Productive Not Busy
This morning, I met with a CEO who’s new to the role and feeling the weight of everything coming at him—stakeholder demands, endless tasks, and the sheer volume of work, particularly this time of year. He was overwhelmed. Regardless of our roles, we’ve all been there. We had a good conversation about how to navigate this storm, and while I hadn’t planned on giving a “top four” list, that’s where we ended up. This morning, I thought I’d pass along a few thoughts about how a leader can approach the overwhelming list of things to do.?
The first thing I did tell him was that he just has to accept that he will never have a day that he goes home and feel like he got all his work done. That’s not a legitimate goal for any leader. A legitimate goal is to arrive home and feel like you’ve made progress. With that in mind, here is my two cents worth.
First, accept the challenge. The job is big, suck it up. If you didn’t expect that, it’s worth reevaluating why you stepped into the role. Leadership is demanding—it just comes with the territory. Leadership is hard and it does take more time.
Second, delegate. More importantly, develop your team so you can delegate to them. A strong team means you’re not carrying every burden alone, and the better they get, the more space you create to focus on what only you can do. Building a capable team is the smartest way to lighten your load. ?Force the issue. For example, if there is an emergency and you happen to be in Hawaii – it will get handled without you. Maybe not the same way or even to the same standard, but it will get handled. When the opportunity presents itself – take a chance and imagine you are in Hawaii and have a team member take on a challenge. It will probably be a good challenge and definitely be a great learning experience. ?
Third, master prioritization. If you can’t identify what matters most, you’re going to get lost in the work. I shared a simple priority screen rule with this CEO:
Top Priority – work aimed at making you effective: make sure the team achieves its purpose and delivers for its customer.
Second Priority – work that makes you efficient:? making things smoother or less resource demanding.
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Third Priority – work that builds future capabilities: development—building for the future.
Finally, balance your workload thoughtfully. Not everything has to happen today. Some tasks, like signing Christmas cards, can actually be done in August.? Know your business rhythm, peaks and valleys. ?Imagine how you can level the work from the peaks to the valleys. ??
One more thing I emphasized was the importance of taking time to think. A leader needs time to step back from the chaos, clear their mind, and think deeply about what truly matters. It’s easy to stay busy, but busyness isn’t the same as progress. Reflection creates clarity, and clarity allows you to focus on the priorities that drive results.
Leadership is never without challenges, but by accepting the workload, developing your team, prioritizing effectively, balancing tasks, and creating space to think, it’s possible to reduce the whirlwind and have more experiences of winning.
Lead on!
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Advisor and Director, Libra Solutions, Founder of Key Health Group, Inc., Advisor and Director of RadX, Founder of JST Services, LLC
2 个月Paul, I loved your comment on "taking the time to think". Sounds easy but its difficult when tasks are flying at you from all directions. On a personal basis, this was a huge realization for me when I was a senior executive. My answer was stay at home for a few hours, put my phone and computer in another room and try to follow a very simple "thought outline". My "thought outline" covered building value, executing on opportunities, overcoming obstacles and providing first class leadership to my team. I have to say that going through this process created the most impactful few hours I experienced each week.