We all know folks that pride themselves on how busy they are…but aren’t we all busy? In fact at times, it seems our culture breeds and idolizes work-aholics. Honestly, There is no correlation between how busy one is and how productive they are. Busy and productive aren’t the same. The most productive people really seem to have more discretionary time than the average person, not less….strange huh?
It’s the 80/20 rule… 20% of our efforts result in 80% of our effectiveness–so it is imperative that we discover that 20%. And once discovered; we must focus more of our time and energy on those activities. Simply stated….therein lies the key to your maximum impact as a leader.
For me… 80% of my most productive professional efforts seem to flow from three broad categories:
1. Visioncasting or visioneering…strategic direction
2. 3Cs: Communication/Collaboration/Creative Thinking (can that count as one?)
The goal is to focus 80% on the three things that only you can do and delegate the rest.
Andy Stanley says…the primary reason we do too much is that we have never taken the time to discover the portion of what we do that makes the biggest difference. A leader must take time for personal evaluation. Here are a couple of questions that may help:
A: What do you do that seems almost effortless to you but others view as a daunting task?
B: What do you enjoy most about your current job?
C: What do you do that elicits the most praise and recognition from others?
D: What do you wish you could delegate?
Of course there are times when we must pitch in and do things outside our core competencies, but they should be chosen carefully, and should be the exception, not the rule. As we move closer to the ideal, we become more and more valuable to our organization. As we narrow our focus, we will broaden the opportunities for those who have chosen to follow….
Mastermind Century Group 