Why Great Leaders Need a “To Don’t” List with Liz Hutson of EGH, LLC 5-20-26

Summary

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Episode Summary: "Why Great Leaders Need a 'To Don’t' List"

Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
Host: Chanel Bunger (for Scott Becker)
Guest: Liz Hudson, Principal Consultant and Owner at EGH, LLC
Release Date: May 20, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Chanel Bunger sits down with regular guest Liz Hudson to explore an unconventional but vital leadership tool: the “To Don’t” List. Drawing on her extensive experience in private equity-backed healthcare integration projects, Liz explains why knowing what not to do is as crucial—if not more—than the classic to-do list for leaders, teams, and organizations navigating complex change. The conversation is practical, candid, and rooted in real-world challenges faced during company integrations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Introduction of the Guest and Topic

• [01:20] Liz introduces herself as founder and principal consultant of EGH LLC, specializing in healthcare products and services within the private equity space.
• The central theme is introduced: Why leaders need a “To Don’t” list alongside their to-do list.

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2. The Pitfall of Overcommitting During Integrations

• [01:47] Liz shares insight from integration projects: organizations often equate progress with tackling everything at once, which leads to slowdowns and mistakes.
• She notes the paradoxical satisfaction of completing items on a to-do list but stresses that true progress means eliminating distractions.

"Equally as important, if not more important, is the to don’t list. Because that's where the real magic is. That's where you decide what you're not going to focus on right now."
— Liz Hudson [02:28]

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3. Building an Effective “To Don’t” List: Three Steps

• [03:10] Liz outlines her three-step approach for leaders:

Step 1: Start with the End in Mind

• Think deeply about where you want to go.
• Define success specifically and “anchor on that idea.”
• Apply this lens to meetings, projects, relationships—everything.

Step 2: Brainstorm Everything

• Let ideas flow freely.
• Involve subject matter experts.
• Collect every possible task, need, or desire related to the project.

Step 3: Filter and Eliminate Ruthlessly

• Whittle down the brainstormed list by filtering through the “end in mind” vision.
• Differentiate between “critical path” issues and “nice-to-haves.”
• Don’t just prioritize—eliminate what isn’t essential. The “to don’t” list is for things not to be done now (not necessarily never).

"It's not just prioritization… it's really about elimination. You want to actually eliminate things from that list and put them on the to don't list."
— Liz Hudson [05:27]

• The result: clarity, faster decision making, less confusion, and greater team focus.

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4. The Broader Application Beyond Business

• [06:29] Liz observes the same principle applies to personal and career goals, not just business challenges.
  • Being clear about your destination and disciplined in avoiding distractions increases odds of success.
  • She admits it’s not easy but consistently more effective: “I go faster, I go further when I can just lean in on a couple few things.”

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Highlighted Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Oftentimes teams think that progress means doing all of it at once. But actually it slows a lot of things down." — Liz Hudson [01:56]
• "If you have that start with the end in mind and you've got all this stuff, now you can really focus on... your critical path." — Liz Hudson [04:28]
• "It brings clarity for the leadership team, for the working team, and it actually speeds up decision making and it reduces the noise..." — Liz Hudson [05:49]
• “If you're clear on where you're trying to go and you're disciplined to get rid of those distractions and things that keep you off course, you dramatically increase your chances of success.” — Liz Hudson [06:33]

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Notable Timestamps

• 01:20 — Liz introduces herself and EGH LLC’s focus.
• 01:47 — Why a “to don’t” list matters as much as a to-do list.
• 03:10 — Liz’s 3-step process to creating a strong to don’t list.
• 05:27 — On the power of elimination instead of just prioritization.
• 06:29 — Applying the method to personal and career goals.

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Conclusion

The episode delivers actionable advice for leaders navigating complex projects—especially those in private equity and healthcare—by reframing the concept of productivity around focus and elimination. Creating a “to don’t” list is painted as liberating and clarifying, enabling leaders to be more effective both professionally and personally.

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For more conversations on leadership and private equity, subscribe to the Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast.

Transcript

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[Chanel Bunger]

Hello and welcome to the Becker Private Equity and the Becker Business Podcast. My name is Chanel Bunger and today I'm excited to speak with regular guest Liz Hudson, principal consultant and Owner at EGH llc, who joins us today to discuss one of the biggest challenges leaders face deciding what not to do. Liz, thank you as always for joining me. Could you get us started out by giving a brief introduction for listeners who may not be acquainted with you yet?

[Liz Hudson]

Absolutely. Chanel, great to talk with you. Yes, I am Liz Hudson. I'm the founder and principal consultant of EGH LLC and we're an organization that focuses on healthcare products and services and we are primarily in the private equity space.

[Chanel Bunger]

Perfect. Thank you so much for the introduction. And now could you get us started out by giving us an overview of why you believe a to don't list is just as important as a traditional to do list?

[Liz Hudson]

Absolutely. So let's talk at the beginning of a project and I'm going to focus in on integrations because that's always me and my team. We spend a lot of our time integrations where we're bringing two or more companies together. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, a mountain of work that needs to be done between systems, processes, people, communications. It all needs to be done and it all needs to be done yesterday. It's all urgent. And I think oftentimes teams think that progress means doing all of it at once. But actually it slows a lot of things down and inevitably one of the most critical mistakes that teams make is taking on too many things at the same time. And listen, don't get me wrong, I love a good to do list. Sometimes I'll even write things down that I've already finished just so I can cross it off the list because there's something so satisfying about that. But to your point and what you kind of shared right at the beginning, we have a to do list and everybody talks about that to do list equally. As important, if not more important, is the to don't list. Because that's where the real magic is. That's where you decide what you're not going to focus on right now.

[Chanel Bunger]

Absolutely. And now that we have the overview, could you walk us through it step by step?

[Liz Hudson]

Yeah. I'll break it down into three steps because I think it can be challenging, especially for people who are very driven, they're go getters, they want this project to be super successful. It's hard, hard to come up with that to don't list. For me, I will tell you that is a difficult thing to do. But what I found to be helpful is these three steps. So we'll start off with step number one. Step number one is start with the end in mind. If you know me, if you know my team, you know that this is a critical mantra. It is foundational to everything that we do. Whether it's a project, whether it's a meeting, whether it's a relationship, a conversation, whatever it is. You always want to start with the end in mind. And what I mean by that, you want to think about where is it that you're trying to go, have that vision, have that picture of that, define success very specifically and anchor on that idea, what is it that we're really trying to achieve? So that's the first step, is to start with the end in mind. And then from there that's when you can start to just brainstorm everything that needs to be done. Write it all down, bring in the subject matter experts, get it all out of your head and onto the paper, Capture everything, right? Just go ahead and just let that stream of consciousness come out of you. Put it up on a whiteboard or with post its or whatever. Just put everything down that's there. And then the third and final step, and this is where the to don't list comes into play, is you're going to whittle down all that you just brainstormed in the filter of that end in mind. So if you have that start with the end in mind and you've got all this stuff now you can really focus on what is your critical path, how do you get there? Kind of filter through all the noise, all the stuff, what are the things that actually need to be done and what are some things that are just nice to have? And at the end of the day, Chanel, it's not just prioritization. It's not taking the hundred things and saying these 10 things go first, and then this bucket of things comes next and then this last thing comes last. It's really about elimination. You want to actually eliminate things from that list and put them on the to don't list, take the things off that list that don't need to be done. And it's not to say that it's never going to happen. It's just to say that it's not going to happen right now. And when we do this, well, when we build the to do and the to don't list, it's actually really freeing. It brings clarity for the leadership team, for the working team, and it actually speeds up decision making and it reduces the noise, it reduces the confusion where you can just lean in and say, this is the one thing that I have to do. This is my critical path to getting there, and I'm going to protect that with my to don't listen.

[Chanel Bunger]

I love that. And just to summarize those points for listeners, you start with the end in mind, and then once that goal is clear, you brainstorm on what needs to be done and then bring it all home by whittling it down to find that critical path. Liz, I love that. Is there anything else that listeners should know?

[Liz Hudson]

Yeah, maybe just one. One big thing is, you know, while I'm talking about this in the context of big projects like company integration, I think this is equally true for life. In career goals, in personal goals, it's the same principle. If you're clear on where you're trying to go and you're disciplined to get rid of those distractions and things that keep you off course, you dramatically increase your chances of success. I have found this to be true in my life, in my work. And I'm not saying it's easy. It's not easy because I always want to do everything at the same time. But I have found that I go faster, I go further when I can just lean in on a couple few things.

[Chanel Bunger]

Love it. Well, Liz, I want to thank you as always for joining me today and for sharing your insights on the Becker Private Equity and the Becker Business podcast. Thank you so much.

[Liz Hudson]

Thanks, Chanel. Great to talk with you.

[Lowe's Announcer]

During Memorial Day at Lowe's Shop household must haves for less. Save $80 on a Char Broil Performance Series 4 burner grill to chef up something special. Plus get up to 45% off. Select major appliances to keep things fresh. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Lowe's we help you save valid through 527, while supplies last selection varies by location. See lowe's.com for details.

[Chanel Bunger]

Visit your nearby Lowe's.