Hack:
Getting Beyond Busy. Radical measures - when being too busy is killing leadership
Being “too busy” can’t be fixed by better time management, by just taking a break or by learning meditation. It can’t be resolved by working harder or longer. Questioning, “should I stay or should I go” is often a red herring.
Bright people have tried lots of strategies to manage work and life better. Answers won’t be found in a quick-fix bag of tricks. Getting beyond busy requires a more fundamental and radical reassessment of direction and purpose. Leaders have to challenge the wider culture of work.
http://www.coachingmentoring.co.nz/resources/articles/293-beyond-busy-lo...
The whirling, chaotic, hiccupping, whizzing, backtracking, stop-starting days.
High stimulus, constantly “on”.
Distracted, pulled here and there.
Building up over time, year in and year out.
Burdens and deadlines. Straining and pulling.
No time to think... No time to feel...
Just the next task...
Get it done... get it done now.
This is urgent!
Reaching for the phone for one last call.
Work to do at home, long into the night.
People have too much to do. Busy is killing leadership. Most professionals cannot hand on heart, imagine continuing working this way for much longer. Something has to give.
Leaving to go to a new organisation is often an attempt to escape an untenable scenario, a hoped for better situation where it will be easier to rise above the torrent. A fantasy indeed. The serial leadership pattern hides the costs and preserves the appearance of coping. Look more closely. Coping (let alone thriving) is often a temporary experience. This is not just executive exhaustion or burnout. It is more widespread than that. Work/life balance is a near impossibility. Work productivity strategies have little relevance for most. Few people are talking about it publically, only admitting the challenges to spouses, therapists or good friends.
Six bold pathways are presented:
These pathways have helped countless people set the compass to create a life beyond busy. There will never be a right time to start. The opportunity is now.
1.Tell the truth about our ways of working
2.Create a courageous “pause”
3.Get some fight back
4.Discover your purpose
5.Craft new paths
6. Persevere
Six bold pathways are presented:
These pathways have helped countless people set the compass to create a life beyond busy. There will never be a right time to start. The opportunity is now.
1.Tell the truth about our ways of working
2.Create a courageous “pause”
3.Get some fight back
4.Discover your purpose
5.Craft new paths
6. Persevere
Loretta,
I can only agree about how much it is important for executives to be able to step back and set compass.
This is a key driver of personal efficiency and development.
We are trying to open access to such benefits to a very different population we can call " field managers".
That is to say shop floor operators or sales forces who have been promoted to management positions without much preparation for overload and every other bells and whistles of their new role.
The discovery of the roots and levers for very operational time management is the backbone of the talent development we target and work on. While as you say, basic tricks are not a sufficient step.
Changes in very classical and structured organization are lagging by a couple of years compare to many more interactive areas.
Accurate picture of reality is definitely the eye-opening exercise for lucky winners of the "too short super slim manager costume".
Collective time and collective intelligence is another door we open not only to them but tho their leaders....the one you are helping.
It is a complete eco-system.
You are on the right spot : leaders need to shift to keep leveraging the entire work forces and wider resources galaxy.
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Yes, 1, 2, 3 are essential, thank you for sharing your beautiful eBook. I like this:
"Test out new things, following your nose. Speak when you don’t know what you are
going to say, and be amazed what comes out of your mouth. You may have no
patience for idle chatter and everyday banter about busy things. You want the real
talking to start, the magic moments when people really open up and share
themselves. Track down things that light you up. Connect with people who are less
busy and more alive."
It happens like magic indeed when people connect and can afford to drop defenses. When we listen deeply, and understand, we augment each other's intelligence. It works in the same room and across continents, by sight and sound alone (Skype or other video tool).
For 4, 5, 6, I see parallels in Making Money is Killing Your Business by Chuck Blakeman.
4. Discover your purpose - The Big Why
5. Craft new paths - Simple Processes
6. Persevere - Staying On Track and Avoiding “Average”
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