Leadership is not just about taking charge and making decisions. It’s also about creating a positive work environment where employees feel valued and appreciated. One way to do that is by expressing gratitude. Read More…
Today’s walk along the road was achieved by careful timing and watching the clouds to avoid the rain. I found myself wondering about a conversation I had last week about the language we use in work situations relating to how busy we all are.
I caught myself saying that I had ‘back to back meetings all day’ not sure if I was looking for admiration or pity.
The fact that I could feel the uncomfortableness of the fact, combined with an annoyance with myself for getting into this situation collided and I adopted a resigned to accept it outlook.
With the time to reflect today – I wonder how often I willingly allow myself to get into the too busy being busy mode.
The day goes so quickly – for sure ! Some around may marvel at my revolving office door and the constant foot fall ….
When I reflect on what I achieved during my day of meetings it is clear little or any of it could truly be called ‘deep work’ – in contrast to what is described as ‘shallow work’ – those non-productive meetings, constant interruptions and non-stop emails ‘just for information’ which force us to ‘multi-task’ which we know reduced productivity by 40%!
Just imagine if you could increase your meaningful and impactful work by 40% just by making the space to focus on the activities that actually matter.
If you can identify with my week – This useful audit of your time is worth doing. Honestly ask yourself the following questions
1 - How much of your time is spent running the day to-day versus shaping the future? 2 - How much of your time is spent reacting to what others in the organization bring to you, rather than driving the top team’s agenda? 3 - How often do your strategic discussions lead you to make hard choices about your company’s future? 4 - How much time do you spend reviewing actions after the fact versus proactively shaping actions and a direction? 5 - How often do you spend time debating who is responsible for solving an issue rather than addressing it? 6 - How often do you and other members of the leadership team work together on issues?
Ok - time to go before the rain starts again and I have a lot to do !
