Leaders Need More Time

One commonality that connects us with everyone from the past, present and future...24 hours in a day. We all have been given that precious commodity. What we do with it is the critical question! How we spend it continues to be the daily challenge for all of us. But for another group, the question is even more serious... Leaders, those who have been entrusted with helping others navigate in business and life for a successful journey, know how to squeeze productivity out of an otherwise ordinary day. Granted, distractions are always the potential. Those who lead others know that given the opportunity to derail is not an option. If leadership truly is influence, then who else and how many would that careless decision impact. As a leader myself, I've found that a particular area of distraction has been administration. And, this particular area cannot be ignored - because of it's importance and also it's consuming responsibility. Surrounding yourself with the capability of others to release them in arenas that need them and other arenas that need you is a sign of healthy leadership. Here's my suggestion: Leaders need more time...to spend for the very reason they are called leaders. Three specific areas come to mind:

READING
One of the all-time great resources we have available to us is books. I'm a fan because my life is positively different with these collections apart of me. Reading inspires, illuminates, critiques, expands us. For those who do not enjoy reading, I can relate. As a matter of fact, I despised it, until the Holy Spirit dealt with me. I now enjoy it and am challenged to read more. I am convinced that to be a better leader, time must be carved out for reading. When leaders stop learning, they stop leading. Leaders are lead-learners!

REFLECTING
Times to stare off in the distance, to take a blank piece of paper on a note pad and begin to write, to walk and think, to sit in solitude...are essential to planning for the next step and preparing to lead people better. Some of my most creative bursts have been when I had the time to process it out, whether it was driving down the road alone in quietness or sipping on a cup of coffee with a note pad in my lap. Maybe for you, it's one of the first exercises of your day, during the lunch hour or a couple of hours in the afternoon that you block off. Whatever time you reserve, make sure you schedule it into your calendar and make time for it regularly. Nothing takes the place of reserved moments to think.

RELATING
There is a secret to finding friends: it's being friendly, showing yourself to be an available friend. One of the most significant elements to effective leadership is people skills. And, being out and about, visible to the community, connecting with business owners, power-brokers, and just simply the neighborhoods makes for a good use of relationships. Tommy Barnett calls it enlarging our circle of love. And, not to forget those we already lead - getting to know them over lunch or coffee, going to where they work and live. All of this takes time...out from behind the desk and office. Good leaders are never loners. It's not meant to be lonely at the top. Leaders take others with them through sincere relationships.

Reading, reflecting, relating...engagements that will require time away. This is the real activity behind strong, strategic, forward-thinking, healthy leadership. Leader, start the year off right and schedule these essential ingredients in your day and week.