I am coaching a young executive who is relatively new to leadership. As with many new executives (and some seasoned ones, for that matter), he is struggling with several things—time management, dealing with multiple projects at the same time, prioritization, team communication, etc.
Here’s how a recent conversation went:
“I’m having trouble working on my main priority each day. I go to the office with the intention of working specifically on that, knowing I need to spend two to four hours each day making some type of progress.
“But when I get there, I’m faced with several things that seem urgent and require my attention. I say to myself, ‘I’ll just get these pressing things done, and then I’ll focus on my work.’ The next thing I know, it’s 2 p.m. and I haven’t made any progress. Then, as soon as I start working on my priority, I get another call. Before you know it, I’m late for dinner with my family, it’s past time for me to leave the office and I haven’t done anything on my list—especially my top priority.
“Every day feels like Groundhog Day.”
He talked about the herculean effort he put in last month when he had a major deadline—he spent 15-plus hours a day making progress on this one big thing. But everything else suffered—other parts of his job, his family, exercise, his spiritual life, etc. He accomplished what he needed to do, and it felt good. But it also was exhausting, and his success came at a great cost to himself and others.
I call this the battle of intensity vs consistency.
Many businesspeople operate with a “deadline” mentality. When they have a deadline, they are productive—and at times super productive. They get important specific things done, but they neglect other things, both in and out of their offices. There are, after all, only so many hours in each day.
An effective (and less exhausted) executive is one who can perform consistently. He or she can manage multiple projects and priorities at the same time with steady, consistent effort.
I’ve said many times, successful people don’t have less “swarm” or busywork in their lives; they often have more than less-successful people, but they just manage it better. They get things done by focusing on results and outcomes and on making progress. Advancing the ball. It’s not something you’ll master, but it’s something you consistently work toward in order to get better and work smarter not harder.
Only You Can Fix Your Problems
In previous sessions with the young executive, I’d offered him suggestions on how to prioritize his work hours. This time, I said, “You must figure this out.” He needed to take ownership of this.
In emotional intelligence terms, it was time for him to be self-aware of his weaknesses and to self-regulate in order to be more productive and proactive.
By the end of our coaching session, he had come up with a strategy to take back control of his day. He would rely upon the accountability I provide as his coach and email me his top three priorities for the day. At the end of the day, he’d email me again with his progress on these top priorities. For more involved projects or goals, he’d email me his priorities for the week. And we’d assess his progress at the end of the week.
Here’s the thing: Success and progress are made day-to-day. Slow and steady does win the race! How you spend each day determines whether or not you’ll be the leader you know you can be. Occasional super-human intensity might result in short-term successes, but consistency is key to lasting, long-term success.