Time Management is a Leadership Competency

Curator's Notes: Again, another article on time management.  Do you think people turn a deaf ear to the topic/skill of time management?  It's one of the most searched key words on Google, yet many people lack even the most basic skills surrounding it.  I say it should be a part of every employee orientation or a required training for every employee.

Of particular note are leaders who do not possess this skill, as their ripple effect usually has much greater consequences.  So, let's just put forward this premise -- time management is a leadership and management competency. Read on...

3 Biggest Things Hurting Your Productivity

There's one thing every leader needs to have to be great: time management. Struggling? Take a look at what may be hurting your leadership.

In my years of coaching founders, owners, and executives, I've found that one key skill is the doorway to just about everything else. Get this one thing right, and everything else follows. Screw it up, and you'll face an uphill battle all the way.

What is this magic skill? In a simpler age, it was calledtime management. A while back, the terminology changed to productivity management.

Now, in the 24/7 information era, I prefer to call it environment control-- the ability to manage the swirling, chaotic, constant flow of information, decisions and tasks that surround every leader.

Why is this seemingly mechanistic skill so important in the development of leaders? The answer is simple, but hiding in plain sight: I've found that most would-be leaders have the mental, emotional, and physical resources necessary to develop whatever skill or attribute is asked of them.

Whether developing as a leader requires you to work on the art of delegation, or more courageous risk-taking, or becoming more innovative (your mileage will vary), chances are you are quite capable of developing that skill. If you have the time and space to do it.

And there's the kicker: you probably don't have the time and space to do it. You start with good intentions, but the sheer pressure of other commitments and the constant inflow of new demands, new information, prevent you from taking a disciplined, structured approach to building the new skill you need.

Net result, six months later, little has changed. You're still not delegating enough, not thinking strategically enough, not innovating enough. Taking a firm grip on the environment around you--getting to the point where you can control how and where you spend your limited resources--involves radically upending how you approach three key areas of your life:

1. Your Calendar.

If you regularly slough off meetings because you're overbooked, end the day embarrassed because you failed to show for conference calls you were expected on, or spend your time scurrying from one late-running meeting to the next, you're not going to develop as a leader. You'll simply stay on the same hamster-wheel, trapped in a groundhog day of your own making. No excuse: Great leaders have the exact same 24 hours a day that you do. They just manage them better.

2. Your Commitments.

When was the last time you made an inventory of all the outstanding commitments you've made to others? Or even just noted down the commitments you casually added in one day?  Stuck leaders fail to realize that we can't keep making commitments, large and small, without at some point overloading our ability to deliver on those commitments. If you've reached the point where others can't trust you to do what you say you'll do, you have a systemic problem--one that will fatally stall your ability to grow as a leader.

3. Your Communications.

Got 400 unread emails in your inbox? Looking at a reading pile the size of a small library? Do outstanding reports and presentations start yelling for attention every time you open your laptop?

If so, your ability to lead is being compromised--severely compromised--by the pressure to manage.

I wish I had a magician's ability to make the problem of environment control go away overnight. I don't. But I do know that until you fix it, you'll never be the leader you want to be. 

There is a solution, but requires hard work (sadly, not a popular concept in much of today's leadership literature). Grab one of the many great resources on environment control, and invest the time needed to install systems and processes that will give you mastery over your calendar, commitments and communications. 

Personally, I highly recommend David Allen's classic guide, Getting Things Done (full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine, but I admired and benefited from his book long before we met), but there are many others out there.  The issue is not a shortage of resources. The issue is your commitment.

Are you prepared to invest time to learn the only leadership skill you may ever need?

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3 Additional Recommendations: 

1. Consider some time management coaching - I'm happy to help you with that: em: joann@joanncorley.com

2. My release: Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy -  Kindle - The Book - Nook - Audio Book -  The Seminar

3. Make sure you offer a time management seminar at minimum once a year for your organization or professional group - click to learn more

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Source link: http://www.inc.com/les-mckeown/3-things-hurting-your-ability-to-be-productive.html
Les McKeown is the author of the bestseller "Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization on the Growth Track--and Keeping It There" and is the CEO of Predictable Success, a leading adviser on accelerated organizational growth. His latest book is "The Synergist: How to Lead Your Team to Predictable Success." @lesmckeown

The 1 Goal Method For Effective Time Management

A simple time management tip: Use the practice of goal setting in a targeted way...

Time management insight: Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors - creating new habits, not changing time. 

A great idea to do just that is use the practice of goal setting...but not "setting goals" per sae, but setting 1 goal at a time by the week.

So, as an example, if you want to address the issue of "time-wasters", rather trying to address them all at once, just choose one element of it.  For this example, let's use personal phone calls. For one week set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls while you're working; or on certain days or times of the day (notice how that is broken down even more into a day or segment of a day.)

Now in order for this to be most effective, track your progress - daily. In fact have something visual you can use, which is what I consider a coaching prompt. 

Your mindset in using this approach is knowing that if you reduce something a bit over time,  it can make a huge difference. Our mantra? A little bit done consistently goes along way!

Did you know having a time management workshop brought to your company can actually save your company money? - Curious how?...click here

Need a time management tune-up?  Then you'll want to pick up this fabulous resource:  Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy - here's the format's:  Kindle - The Book - Nook - Audio Book -  The Seminar  :  See a review: Review #1

2 Must Have Time Management Skills

Are you efficient  & effective?....there is a difference...

Are you in the habit of getting things done and getting the right things done at the right time? One of the marks of an effective professional is exactly that:  the ability to get things done at the right time and in an efficient way - eh hem...meeting deadlines.

Several years ago, USA Today surveyed several freshman senators and house members to find out what piece of advice they would give incoming colleagues.  Interestingly, over half of those whose advice was noted addressed the issue of time management and scheduling.

In working with time management, here are two important elements to consider – efficient and effective. 

 In fact…

1. You can be efficient and not necessarily be effective.

2. Effective is getting the right things done at the right time.  For example, you can get a lot done in a week and still have critical activity fall through the cracks.

3. Being effective means one has to take the time to PLAN and determine what’s most important what’s critical or ABSOLUTE.

The conclusion?...they are equally important. So, an important professional success strategy is to be known as someone who gets things done and being efficient at doing so.

If you need help in either of these areas, then you'll want to pick up the title Organizational Strategies for the Overwhelmed - how to manage your time, space, & priorities, to work smart, get results & be happy -  Kindle - The Book - Nook - Audio Book -  The Seminar

Other  relevant readings on Kindle & Nook: 
Declutter Your Life From The Inside Out
Your Life Through the Lens of Time - The Interview