Let’s Think About Thinking

“I haven’t had the time to think about it.“

What a relatable, and regrettable, thing! As a leader myself, I often find myself caught in what our CEO Heather Haas poignantly calls “the tyranny of the urgent”: the pressing, focus-stealing tasks that pile up in our day to day. These are tasks that feel urgent and important to us, likely because they’re important to somebody else. They’re usually “quick” things that are easiest for us to do because we’re the experts, we’re the authority, or we’re both.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to lose entire days to these things, doling out 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there only to find that it’s 5:15 pm and I haven’t taken even one minute to work on anything strategic. All because I didn’t pause long enough to ask, “Am I really the one who should be doing this? And does it need to be now?”

There’s also an emotional attachment to these tasks, at least for me. I like to be able to knock out things quickly, and provide value to the people I lead by helping them out. It’s energizing to work in the space where I’m an expert and to see quick results from my labors. It’s like being on the dance floor at a wedding: it’s fun to be a part of the action, do-si-doing with friends and loved ones, and feeding off of the energy of the other dancers. It can be hard to leave the fun of the dance floor, but as leaders, it behooves us to climb the stairs to the balcony.

Get above things for a clearer view.

From the balcony, you can see the whole ballroom! You notice patterns: there’s a conga line forming there, there’s a dance battle happening in the southwest corner, there’s a really long line at the drink counter on the far side of the dance floor but almost no one is in the line closer to the door. These are all things you couldn’t see while you were doing the electric slide.

And what do you do from the balcony? You think!

You observe the patterns you see, you notice problems or inefficiencies, you brainstorm solutions, you cast vision. With the tyranny of the urgent constantly pulling us toward the dancefloor, it is critical to do the work as a leader to ensure that you’ve got carefully-protected balcony time.

A key driver of organizational success is activation from above.

We know that a key driver of organizational success is activation from above, which means leaders being tuned into the needs of the whole business—and its culture—and leading it from a strategic, holistic place.

Leading like this, though, takes time and space.

6 questions we ask in our Leadership Academy

Because this is such a common pain point for high-level leaders everywhere, we structured an activity in our Leadership Academy to help participants get started on carving out that time. Here are a few of the questions we ask them—and ones every leader should ask themselves. If you’re so inclined, grab a pen and a notebook and journal along!

Under what conditions do I do my best thinking?

Think about the last time you had a great brainstorm day. Was it the early morning or around lunchtime? Was there music playing? Were there people around? Did you brainstorm with a group, or was it just you and a whiteboard? Write down the conditions you experienced, and why they helped you think.

How often do these conditions align for me?

This is an illuminating one! Do you find yourself in the space you described once a day? Once a week? Once a month? Once a quarter? Compare the reality to what you believe you need to actually work on the bigger, more strategic items on your plate. Most leaders find a big gap here.

What barriers exist to these conditions aligning?

Here’s where you get to explore all of the things that pull you toward the dance floor. This is where you get to notice patterns: do you find yourself giving more time to a team member you particularly like? Do you find yourself doing something that better fits a member of your team just because you’ve always done it, and part of you thinks it’s fun? Do you lack control of your own calendar, and find that your days are scheduled for you?

What would be true if these barriers didn’t exist?

Here’s where you get to dream a little! List the big projects and initiatives on your plate currently. If you’d had ample time over the last, say, six months, what would be accomplished by now? If you had the right time and space over the next six months, what could be accomplished by then? There’s one major rule to this step: you aren’t allowed to say it’s impossible to remove those barriers. You have to try to imagine.

What’s one barrier I could impact to get you closer to my ideal thinking conditions?

Pick one of the reddest, sorest thumbs of the things you listed for the previous questions. Many leaders in our recent session mentioned regaining control over their calendars. One mentioned a specific employee whose need for reassurance and checkpoints was taking hours from this leader’s week—he identified that he was going to redouble coaching efforts to support this employee’s sense of self-sufficiency, since he already had the knowledge and skill to do the work. What is the one thing, for you, that will get you the time you need?

What’s holding me back from taking action now?

Be honest with yourself, and be kind to yourself.

The next session after we discussed strategic thinking, one participant named that he’d successfully blocked time on his calendar for him to work on an important initiative he owned. He said the hardest part was closing his door—he’d always prided himself on an open-door policy. When asked what went wrong when his door was closed, he smiled and said, “nothing. The team stepped up—and they were glad to see me taking some time to focus.”

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Activation from above is 1 of the 5 drivers of cultural competitive advantage.

To learn about all 5 drivers, check out our eBook here. And be sure to take our free, 5-minute Navigator survey to get a snapshot of how your organization is doing today.