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If It's Boring, It's Broken
Leadership

If It's Boring, It's Broken

May 18, 2025 3 min read

Why I Refuse to Waste People's Time

Paul Takisaki
Paul Takisaki
Executive Coach & Leadership Strategist

I led national teams, rebuilt broken quota systems, and turned around every market I touched. Record growth. Top 1% results. And I was still home for dinner.

No nights. No weekends. Not because I hacked the calendar, because I respected time, starting with my own.

When you're in charge, you don't just hold the agenda. You hold people's energy. Their attention. Their belief that this matters. About Paul Takisaki

And if you waste that? You're not just boring. You're broken.

Raise your hand if you have ADD. (Mine's up.)

Ever been trapped in a meeting where the boss drones on, trying to fill the hour?

Or told to close your laptop by someone who hasn't earned your attention?

I've flown across the country, sat through flavorless hotel food, and spent entire weeks locked in leadership summits with zero space for real conversations, just endless presentations from people trying to justify their roles.

When I got home and opened my notebook, it was embarrassingly empty. The cost? Millions in salaries. The damage? Disengaged leaders. Wasted time. Stalled momentum.

Blank notebook after a week of meetings

What Purposeful Leadership Looks Like

Offsite meetings from 9:30 to 3. Short. Sharp. Adaptive.

If I see the energy dip, I pivot. If someone opens a laptop, I shift the format. If the room catches fire, we ride the momentum.

Dinners are optional, but no one skips. Because they know it won't be stiff or boring. It'll be real.

Because if it's boring, it's not just a miss, it's disrespect.

My Presentation Rule?

Cut it in half. Then cut it in half again.

Every slide must carry weight. I've turned 47-slide decks into three that actually matter. Stories, not slides. Three points they remember. Not 47 they forget. Like building an invisible résumé that speaks volumes through actions, not words.

Leadership Principle

"If your idea doesn't fit on the back of a napkin, you don't understand it yet."

Agendas Aren't Handcuffs

Keep them light. Focus on the critical few, not the trivial many.

Bold leaders scrap half the list in real time, because the goal isn't to "get through it all." It's to unlock the team's sharpest thinking in the smallest window possible. Sometimes, like boarding the wrong plane, the detour leads to unexpected breakthroughs.

Quantum computer visualization

Quantum Moments

Quantum computers only run for about one second, but in that moment, they solve problems that would take normal systems millions of years.

Leadership works the same way.

Under the right conditions trust, clarity, urgency, teams unlock brilliance in seconds. Smother that moment with structure or stale delivery?

You'll miss it.

Magnifying glass focusing on what matters

Respect Time. Create Better Conditions. Leave by 5.

Open your calendar. Cut your meetings in half. Kill the dead weight. Honor the people in the room.

Because leadership isn't about running the room. It's about building rooms people don't want to leave.

And if it's boring?

That's on you.

My playbooks cut through chaos.

If complexity's choking your momentum, don't add hours—build a better system. You don't need more time. You need precision.

Let's rebuild it
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Paul Takisaki

Paul Takisaki

Executive Coach & Leadership Strategist. Former Fortune 50 executive who turned three underperforming territories to #1, breaking sales records for 19 consecutive months.

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