
In my corporate world I found I had to take time out to give myself space to think about what was really important and where my Focus should be. I enjoyed talking to my team to understand their thoughts and opinions and these conversations could then feed into my own thoughts and decision process.
But, I needed time blocked in my calendar to think and have free headspace. Not necessarily a lot but enough to consider different perspectives, approaches and longer term impact of decisions. Initially it could feel strange sitting doing nothing but thinking, knowing everyone else was busy. Before long it became a valued approach to engaging and empowering my team to move things forward. It resulted in high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction underpinning strong commercial results
It strikes me, working with clients, that it's very easy to get caught up in ‘busy’ moving from one meeting to the next without personal space, or even a break, to just think about what's important.
Many reading this will also know all about busy schedules and where to focus and how to get from A to B quickly and effectively. But when everything is busy and the pressure is on quick and flawless delivery, there can be a tendency to stick with what you know.
So, what could some time out to think give you?
Time to consider the overview. Where are your key touch points of impact?
What information and actions would increase the involvement, engagement of your team?
What are you currently doing that it doesn’t specifically need you to do?
Who are the people who can take on more responsibility? What would they need for you to be able to delegate effectively?
Are you ready to ‘let go’ of some control and let others step up, bring their own energy and pick up the responsibility?
Gamification? Competition? What could you do to introduce an element of FUN?
I’m sure if you give yourself time, your list could go on…
So, who would have thought doing nothing could be so productive?!
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