Talk to just about anyone in Corporate America today and they’ll tell you that their team is spread pretty thin, many people still doing the work of two following downsizing, and most struggling to meet the ever-increasing demand of “do more in less time.” People are stressed and stretched.
It is the Age of Peanut Butter. And like with peanut butter, the more pressure you put on individuals to spread their time and efforts across a bigger slice of the workload, the thinner and thinner the coverage (and their patience, and their engagement, and their loyalty) will be.
Leading in this environment is challenging because we get caught up in “checking the boxes” and focusing on the management side of our role versus applying those key leadership skills that help keep employees engaged – coaching, inspiring, developing. There’s just no time. We’re just too busy. There are too many boxes still to check. And yet, at what cost do we keep spreading ourselves and others thinner and thinner?
Stop for a minute and think about this. Are you spending most of your time telling your team what needs to be done rather than asking them how things could be done better? Is your door closed more often than open these days? Have you stopped scheduling one-on-one meetings because you kept having to cancel them? If you want to keep your employees on board and engaged it’s time to get back into leadership mode.
Here’s an exercise for you. Put a picture in your head of the best leader you ever had. What were the characteristics of that leader that made them so great? Now visualize the worst leader you ever had. What were the characteristics that made you dislike them?
Now think about how you are leading today. Which of your two past leaders are you most like?
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
Till next time,
Karen
