Not enough time for leadership?

Everyone in the room agrees. People are more important than process. Our people are our top priority…

We value our people above all else.

Great! We then spend the next hour talking about how we can inspire, empower and guide our people to success. After all, we succeed when they succeed. The organization is only as successful as the people in it.

Then––the inevitable objection.

“But it takes time.”

Yes. It does.

It takes time to mentor and develop rising leaders. It takes time to assimilate new hires to your organization culture. 

It takes time to resolve interpersonal or interdepartmental conflicts. 

It takes time to get to know the people you serve and understand their personal motivations, needs, desires and goals.

How important are these things? If you’re like most of the people in our workshops, you’ll tell me you can’t lead effectively unless you’re doing them.

But––it takes time.

You probably have specific time carved into your calendar for scheduling, answering email, meetings and other important management tasks. Why is it that so many leaders simply fail to carve out time for essential leadership functions?

“Management is about things. Leadership is about people.” ~Admiral Grace Hopper

The admiral is right––and both are important. With admitted bias, leadership is more important. And for the simple fact that no “things” get done without your people.

You’re a manager. You’ve got to handle the process. You’ve got to manage systems, schedules, equipment, planning etc., etc.

You’re also a leader.

You’ve got to dedicate time to working with your people, getting to know them and finding ways to inspire, empower and guide them. You’ve got to build a productive team––of people. You’ve got to transform “me” into “we.”

Again, this takes time. But more important and more useful to this discussion––it takes “discipline.”

First, discipline is simply the development and practice of meaningful and purposeful habits.

Identify essential leadership functions, tasks and actions. Just as with your strategic planning, look at the horizon and beyond. Understand what you need to do now and look toward the future so you commit some time to developing your people to face tomorrow’s challenges and seize tomorrow’s opportunities.

Let’s use one specific example. At every event I ask how important mentoring is to individual and organization success. Over the past 10 years I can only think of two, maybe three people who did not say it’s at least “very important.” Most say it’s absolutely essential.

However, when I ask how many people are actively working with a mentor right now, the response is typically 20 to 30% of the room. The same when I ask how many are actively mentoring someone else.

Predictably, the obstacle is usually time. Now we can talk about any number of activities that people might consider a waste of time. Meetings in some form usually tops that list. Yet meetings are scheduled, meetings are carved into the calendar and meetings are attended. You could say meetings are “habits.” Attending scheduled meetings is a discipline.

Why not treat mentoring with the same sense of discipline? When time is tight, make sure the frequency and duration of mentoring sessions is reasonable. It could be a weekly session, monthly, even quarterly––but make sure it’s carved in and that you honor this commitment. Make it a discipline.

Take any leadership activity and treat it the same way.

Make a list of the top 3 leadership functions or actions you need to perform on a regular basis. Do this right now––it should only take a minute or two. Make it 4 because I’m going to give you one…

Your own personal and professional development.

This is the biggest area most leaders tell me they put aside when they face a time crunch. You can’t allow this one to slip off your schedule. If you’re not learning and growing as a leader, you’ll soon be no use to the people you serve. And––you can’t ask other people to train, learn and grow if you’re not leading by example.

Anyway, carve that in. Then pick 3 more.

Once you have your list, set aside a few minutes to identify specific action steps and carve this into your calendar. Make them disciplines.

Once in a while something will come up. Fine. Just don’t use that as an excuse. If you need to miss a mentoring session immediately reschedule it. If you miss a professional development class or seminar, book another one right away. And don’t make missing these things a habit.

Discipline is simple. Remember the famous quote: “Just do it!”

It’s not easy. You will face challenges. You will be pulled off course. Just get back to it. In martial arts we say…

“Knocked down seven times––get up eight.”

You are a leader. The most effective leaders lead by example. They model the behavior they expect from others. 

Keep your expectations high. Your example will inspire the people you serve. And you will lead your people to their very best. 

Ultimately, we all have the same amount of time. Your success and the success of the people you lead has nothing to do with how much time you have. It has to do with how you choose to use the time you have.