Time is our most precious resource. People are our most important asset.<\/em><\/p>\n

Have we heard, maybe even made, these statements a few times? We all believe they are true, don\u2019t we? If not, we might as well reveal that we really don\u2019t value motherhood and that we hate apple pie. Baseball and hot dogs \u2013 no thanks. Like that\u2019s ever going to happen!<\/p>\n

Our people and our time matter – a lot. By inference, the way people in our organization spend their time should matter to us as well. So, how attuned are you<\/em> to the matter? Like so many other issues, this one affects you in two ways…the impact on you as an individual<\/em> and the impact on the organization<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Urgent\u2026or Important?<\/h3>\n

This is a basic question about productivity\u2026and it applies at two different levels. The first is each individual\u2019s habits. When the rubber meets the road, we all decide how we will use our time. One of the biggest mistakes individuals make (including leaders) is to confuse what is important<\/em> with what is urgent<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Instead of taking control of our priorities, we relinquish control to current conditions. Whatever is hot at the moment is allowed to occupy our mind and our time. It is critical<\/strong> for a leader to discern the urgent and the important as a good model for the organization.<\/p>\n

Leadership Behaviors that Lead to Low Productivity<\/h3>\n

Leaders also play a significant role in shaping an environment that is either conducive to helping others separate (or not) the urgent and important. Truth be told, we don\u2019t always make the best decisions.<\/p>\n

Here are some common behaviors a leader exhibits that feed confusion. The result? Low levels of productivity\u2026not because the individual decided to poorly discern, but because the organization essentially gave him or her no choice.<\/p>\n

\n
1. Failure to establish values<\/strong>. Values help us make decisions that require judgment. Policies and procedures are important, but they should not be expected to provide guidance in all situations. Values can.<\/li>\n
2. Failure to set clear priorities.<\/strong> When we don\u2019t articulate critical areas of focus for the organization, each employee gets to decide. Their perspectives and interests are diverse, which will drive how they spend their time\u2026diversely. What is important to them individually may not be what is important for the organization.<\/li>\n
3. Allowing fire drills to become the norm.<\/strong> The agenda changes. Issues surface. Leaders will create fire drills. We get that. Agility of an organization is a critical determinant of performance. But an ever-changing agenda cannot be the norm.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   When Agility Crosses Over\u2026<\/h3>\n

   There\u2019s a point where requested agility crosses over to an unnecessary level of disruption. At a minimum, leaders need to make sure they are not driving an unnecessary level of disruption by the fire drills we create. We also must protect our teams from the inevitable distractions from the environment.<\/p>\n

   You can probably think of other pitfalls. Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that the organization is focused and that employees are protected against distractions that force them into an unproductive state. Easier said than done. Just like leadership.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

   *Image Courtesy of\u00a0stockimages\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   Time is our most precious resource. People are our most important asset. Have we heard, maybe even made, these statements a few times? We all believe they are true, don\u2019t we? If not, we might as well reveal that we really don\u2019t value motherhood and that we hate apple pie. Baseball and hot dogs \u2013 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,7],"tags":[204,205,40,206,197],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1168"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1173,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168\/revisions\/1173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}