Many of you will have heard the old time management example in which a cup is filled with large stones and the audience is asked if the cup is full, to which they of course reply it is. The presenter then pulls out some smaller stones and shows that they can fit more in, This is inevitably followed by successive demonstrations of the addition of more sand and water. The moral of the story is that, in the gaps between the big important things on your schedule, it is often possible to slip in multiple smaller tasks and in so doing get a lot more from a day. However this also opens the door to one of the most common leadership mistakes, namely the vicious spiral many leaders get sucked into in which the urgent takes over the important on an ongoing basis. simply put if there is too much sand in the cup you ain't gonna get the stones in.
This spiral leads to goals that are unmet or have slipped past their deadline. It causes a lack of focus for the organization as people begin to question what the real priorities are for the Association. And ultimately, as the syndrome spreads to the volunteers in the organisation, the success of the organization is held back and doesn’t perform, because volunteers, imitating the leadership, are so focused on putting out fires (writing this weeks programme) and not preparing for the future (getting all the kids to Leaping Wolf/Springbok) because the future is so unclear.
So what are the important things a leader should be focused on? And when the urgent hits you in the face, which it does to us all, how can you deal with it so you can quickly get back to the important items, which will make the difference between your organisation surviving and thriving?
The Important
The leader's ultimate job is to move their organization forward towards the organisations long-term vision. So the important things to an organisation are those activities, decisions, meetings, volunteers, and external influences that will impact the organisation in getting to their long -term vision.
And we all know the urgent, a volunteer crisis, a problem with the programme for this week, a parent/scouter/scout not meeting their commitments, a scout requiring quick feedback on a advancement project, and the list goes on and on.
If you look at people who are very effective at managing the important versus the urgent, what you will find is three things that made them effective:
This spiral leads to goals that are unmet or have slipped past their deadline. It causes a lack of focus for the organization as people begin to question what the real priorities are for the Association. And ultimately, as the syndrome spreads to the volunteers in the organisation, the success of the organization is held back and doesn’t perform, because volunteers, imitating the leadership, are so focused on putting out fires (writing this weeks programme) and not preparing for the future (getting all the kids to Leaping Wolf/Springbok) because the future is so unclear.
So what are the important things a leader should be focused on? And when the urgent hits you in the face, which it does to us all, how can you deal with it so you can quickly get back to the important items, which will make the difference between your organisation surviving and thriving?
The Important
The leader's ultimate job is to move their organization forward towards the organisations long-term vision. So the important things to an organisation are those activities, decisions, meetings, volunteers, and external influences that will impact the organisation in getting to their long -term vision.
And we all know the urgent, a volunteer crisis, a problem with the programme for this week, a parent/scouter/scout not meeting their commitments, a scout requiring quick feedback on a advancement project, and the list goes on and on.
If you look at people who are very effective at managing the important versus the urgent, what you will find is three things that made them effective:
- delegation,
- time management
- and emotional intelligence (the ability to be calm and not over react).
Effectively delegating urgent issues requires that you can trust that the person you are delegating it to, can get the job done on the required timeline and has the necessary skills to deliver the necessary quality in the job. If you find yourself consistently taking on specific urgent issues, for example financial issues, then this probably means you either don't have the right person managing the groups finances or you need to develop the person so that you can offload more finance issues. Or, it may be that you have trouble letting go of control. It this is the case, ask yourself "How will I be able to grow the Association if I continue to fear letting go of the comfortable and non-risky tasks?"
Time Management is the next critical skill to stay out of the trap of being stuck in the urgent.. The point of "big rocks" is that if you keep tackling the small things, the sand and pebbles, and not the important strategic items, then your pot will be full of sand and pebbles with no way of inserting a big rock. The urgent really aren't the rocks; they are like pebbles, which get caught in a bicycle's gears, which can derail an organisation. As a leader your time should first be focused on the big rocks, and when the pebbles pop up and try to derail you spend time to reprioritize so that you can get quickly back on track to address your big rocks.
And finally, having the skill to manage your emotions in times of the urgent is critical to leadership success. Many leaders forget that they are "on stage". The people you lead are always looking to you for emotional and behavioural cues. So when something or someone becomes that pebble, you need to kick up your level of emotional intelligence. Step back and think before you react.
Time Management is the next critical skill to stay out of the trap of being stuck in the urgent.. The point of "big rocks" is that if you keep tackling the small things, the sand and pebbles, and not the important strategic items, then your pot will be full of sand and pebbles with no way of inserting a big rock. The urgent really aren't the rocks; they are like pebbles, which get caught in a bicycle's gears, which can derail an organisation. As a leader your time should first be focused on the big rocks, and when the pebbles pop up and try to derail you spend time to reprioritize so that you can get quickly back on track to address your big rocks.
And finally, having the skill to manage your emotions in times of the urgent is critical to leadership success. Many leaders forget that they are "on stage". The people you lead are always looking to you for emotional and behavioural cues. So when something or someone becomes that pebble, you need to kick up your level of emotional intelligence. Step back and think before you react.
So if you are tired of spending all your time fighting fires and not focusing on the future, take the tips from leaders who have been able to free themselves of the vicious cycle: delegate, manage your time and your emotions.
My thanks to Beth Miller of Executive Velocity for inspiring this Blog.
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