Where Should You Spend Your Time As A Leader?

Teaser

As leaders, we face competing demands for our time and attention.  It can be easy to be swept into the daily river of phone calls, meetings, problems, and small-talk.  At the end of the day you look back and say, “What did I accomplish?” And sometimes at the end of the month, quarter, or year, you look back and say the same.  Leaders have an additional question they must ask themselves and that is “What did my team accomplish” for those same time periods.  This post is not meant to tell you specifically what you should be working on, but rather when you should be working.  There will be countless articles in the future focusing on the what, but for now let’s focus on time and more specifically, how far into the future you should be living.  Your ability to live in the future is a critical skill to organizational success. 

The Impact of Promotions On Your Focus Areas

First, a step back in time.  How did you get here?  Your title is the outcome of hard work, perseverance, experience, maybe a degree, and a track record of success.  Almost all of us started out as individual contributors at a lower level.  You got promoted because you were the best worker on the manufacturing line.  You were the most efficient and accurate accountant on your team.  You worked the same job for the past 20 years and are considered the OG expert by your peers.  The point is, we get promoted based on what we used to be good at.  That does not necessarily translate into success at the next level.  I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “promoted to the level of incompetence” and this just indicates that oftentimes people are promoted because they were good at what they did in the past, but aren’t suited or prepared for the job they were promoted to.

So you get that promotion and you find yourself doing the same stuff you used to do with a couple of new responsibilities thrown in.  You have a few direct reports.  You’re responsible for some KPIs.  You own a handful of meetings.  But pretty much, you’re out there every day trying to do your old job with a new title and pay level.  Sound familiar?  If it does, you’re not alone.  I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we all do this to some degree (no matter how much we said we hated that stuff before!!).  There are a lot of reasons for this, but I’m going to suggest that it’s because we were ill-prepared either due to our own misconceptions of the role, or by a lack of a clear training plan and expectations, or a combination of these and other factors.  So let’s take a step towards being a little more prepared for that new job.

Your previous experiences should never be discounted and you should never let those old skills get too rusty.  I started out as a temporary employee working on the floor and years later, I still find those skills and lessons valuable even though much of my job now is higher level strategy.  Depending on your industry, those old skills can also translate to street cred with your team and get people to do things a little more willingly since you’ve literally been in their shoes.  But, you can’t let those old skills continue to dominate what you do now that you’ve been promoted.  There are many new skills that you need to learn and different areas for you to focus on.  So let’s get into the heart of this article which is the “when” component of your job.

Considering Your Organization Structure

Depending on your organization, you’ll have varying levels of tiers.  I’m fortunate to work in a pretty flat organization, despite its size.  There are only four levels between the person who makes the product and the owner of the company.  If you’re working in Corporate America, that number might be quite a bit higher.  If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you’re a little bit flatter.  But it doesn’t take away the principle of the lesson.  Business owners should be familiar with the phrase, “You need to be spending time working on the business, not just in the business.”  The same is true with whatever job you have.  I’m going to use the example of a manufacturing plant, but this can be modified to fit your business and I’d love to hear your specific situation in the comments.  

Let’s say your manufacturing plant consists of:

• Line worker

• Team Lead

• Shift Supervisor

• Managers/Superintendents with supervisors reporting to them

• Site Manager/Director

Where should all of these people be spending all of their time is really answered in terms of a point in time.  Let me explain.  

Where (When) to Focus Your Time by Position

Line Workers

The manufacturing line worker is focused on the present and very near future.  Depending on the setting, they may be making the same widget for 8-12 hours.  Or maybe there are machines that need to be changed over and set up, meaning that they are transitioning between two or more jobs in a day.  They need to be focused on their hourly checks, documentation, and preparing for the next order(s).  Their attention is focused in the near term.  

Team Leads

The lead probably has some additional responsibilities but is most likely still tied to the manufacturing line or very engaged in the process.  Their vision should be stretching into the next shift.  Which things could cause issues?  What things need to be prepared?  What needs to be communicated to the oncoming shift?  They are tending to those small fires that pop up throughout the shift and are providing their expertise to their team so that the supervisor doesn’t get bogged down in the minutia.  

Shift Supervisors

So because the line worker and the lead focus their attention in the here, now, and very near future, the supervisor should be looking slightly further out.  For many of us, this was the first promotion that we really struggled with.  There are a million reasons for this that we will cover in future posts, but one problem is that you are spending too much time on the here and now and very little time in the future.  Supervisors have responsibility for lots of things that force them to live in the future for at least some of their time.  Overtime, vacations, training, projects, all require you to plan ahead or face the consequences.  This means that depending on your organization, supervisors should be spending maybe 5% of their time living six months into the future, 5% of their time living three months into the future, 5-10% of their time living one month into the future, 10-15% of their time on next week, 10-15% of their time on the next 24-48 hours, and the rest of the time can be spent in the now.  If you add up those percentages that means that on the low side a supervisor should spend 35% of their time in the future and on the high side a supervisor should spend 50% of their time in the future.  Wow!

Manager/Superintendent (Direct reports are supervisors)

The manager or superintendent also spends a significant portion of their time in the future with some overlap in focus with their direct reports.  As the manager or superintendent, you probably have responsibility to your business unit or department at the local level.  There may or may not be a corporate head for the same department, but for where you work every day, you are the top person in maintenance, production, quality, IT, etc.  You should be privy to more confidential and/or strategic information about the business objectives.  Knowing this information is critical to your success, so make sure you have access to the right resources.  

The manager should be spending 1-5% of their time focused on three to five years out, 5% of their time one year into the future, 5-10% of their time looking out 6 months, 10-15% of their time on next month, 10-15% of their time on next week, and the rest can be focused on the nearer term.  If you’re only looking out 24 hours on your calendar, you’re setting yourself and your team up for failure.  

What types of things should you be thinking about?

• 3 to 5 Years: This is really going to vary depending on the department and industry, but you should consider things like new capabilities, growth targets, physical expansions, future open positions, your own personal career ambitions, succession planning.  For example, if you work in a rapid growth company you should be considering what talent needs to be developed in order to support this growth.  Preparing someone to fill your role or another key role is not something that can be done in a week.  It takes careful planning over months and years.

• 1 Year: Mostly overlaps the 3 to 5 year vision, but your one year outlook should be much more concrete.  You’re looking at how to make sure the actions you take today serve the reality of one year from now.  For example, in one year we will add a new capability.  What will that mean for training?  How many people will it take to run the new operation?  What legal or regulatory considerations are involved?  What sort of documentation needs to be generated?  Who will do the work to prepare?  Who will be responsible for the new capability? 

• Six Months: You are focused not only on the strategic aspects of the business, but you’re also considering other important events.  When and how does certain training have to be completed?  When is the Town Hall?  Is there a trade show I need to plan for?  When am I taking vacation and how does that affect our operation?  You should also be seriously considering whether or not you are on track to hit your goals.  The higher you move up, the more quickly time will pass.  Someday you will reach the end of January and say to yourself, “the coming year is already gone.”  That is a function of how important your planning is.  By the time the clock starts, all you are doing is executing and adjusting the plan.  If you don’t have a plan, you’ll end up right back where you started in a year from now.

• One Month: You’re really focused on the bite size objectives towards hitting your goals that you’ve been planning for based on living in the more distant future.  What needs to be done this month in order to serve my quarterly goal?  What key initiatives are starting this month?  Am I prepared for upcoming changes in workloads? Are other departments aware of things that could impact them? Don’t forget to take a look at your calendar and work out any conflicts. 

• One Week:  You should have a fairly clear picture of what is coming up.  Double-check that your calendar is up to date.  Consider what coaching you will be providing in your weekly one-on-one meeting with your direct reports.  Communicate the plan for the upcoming week to your team.  What are the key events and milestones?  Any important changes?  Remember, your team is spending their time in the future too, but your vision doesn’t always overlap.  While the supervisor is ensuring that they have the proper staffing for next week, you need to be ensuring that the plan and everyone’s roles are well understood.  If the supervisor doesn’t know about the special project on Wednesday, you will both be frustrated when next Wednesday rolls around and your priorities are misaligned due to lack of communication.

Site Manager/Director

As a site manager or director with multiple department managers reporting to you, you have a lot on your plate.  At this point, a lack of future planning is a one way ticket to frustration and potential failure.  It’s critical that you understand the long-term vision of the site and the organization as a whole.  Without that information, you can’t create a plan, without a plan you can’t make goals, and without goals you can’t implement strategies and track progress.  

The manager should be spending 5% of their time focused on three to five years out, 10% of their time one year into the future, 10% of their time looking out 6 months, 10-15% of their time on next month, 10-15% of their time on next week, and the rest can be focused on the nearer term. 

Notice the time horizon is identical to the managers and superintendents, but just spending a little more time on each.  Likewise, what you’re considering for those time periods is also almost identical.  The difference for you, however, is you are focused on harmony.  Is my vision aligned with the company’s vision and are those visions aligned and supported by my team?  What do I see as potential conflicts?  Where do we have competing demands?  Where are there opportunities for synergies and where do we need to identify a top priority?  This probably has you thinking about how to get your team to play nicely.  More about aligning your team's goals in a future post.  

Your days will likely be made up of many meetings; some of your choosing and some you wish you could go without.  However, you cannot lose sight of your most important responsibility:  PEOPLE.  It’s true, the higher you go, the less you do.  As managers, we should do less (not zero) individual contributions and we should focus on developing relationships and skill sets with our people.  And that’s not just your direct reports.  Use your title to influence all levels.  Never underestimate the power of a director giving specific praise to a line worker and make sure you plan to spend some time doing this.   With this remaining time, also remember that what you say is important is only words, but where you spend your time will send a clear message to your team on the true priorities.  With all of the small fires that are constantly burning, you need to choose carefully which ones will attend to and which you will allow to burn a little longer.  

Closing Thoughts

Why is it important to spend so much time living in the future? 

The punchline is that we don’t get what we deserve, we get what we plan.  I can’t over-emphasize the importance of a plan or a strategy (see future posts).  If you aren’t spending any time in the future, things will just happen to you versus you determining what happens.  Sun Tzu’s famous book “The Art of War” discusses the idea of imposing your will on your enemy.  The Marine Corps teaches its warfighters  the same principle when defining “war.”  As you try to impose your will on the enemy, they will likewise attempt to impose their will back onto you.  The relationship is dynamic and changing, which means we must be ready to adapt as leaders.  A failure to prepare adequately will most likely result in some type of failed mission.  Fortunately for most of us we aren’t preparing to go to war.  The enemy isn’t a combatant, but rather a challenge of some type.  The challenge might be maintaining an aggressive manufacturing schedule, creating or updating training programs, preparing for a new capability or process, or any number of other strategic challenges that must be carefully thought of and planned for.   Nevertheless, these tasks are formidable enemies and they will beat you into performance issues, or long hours, or some other circumstance that you don’t want to be in.  

A Word on Organizing Your Time

One question you might have while reading this article is, how should I organize a given day?  If I’m supposed to spend 10% of my time working on one year out, does that mean I spend an hour every single day on that?  I think it depends on your situation and type of work.  In some roles and jobs, yes, that might make sense.  For example, should a supervisor always spend 10-15% of their time on the next 24-48 hours?  Absolutely!!  Your business will probably not run well without their foresight and planning.  Should a manager be spending a half hour a day on looking three to five years in the future?  Probably not.  Although that framework should always be in the back of your mind helping to guide your decisions and observations, spending 30 minutes that far into the future won’t be productive.  You’re better off spending a couple of hours on it once a week.  Or a few hours every other week.  That strategy allows you to get more fully immersed in the appropriate information so that you can effectively time travel and examine your future self and the state of the business.  Can’t imagine how you would ever find two or three hours to yourself?  That’s a great segway into a future article on the art of Time Blocking.

Actions To Take Today

• Assess where you are spending your time

• Evaluate any information or access issues that prevent you from being able to see into the future

• Create a simple list of priorities and put those into buckets based on how far in advance you should be planning

• Sign up to become a member and drop your comments in the comments section.  I’d love to get your feedback and hear your questions!  Remember, our site is unique because our learning is enhanced through the mutual support network of all of our contributors and members.  So, keep your comments constructive and positive!