Where do you really spend your time?

The No BS Marketing Show affords me the opportunity to hear from successful leaders from all walks of life. My company, MASSolutions, provides me and my team the chance to help clients achieve their goals.

These and other experiences have taught me that all leaders, including myself, need to spend more time leading and less time administering. 

We call it our Activity + Accountability Agreement Program which focuses on Five Key Areas of Focus for Leaders:

n Planning — Managing Strategy. This one is neglected when we are pulled into situations to help solve the supposed crisis of the day.

n Leading — Managing Your Team. How much time do you really spend on motivating each direct report? Your entire team? How well are you communicating with peers?

n Organizing — Managing Processes. Developing “the How” for yourself and each of your direct reports leads to processes for each major activity. Productivity and satisfaction — employee and customer — goes up.

n Development — Managing Self. It’s about personal and professional growth and unfortunately too many of us put this off. We rationalize that we are too busy to invest in our own development.

n Administering — Managing Resources. Ah, here’s where the majority of time is often spent even if most leaders don’t want to admit it. Budget management, vendor management, internal meetings, office politics, HR stuff.

Track your time for a week. You’ll be surprised and probably disappointed at what you learn. But it’s an opportunity to grow as a leader.

When we are at our best, we focus the majority of our time on leading and planning while reducing our time administering and managing. Developing and communicating processes enables leaders and their teams to focus on the bigger picture more.

Communication is an essential part of each component. Clearly articulate your message every step of the way.

And commit to investing time for personal and professional growth. We owe it to ourselves and our teams.