Almost all leaders are busy and have a ton of responsibilities, and many feel that they don’t have ample time do All that that they want to do.
But the most effective leaders & people learn to become masters of their time and spend it making the “Right choices”. As we all only have the same 24 hours in a day, but how you choose to spend each moment of each day, determines your level of productivity and effectiveness.
So the question is not, will my calendar be full? But rather Who and what will fill my calendar?
We must determine how we will spend our 24 hours each day. And The key to being most effective is learning to Prioritize our time so that we get more production out of those hours. The reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first. Or third things. Or fourth things. Or spend too much of our time on things that altogether create no value or production.
Priority Principles
- Working Smarter has a Higher Return than Working Harder
While working HARD is a critical requirement for success – working Smarter is what opens the doors for innovation, increased productivity, and better outcomes and results. Doing the exact same things with greater intensity rarely works. As Einstein point out, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So how do you create better results? You have to RETHINK how you do something. You have to work smarter. That means finding better ways to work and making the most out of what you have. Disciplined use of the time that everybody else wastes can give you the edge….
2. You Can’t Have It All
95 percent of achieving anything is knowing what you want. If you want to be successful as a person and as a leader, you must make choices and define what you want. You must prioritize. You cannot always have it all. No one can….there must certain sacrifices that are made.
Example: Weight management or losing weight – If you say you want to be healthier and that you want to lose weight, but that you don’t want to sweat and get your hair wet, and that you don’t want to have to get up early in the morning, or that you don’t want to eat the same meal prep over and over, or in essence saying, you only want to do what you want to do and what is comfortable….but yet you want to lose weight…it won’t happen!
- The Good is Always the Enemy of the Best
-
- Good must sometimes be sacrificed for the best
- Proactive vs Reactive
Each person is either an initiator or a reactor when it comes to planning. In your role you are either proactive or reactive. Proactive means choosing. Reactive means losing. The question isn’t – Will you have things to do, but rather I do things that make a difference? To be an effective leader you must be proactive.
| Initiators | Reactors |
| Prepare | Repair |
| Plan ahead | Live in the moment |
| Pick up the phone and initiate contact | Wait for the phone to ring |
| Anticipate problems | React to problems |
| Seize the moment | Wait for the moment |
| Put their priorities in their calendars | Put others request in their calendars |
| Invest time in people | Spend time with people |
We must become intentional about being continuously proactive
- Important Needs to Take Precedence
Proactive Solution #1 – The Pareto Principle – aka the 80/20 rule
- 20 percent of your priorities will give you 80 percent of your production. IF you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20 percent of your priorities.
The place this principle impacts leaders most is in the people they lead. Employees do not impact an organization equally. The top 20 percent carry the greatest load and make the greatest difference. Unfortunately, the people who require the most time and attention are often those in the bottom 20 percent.
In contrast, the people at the top often demand the least from their leaders because they are motivated and self directed…but who should you be taking time to invest in? The top 20 percent…for the greatest ROI.
Determine which people are the top 20 percent when it comes to production
- Spend 80 percent of your time with the top 20 percent
- Spend 80 percent of your personal development dollars on the top 20 percent
- Help the top 20 percent determine what THEIR top 20 percent return is, and allow them to give 80 percent of their time to it
- Ask the top 20 percent to do on the job training for the next 20 percent
If there are 5 people on the team, the number one person is your top 20 percent. If there are 10 people on the team, then it’ll be the top 2. If you have 20 people then it’ll be your top 4 Your top 20 percent are the people that you should be investing in, giving resources to, and providing with leadership opportunities. They will make or break the team Evaluating our top 20 percent team members . Write the names of everyone on the team
Ask ourselves this question….if this person left the team or was on another team working against us…..
- Would make or break the team and it greatly impact our effectiveness
- Would negatively impact our effectiveness but it would not break the team
- Would not negatively affect the team and their transition might even improve it.
Every name should have a letter beside it
Now rank the importance of you’re A’s by writing 1, 2, 3
Then rate your B’s
Then rate your C’s
Identify the top 20 percent
List two to five ways you can add value to those top people and develop them.
Look at anyone who is a C and determine – if they need to be reassigned or placed on another team or different role to possibly be more effective…..and if not…then improve the team by transitioning them to another organization/opportunity.
