The Top 4 Mistakes Busy Leaders Make
Mistake #1: Being penny wise and pound foolish.
Everything isn’t a crisis, even if you think it is. It’s destructive to allow urgencies to replace priorities.
Busyness is no excuse to take your eye off what’s important.
Some leaders NEED busyness to feel important but being busy isn’t necessarily productive. There’s always too much to do.
Busyness invites short-sightedness.
- Neglecting self-care like exercise, healthy diet, and sleep. Leave work when you still have energy.
- Minimizing self-development and postponing training.
- Cutting corners and taking shortcuts
- Justifying pushiness.
- Disregarding relationship building.
Time pressure lends itself to mistakes. The faster you go, the more mistakes you make.
Caveat: If the house is burning down, don’t worry about getting to bed on time. Put the fire out.
Tip: Establish non-negotiables that reflect what’s truly important.
Mistake #2: Beating yourself up when you screw up.
The toughest battles you face express the war within.
Beating yourself up doesn’t lift you up.
Beating yourself up isn’t moral superiority.
Tips:
Encourage yourself the same way you encourage your friends when they screw up.
- You experience emotions. You aren’t your emotions.
- You make mistakes. You aren’t your mistakes.
- You succeed. You aren’t your success.
Mistake #3: Doing it yourself.
The ‘best’ excuse for over-work is doing the work yourself.
The favorite saying of do-it-yourself leaders is, “It’s faster if I do it myself.”
Tips:
- Only do what only you can do.
- Learn to delegate. You expand your impact when you trust competent others to get things done.
#4. Giving voice to everything in your head.
Time pressure is an invitation to say something stupid.
Self-expression is not justification for…
- Backward-facing whining.
- Self-justifying defensiveness.
- Destructive criticism.
- Catastrophizing.
- Problem amplification.
Tip: open your mouth to make things better.
What mistakes do busy leaders make?
Still curious:
Why Smart Leaders Do Stupid Things
Solving The 12 Dumbest Things Leaders Do
I’m seeing a number of younger pastors quitting their pastorates or seeking sabbaticals. I wonder how much of #1 plays into this. The lack of self-care [does self-care sound selfish?], self-development, and relationships lay the groundwork for burnout. Add to that the temptation to the overwork of #3, as if all depends on the pastor, and the pastor is ripe for collapse. Thanks, Dan!
Thanks Pete. I appreciate your observation. The problem is, we can experience organizational success and neglect self-care at the same time. As time passes, we can think that neglecting self-care is necessary for success.
I am so aware of needing to make things better when I open my mouth. There is no penalty for staying silent; my father used to say “discretion is the better part of valor”
The first point about self care is so important. We stress it to our constituents all the time about the importance of sleep, vacations, taking breaks, and good work / home life balance. So often we as leaders are hypocritical on that point. I also think it is important while being present is so important as a successful leader knowing that the quality of time spent in the office or working environment is so much more then the amount of time.
#3 is the most prevalent mistake I see leaders make. They feel it’s a sign of strength to do so much on their own but it creates a weak team overall. Some people feel more secure holding the knowledge but it strengthens the entire organization if the knowledge is shared and everyone can perform at a high level.
#4 it is so important to be mindful of your responses and emotions when very busy and stressed.
It is so easy to voice negativity and frustration. This can plant seeds of negativity in the team and
It can cause you to lose credibility.
As my Mum says ‘Haste makes waste!’ …
#1 leave me reflecting.
Definitely value for me in boiling down the non-negotiables and the core values to guide prioritisation.
Thanks Dan!