INSIDE BUILDER-OF-LEADERS MENTORING
Build a Five-Minute Leadership Habit
An example, not a client story.
The Five-Minute Study is a daily leadership habit Ivanka Menken uses inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. You open a leadership book after dinner, read a page and fall asleep, and the same people issue is waiting in the morning. Instead, you study for five minutes a day, alone or with a coach, and write one line: what you read, what it made you notice, and what you will do in your next people conversation.
The Five-Minute Study is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE NOTE
Five minutes, three lines, one person.
- READGive feedback early, not at the review.
- NOTICEDI wait for projects to break before I talk to the lead.
- ACTIONTuesday: ask the project lead what they need from me.
THE HABIT
“Five minutes a day, alone or with a coach.”
An example note, not a client result.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Leadership stays a good intention
- 01You know leadership matters but never make time for it.
- 02You read a book then default to old habits.
- 03Your team gets your attention only when something breaks.
AN EXAMPLE WEEK, BEFORE
- Leadership reading: a chapter on Sunday, then nothing
- Study written down: none
- Link to a live people issue: none
- Next people conversation: when something breaks
- What changed this week: nothing you can name
An example week. Plenty of reading, nothing pointed at a person.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
One habit that never stuck, read three ways
An example, not a client story.
01
THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT
Three books in a holiday week, then the old habits
A founder runs a growing services firm and wants to lead better. They read leadership books in bursts, a chapter on a flight, three in a holiday week, and then the old habits come back. Team issues are handled when they break. The founder came for help because the same people problem kept returning, and reading about it had not changed it.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
A weekend course
The founder booked a weekend leadership course. The ideas were good and the notes were full. Then the first busy week arrived, the notes stayed in the bag, and the next people conversation went exactly as the last one had. Two days of time and the course fee bought a feeling of progress and no change in behaviour.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
They could quote the idea, not the decision
The founder could quote a leadership idea from memory. When Ivanka asked for the last time five minutes of study had changed a real decision with a real person, there was no answer. The reading was happening. It was never connected to the conversation that needed it.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND THE INSIGHT
Repetition, not knowledge
The founder did not lack leadership knowledge. They had more of it than they used. What was missing was repetition: a small daily habit tied to a live people issue, so the reading met the work while it still mattered.
A course is large and rare, so it loses to the first busy week. Five minutes is small enough to survive one. Done every working day, it gives ten short notes a fortnight, each pointed at a real conversation.
Leadership study works when it is tiny and repeated, not when it is a course you mean to finish.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Skip the five minutes and leadership stays a good intention. The same people problem stays in place, the team still gets your attention only when something breaks, and the next course goes the way of the last.
THE TOOL
The Five-Minute Study
The Five-Minute Study turns leadership reading into a daily note with three lines: what you read, what it made you notice, and the action for your next people conversation.
An example fortnight. Tap a part. The reading, the person and the action are yours.
Five-Minute Study · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is a five-minute daily habit and a one-line log, done alone or with a coach. The log is short on purpose. Each entry ends in an action with a person's name and a day on it.
What it replaces
It replaces reading in bursts, the weekend course whose notes stay in the bag, and the people conversation that only happens once something has broken.
It sits inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, beside the fortnightly release commitment and the monthly scorecard. The study log becomes the input for the release you write each fortnight. No separate checkout.
THE STUDY HAS FIVE PARTS
- 01Five minutes: one page or one idea, every working day
- 02Read: the idea, in your own words
- 03Noticed: where it shows up in your team this week
- 04Action: what you will do in the next people conversation, with a name and a day
- 05The fortnight: the notes feed one release commitment
AIM THE FIVE MINUTES
Five minutes on one area moves the Release Dial
Broad study meets narrow work too late. A book list applies to the business in general, and nothing in it applies to the one job you have not let go of. So the five minutes get one target, chosen from the Release Dial in Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring.
The dial runs from I do it, through I review it, they ask me first and they decide then tell me, to I hear about it after. You name the area still on your desk, mark where it sits and name the next notch. For the next fortnight, the five minutes go to that area only. It moves one notch a fortnight, with 14 days and no override at each notch.
AN EXAMPLE AREA: QUOTING
- Where it sits
- I review it: every quote passes your desk
- The next notch
- They decide, then tell me
- The leader
- One named person who will own quotes
- The five minutes
- On quoting only, every working day for a fortnight
- What still escalates
- A new kind of job, or a quote above a size you agree
An example area. Yours is the one the team still brings to you.
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
Bring the log, not the book
In the example session, the founder brings the week's log instead of the book. Ivanka asks three questions: what did you read, what did it make you notice, and what will you do differently this week? The founder writes an insight and an action for the next people conversation, with a name and a day. Before the next session, they keep the five minutes every working day and have that conversation.
THE STUDY LOG, AN EXAMPLE WEEK
- Monday · 5 min
- Read: listen before you answer. Action: let the ops lead finish on Wednesday.
- Tuesday · 5 min
- Read: say no to one meeting. Action: drop the Friday status call.
- Wednesday · 5 min
- Read: give feedback early. Action: on Tuesday, ask the project lead what they need from me.
- Thursday · 5 min
- Read: praise in specifics. Action: thank the designer for the client fix.
- Friday · 5 min
- Noticed: two of four actions done. Bring both to the session.
An example. Your reading and your people are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingThe people issue that keeps coming back.
- 2The numbersFive minutes a day, and how many days the log was kept.
- 3The storyWhat you tell yourself about why there is no time to study.
- 4The commitmentOne action for the next people conversation, and the fortnight's release.
THE QUESTIONS
- What did you read this week?
- What did it make you notice in your team?
- Which person is it about?
- What will you do differently in that conversation?
- Which note feeds this fortnight's release?
Before the next session, the founder keeps the five minutes every working day, has the named conversation, and writes one line on what happened.
WHAT CHANGED
A habit that survives busy weeks
By month 6, the five minutes are part of the working day, not a plan for a quieter month.
NOW
- Leadership reading happens in bursts.
- Courses do not survive the first busy week.
- Team issues get attention when they break.
- Nothing written links study to a person.
BY MONTH 6
- A five-minute study log runs every working day.
- Each note ends in an action for a named person.
- Leadership actions are tied to live people issues.
- The log feeds each fortnight's release commitment.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, one release each fortnight, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In the example, the founder writes a five-minute study log with an insight and an action for the next conversation. The habit survives busy weeks and gives the fortnightly release commitment a practical input. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Five minutes tomorrow, not a course next quarter
Ivanka Menken built Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses who build leaders but still do it all. She asks the hard question and holds you to the release you write down.
If your leadership reading has not changed a conversation this month, the decision in front of you is small. Pick the person, set the five minutes, and write the first line tomorrow.
“Ivanka has the unique ability to ask the challenging questions and be supportive at the same time.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You run a $500K to $3M business and lead a growing team.
- You read about leadership and then default to old habits.
- A people issue keeps coming back to your desk.
- You will give it five minutes every working day.
It does not fit
- You want leadership theory rather than a daily habit.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- You want another course to finish.
- You will not name the person the action is for.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
The Five-Minute Study is part of Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- One release each fortnight
- A monthly one-page scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Five-Minute Study is one of the tools inside the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about the Five-Minute Study
What counts as five-minute leadership study?
One page or one idea, read in five minutes, and one line written down: what you read, what it made you notice, and an action for a named person. Alone or with a coach both count. Ivanka Menken uses it inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Will this work if I am already busy?
It is built for busy. Five minutes survives a week that a weekend course does not, and the note is one line, not a journal. In Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, Ivanka Menken checks how many days the log was kept and what got in the way. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Is this inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring?
Yes. The Five-Minute Study is one of the tools Ivanka Menken uses inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. It has no separate price or checkout. The study log feeds the release commitment you write each fortnight across the 12 sessions.
How does reading change a real people issue?
Only when the note ends in an action for a named person on a set day. The reading supplies the idea and the conversation tests it. Ivanka Menken reviews what happened at the next Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring session, and the result shapes the fortnight's release. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Which area should the five minutes go to first?
The one that still sits at I do it or I review it on the Release Dial, and that the team brings to you most. Five minutes on that area alone does more than a broad reading list. Ivanka Menken names it with you inside Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, which runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What happens if the area comes back to you?
Then the 14 days show where the release was not clear: a missing rule, a missing standard or an override. You log what came back instead of taking the area back, and the next session rewrites the release. Ivanka Menken works it through with you in Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Write the first line tomorrow
If your leadership reading has not changed a single conversation this month, start with Builder-of-Leaders Mentoring. The Five-Minute Study is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.
Not leadership theory and not a done-for-you fix.