DAVE ALBERGA, CEO
The Active Network, Inc.
By Emily Nesselroad
Despite his chaotic schedule and endless number of responsibilities, Dave Alberga's friendly disposition and quick, enthusiastic sense of humor are anything but typical for today's executive.
Emily Nesselroad (EN), Chief Editor of the Give Me Ten Seconds Times, recently caught up with the CEO of Inc. magazine's 99th fastest growing company on the Inc. 500 list -- The Active Network, Inc., a software, marketing and registration powerhouse based in San Diego, CA.
EN: What advice would you give today's time-deficient executives?
Dave Alberga (DA): Unplug if you can. Getting access to greater technology and thus information faster and more readily, in some respects, has been really positive. It has also led to an environment where it's very difficult to unplug yourself, where you're kind of deluged with more and more information every day on a real time basis.
The result is, it's really hard to be productive because you're always in reactive mode to what's coming across your Blackberry, email, voicemail, Skype or your instant messenger. I've found myself getting caught up in the whole cycle where I am waiting for the next email to come in, just trying to keep my head above water. The fact is that you can spend a whole day responding and realize you haven't pushed the business forward at all.
EN: Is there a solution?
DA: My advice is, unplug, close your email, and don't answer your calls for certain parts of your day. Get yourself out of your email, and schedule times of the day when you're actually going to respond to email, listen to voice mail, and return phone calls.
I personally make good use of my assistant. She schedules phone calls for me so that I'm not spending all my time volleying back and forth trying to get calls scheduled or trying to respond to emails.
EN: It is often easy to lose track of who and what is truly important in our life. How do you maintain quality relationships in both your personal and work life?
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