-
Management Time Versus Leadership Time
January 7, 2020
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
This article is the eighth installment of Lessons in Leadership. Our focus has been on developing our time management skills. The only way to become an effective leader is to master your time. Our time is our most valuable non-renewable resource. Once it's gone, it's gone for good. We can never get it back. The leader must be the best in the organization at time management because you set the tone for the rest of your team. You must guard your time with everything you have and use it wisely.
Back in the 1990s, my company used SRI / Gallup to screen potential salespeople. During my introduction to the company, I asked how they could tell if someone was going to "make it or not?"
The company representative, Jason Brown, told me they couldn't predict whether the salesperson was going to make it or not. He told me they could give me a reasonable expectation of how much management time the potential new hire might require. Well, that got my attention, so I asked for a further explanation. Jason advised me that I didn't want to hire people who required my management time because management time is time wasted on trying to manage people to do their jobs. He suggested my time is more productive in leadership time.
Management time is chasing down people to get their work done on time. Leadership time is teaching your people new skills and helping them solve problems.
Management time is putting out fires and correcting mistakes. Leadership time is for planning and implementing strategy for long term goals.
The concept of management time versus leadership time fits nicely into the Eisenhower Time Management Grid we discussed in an earlier column.
Leadership time fits squarely into Quadrant Two, Important but Not Urgent. Just look at the types of activities in each of the other quadrants. Focusing on your leadership time, your quadrant two time will help you make significant improvements in the other three quadrants.
Begin the process by becoming aware of which members of your team require your management time. Sit them down and discuss their need to take responsibility for doing their jobs correctly and on time. If they don't respond accordingly, you will need to make a new decision about their future in your company.
But this is your chance to use your leadership time. Ask the employee if their inability to get their job done correctly and on time is a won't-do problem or a can't-do problem. If it is a won't-do problem, then begin the discussion about their exit plan. However, if it is a can't-do problem, you owe that employee everything you have in leadership time. It is your responsibility to see they get the education and support they need to get their job done correctly and on time.
As you recruit new team members, develop questions that probe for examples of taking responsibility for completing routine tasks. Ask questions about the prospect's responsiveness to paperwork deadlines. Try to determine if the candidate is going to manage themselves instead of requiring you to manage them.
Best wishes. Talk to you soon.
-
-