How to Lead When You Don’t Have The Time

Yes, it’s possible to be a leader and not have enough time to lead. Many leaders wish they could spend more time leading their teams, but they often find themselves swamped with work and have little time to focus on leadership responsibilities.

Imagine Kofi, a first-time leader who was promoted due to his exceptional performance as an individual contributor. Kofi is passionate about his work and aims to achieve his targets while leading his team effectively. However, he finds himself dedicating most of his time to his individual tasks to ensure he meets his goals without tarnishing his reputation. Unfortunately, Kofi is not alone in facing this challenge of balancing leadership responsibilities with personal tasks.

Even seasoned leaders can struggle to find the time to fulfill their leadership duties.

Imagine the situation with Efua, a top-notch Managing Director. Sadly, amidst the increasingly challenging business environment, Efua finds herself losing her grip on leadership amidst the chaos.

Efua’s schedule is jam-packed. From meeting stakeholders to project deliveries and ensuring the company’s financial health to cover all obligations, including staff salaries, she’s stretched thin.

Efua hasn’t found the time to share this year’s plan or lead her team in reflecting on lessons from the past year and ways to improve. She’s also missed out on checking in with her direct reports to learn about the progress of ongoing initiatives. Unfortunately, she’s not alone in this struggle; heads of departments throughout the firm are too caught up in their busy schedules to conduct performance reviews with their staff, despite reminders from HR.

Limited time for leadership can have devastating effects on both leaders and the organization. When leaders don’t make time for reflection on their own performance and that of their team, accountability can suffer. Over time, this can lead to a lack of accountability among team members, which can negatively impact overall performance and morale.
When this happens, they even dig in,
continue to work harder and implement more surveillance systems.

Leaders Burn Out When They Don’t make time to Lead:

Working excessively and increasing surveillance can lead leaders to burn out, become frustrated, lose focus, and experience a sharp decline in their leadership abilities. Research has shown that these unfortunate developments can also negatively impact family life.
All the above can lead to a crisis that requires leaders to take time off work to recover.

How can leaders avoid getting stuck in this tricky situation? I outlined some simple steps they can take to beat the clock and guide themselves and their teams to victory.

Clarify what it means to lead:

Making sure leaders understand what their role entails is key to ensuring they prioritize their leadership responsibilities. In my sessions with leaders, if there’s any uncertainty about their duties, we make it a point to clarify what it truly means to lead and manage.
Leaders lead people and manage tasks, they get the job done through other people.

Before anything else, leaders need to communicate the team’s goals, define what outstanding performance looks like, delegate tasks, provide training and support for team members to succeed, evaluate performance, and offer constructive feedback to foster growth.

Engaging team members with respect and trust is crucial for building meaningful relationships that drive sustainable performance. Without this leadership approach, many leaders focus solely on managing tasks, neglecting the vital aspect of connecting with their team. Leaders should prioritize leading over managing to effectively win the hearts and minds of their people.

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Remind Yourself of The Benefits of Making Time to Lead The Team:

Opting for the quicker route of completing tasks yourself might seem appealing, but it’s not a sustainable approach for leaders. Making time to lead requires leaders to understand the benefits of shifting their focus towards the people they lead. Successful leaders prioritize actions that benefit the organization in the long run.

Spending time on conversations that delve into the motivations and aspirations of team members might appear unproductive initially. However, leaders who grasp the advantages of this approach recognize it as a way to inspire outstanding performance that traditional methods cannot achieve. When leaders show genuine care for their team members, they cultivate a stronger commitment that leads to exceptional effort and results.

Schedule Important Leadership Engagements, Start Small and Create Routines:

Understanding the role of leaders and their purpose is crucial, but it’s just the beginning. What truly matters is what leaders prioritize in their schedule. Therefore, leaders must allocate time for leadership activities.

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Even if a leader has been absent from leadership responsibilities due to a busy schedule, they can start small to change that. Scheduling just thirty minutes for a performance conversation with a team member is a small yet significant step towards effective leadership.

Waiting for a whole day to have performance conversations with team members might never happen. Instead, create a routine to share the company’s aspirations and update the team on significant developments.

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to generate enthusiasm about the future of the business, even if it seems uncertain. Every moment presents an opportunity to lead, regardless of how busy you are.

Being intentional about leadership enables leaders to concentrate on guiding their teams to success rather than doing everything themselves. Start with small steps and establish routines that suit you best. You might not be perfect, but you’ll be making progress.