Time management: mastering an overlooked leadership skill

The nature of time in leadership

Time is elusive. Sometimes, it really feels like days go by in the blink of an eye, especially in business. We come into the office on Monday morning and we put our heads down, churning through our daily tasks, attending meetings when we have to, getting things done… and then, all of a sudden, it’s Friday evening and you’re getting ready to head out for the weekend.

For many of us, this is the norm. In a leadership position, you have so much responsibility on your shoulders and so much to juggle all at once that it sometimes feels as if you barely have time to stop and think. And in the midst of all that chaos, you might not even realize that you haven’t taken a moment in the week to connect with your direct reports, see how they’re feeling, what they’re doing, how you can support them. You might have even expressed to people that you don’t have time to answer their questions just yet, and that you would get back to them later. And then that compounds and adds on to all the stress and pressure in your position, only making it worse.

The remedy – not what you might think

Does this sound like you? Even just a little bit? If so, I want you to take a step back and breathe. I want you to consider an alternative perspective that will help you stop working in this cycle where you constantly feel behind, lacking in time, and unable to do anything outside of your tasks.

Let’s start with the fundamentals. Your people measure your effectiveness based on your willingness and availability to help them do their job to the best of their ability. It depends on the industry and the size of your business, but you are often measured on your performance based primarily on the results that your team produces, given that you are responsible for leading that team.

This creates a lot of pressure from the get-go, and if you’re new to leadership, it can be overwhelming. It can cause us to get caught up in our own minds and so occupied with our own tasks that in the moment, we lose sight of the most important part of what we do – our people. And when our people become an afterthought, we lose time, and we get stuck in the cycle described above.

The best thing that you can do to create time for yourself is to make time for your people on a consistent basis. Yes, no matter what your schedule looks like or how busy you will be, set aside time to check in with your people, and make it a habit. If you hold yourself accountable to it for long enough, you will not only start to see the results in how your team performs, but how much time you have. So, you need to invest time to get time back. Let me explain exactly what to do, and how this works.

The habit that unlocks your time

What you need to do with this time you’re investing is set up regular 1-on-1s with your direct reports. Set a consistent, repeatable agenda that you will go through with each person based on your assessment of what you and the team needs. It might include things like:

Tell me some good news in your life, both personally professionally

What’s going well? Where do you think we can improve?

What roadblocks are you encountering in your day-to-day tasks?

Share your last 10% – what’s on your mind that might be hard to address?

These 1-on-1s will help you get a constant pulse on what the people on your team need the most from you, and together, they provide an excellent guide for you to tailor your approach and take appropriate action. Depending on the size of your team, you might meet with anywhere between one and three team members per week for 30 minutes to 1 hour each.

You might be thinking – this is just adding more meetings on top of my already packed schedule. But I promise you this is the best way you can possibly spend your time, because it’s going to create openings elsewhere in your schedule.  When you go out of your way to listen to and support your team members, you will find that you can move from a reactive mindset to a proactive one.

You can reduce the amount of “stuff” that you personally need to get involved in or deal with by adequately equipping your team members with what they need to succeed based on what they tell you. And by getting a pulse on what your people’s workload looks like on a weekly basis, you can delegate work more effectively, share the load, and prevent bottlenecks before they even occur. This proactive approach saves you time in the long run because you won’t be constantly putting out fires or stepping in at the last minute to solve problems. Your team will feel more empowered, supported, and capable of handling issues on their own because they have you in their corner giving them what they need.

Additionally, these regular one-on-ones help build trust and rapport between you and your team. When your direct reports feel heard and understood, they are more likely to be open and honest about their challenges, which leads to more effective problem-solving. This can prevent small issues from turning into larger ones that take up more of your time. If you apply this consistently, you’ll notice that your team becomes more self-sufficient, and you’ll have the mental space to focus on higher-level strategic tasks that are often neglected in the rush of daily responsibilities.

The bottom line

Investing time in your people isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a time management strategy that pays off massively. The time you put into consistent, meaningful conversations with your team will ultimately create more space for you to focus on what matters most. And as a leader, that’s how you ensure not only your own success, but the success of everyone around you.

JOE KIEDINGER

ACTION PLAN: Create a steady cadence of 1-on-1 meetings with your direct reports, set a consistent agenda, and hold yourself accountable to it.