Leaders are busy. Every stakeholder is tugging at them for their time, commitment and energy. It is tough leading a business. There are a lot of demands on your time both inside and outside the organization. In my work as a executive coach, I find the most effective leaders are ones that are able to balance these demands, set boundaries and commit to make time for themselves.
I was working with a fairly young CEO of a business who was doing a financial turnaround. The pace was relentless. Customers were complaining and leaving, staff was unhappy, competition was eating them up. Needless to say my client had a lot of sleepless nights. He was exhausted due to burning the midnight oil on both ends.
As we worked together, we looked at his calendar. Not surprisingly it was filled with meetings with clients, vendors, staff from 7 a.m. into the late evenings. Something had to give and he knew it. One of his development areas was for him was to set boundaries and commit to spending time for himself to think, strategize and plan how he and his team would turn the business around.
Here is what he did.
He committed to spending 3 hours one day a week outside the office, away from the phones and distractions to relax and spend time planning, thinking and strategizing what needed to be done. The leader committed to do so by putting this dedicated time in his day timer every week. We helped him organize his time, prioritize his schedule, determine what were the most important issues to address himself or delegate. The time he spent outside the office was nonnegotiable. It was important and his assistant would not disturb him unless it was an emergency at home or at work.
After a few weeks of this, you could tell the leader had a different pace to his step. He was energized, focused and happier with himself and his team. In fact, over the next 9 months the company went from losing millions of dollars a month to returning to profitability.
Leaders need to do things for themselves to help them be more effective at work. Take the time and commit to it. It can be as simple as putting time in your day timer and making it nonnegotiable. Don’t budge! By doing so you will begin to see profound changes in you as a leader.
What are your nonnegotiables?