A leader’s most important goal and most important action, in my opinion, is to maximize her free time, her discretionary time. That’s right. To increase the time in her day that has no obligations on it, except what she puts there herself.
What Distinguishes Leaders
Maximizing her discretionary time and choosing what to put into that time – the actions, the thinking, the drilling down into causes and cures, the setting of strategies to effect cure – is what distinguishes a leader from everyone else. It’s what can distinguish you from everyone else.
The Ability To Do The Hard Work
Here’s another way to express it: what divides leaders from everyone else is what I call “doing the hard work”. It’s thinking. That’s right – thinking. That’s the “hard work”. Thinking about making advances and making change. Thinking of, then writing down plans that are truly workable and implementable, whose results are easy to measure. Plans that practically make the team get up and ask for a kick-off meeting so they can get to work. That’s a leader.
Who Will Give You The Time?
No one. No one’s going to give you the time to formulate plans like those. You take the time, literally wrest it from the hands of those who want your time. You carve it out, make more of it, maximize it. The company and shareholders are paying you to make time to think. That is what a leader does.
Do you wish your leaders would do more of that? Do you look forward to doing it more and more as you become a stronger leader? Please “comment” and share.
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