right the ship and save yourself, seven of your initiatives are going to have to be thrown overboard. But first, know this. Your ten initiatives aren’t all […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_113535028.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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You are sinking fast. You are surrounded by your ten biggest initiatives. They’re all important to your [success](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2014/08/16/the-hustlers-playbook-hustlers-pay-for-success-in-advance/), and they’re all heavy. To right the ship and save yourself, seven of your initiatives are going to have to be thrown overboard. But first, know this. Your ten initiatives aren’t all equal. The most important initiatives weigh more than the less important ones. In fact, they weigh a little more than twice the less important ones. So. If you want to save your most important initiatives, you’ll have to abandon a lot of the lesser ones. So let’s say you can keep only your three most important projects, goals, or initiatives. What’s are your biggest and most important projects, goals, or initiatives? Why are these more important than other initiatives that are weighing you down? What do you risk by continuing to act on the less important projects or initiatives? What do you [give up](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2014/06/15/leadership-means-saying-no/) in the way of time or results on your more important projects? What will you have to say no to or forego to put your time, energy, and focus into those three projects? What will you have to persuade your team to believe if you are going to get them on board and kill their pet projects? One of the keys to success as a leader is to very carefully, and very thoughtfully choose the organization’s priorities. Lots of things are important, but not everything can be a priority. The very word priority means more important than something else. If you have ten priorities, then you have no priorities. ###### Tags: [Leadership](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/leadership) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on August 31, 2014 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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Learn how to make those tough decisions, hold yourself and your team accountable, and build a legacy with How to Lead: The Leadership E-Book. [![DOWNLOAD EBOOK](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d345d648-812a-428a-81e4-53ce30822212.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d345d648-812a-428a-81e4-53ce30822212) ## Are You Ready To Solve Your Sales Challenges? ![Anthony-Solve-Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Anthony-Solve-Sales.png?width=290&height=221&name=Anthony-Solve-Sales.png) Hi, I’m Anthony. I help sales teams make the changes needed to create more opportunities & crush their sales targets. What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2022-01-22T2:19:46 PM", "datePublished" : "2014-08-31 21:41:31", "description" : "You are in a lifeboat. You are sinking fast. You are surrounded by your ten biggest initiatives. They’re all important to your success, and they’re all heavy. To right the ship and save yourself, seven of your initiatives are going to have to be thrown overboard. 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