Smart Leaders Make 4 Wise Investments

Do you keep a 'to-do' list?

If so, you likely enjoy checking items off the list.

You may even suffer from a particular?tendancy?(I know that I suffer from it) that causes you to add things you've already done to your 'to-do' list so that you can check them off the list.

Tracking activities and marking items off of your list are excellent habits. However, it would be best if you watched out for the?Busyness Trap.?This trap causes you to miss the chance to strive for significance.?

Have you ever fallen into the?Busyness Trap? If so, your busyness alarm should be going off:

• You're driving home after a long week at work and think?I was swamped this week, but what did I accomplish that truly mattered?
• You're burned out from the tremendous energy it takes to get through the day. The work keeps you busy, but it needs to be relighting or refueling your fire.
• You catch yourself talking a lot about what you are working on but need help identifying key things that you have taken over the finish line. Maybe it's because the line seems to keep moving.?

Busyness can be costly. It consumes time, energy, and motivation, with little concern over how these resources are expended. It also steals your ability to invest in four key areas:

1: Invest in Pondering

Sometimes you need to stop and put things into perspective. Find a quiet spot and reflect on an issue, project, or goal.

Ask yourself these questions:?

• Why are we doing this?
• What do we hope to achieve?
• What type of leader do I want to be?

2: Invest in Scuba Diving

You often stay at the surface and waterski over issues when you are constantly busy. So, you keep addressing symptoms instead of root causes. Perhaps you need to scuba dive on the topics that require your deep thinking and involvement.

Ask yourself these questions:

• When was the last time you took the time to scuba dive on an issue?
• Is there something that keeps resurfacing on your team that you should invest time in problem-solving?
• What's the long-term impact of constantly waterskiing?

3: Invest in Planning

Putting out fires all the time makes it difficult to invest in planning. However, one of the reasons you may constantly be putting out fires is that you need to spend more time planning.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you spend the appropriate time planning things instead of doing them?
• Have you invested too much time fixing issues that you could have avoided?
• How good is your team at planning?

4: Invest in Connecting

When you are busy, relationships often suffer. You may intend to connect with an employee, but you?can't?find the time. At some point, the inability to connect erupts into a situation that isn't easily resolved.?

Ask yourself these questions:

• When was the last time you connected with your people?
• Is there a relationship that you've ignored that you should tend to?
• What's your next chance to connect with someone?

---------

Special offer!

As a loyal LinkedIn newsletter subscriber, we have a?special offer just for you!

Put leadership development palm of your people's hands and help them become the leaders they were meant to be.?

Leadership development is often?expensive,?time-consuming, and?ineffective. We have created a mobile app that leverages?psychology?and?data analytics?to create?data-driven learning?that is?individualized,?habit-forming,?and delivered?day by day.

Will an app change everything by itself?

Of course not, but we've built it into a leadership development system and will help you implement that system.

3 steps to secure your free book and learn how to grow your leaders

1. Schedule a time on our calendar in the next 30 days?here .?
2. Invest 30 minutes to discover how the Leadership Lab Learning Platform delivers?leadership development with real ROI.
3. Learn about our exclusive?free certification offer?($10,000 value) when you purchase one-year subscriptions for 20+ leaders.

As a thank you for your time, we will send you an autographed hardcover copy of our WSJ bestselling book,?The 5-Week Leadership Challenge: 35 Action Steps to Become the Leader You Were Meant to Be. (Free book offer available in the continental U.S. only).

Schedule your time today. ?Slots are limited!

Make it a great day! Patrick