I’m not asking you to tell me how “successfully busy” you are. Quite the opposite, I’m asking you whether there’s time in your diary for you to develop and nurture really powerful leadership impact.
Diary management is one of the most useful tools for making time and space that will support any kind of development, change or habit creating practices. Because it is through blocking deliberate time in your diary for reflection and later for practicing and measuring the things we put in place to optimise your impact, that you’re going to be able to sustain new habits.
Last week we talked about two essential parts of the Planning stage to optimising impact: reflecting on your why and thinking about the ripple effect of the changes you want to make and implement.
A third aspect of this planning stage is making it possible and for this you need a system. Your diary is a great basis for putting in place a sustainable system that is clear, precise and can be adjusted according to scope. Some people say creating a new habit will take 21 days, others a year or more, I don’t think there can be an exact timeframe set for the kind of leadership habits we want to build. What we do know is that they need to be fit in within a world of responsibilities, activity, work and life!
The importance of consistency
Being consistent is key. No matter how long it goes for, like building a muscle, creating a habit, the ability to do something as effortlessly as possible, takes repetition. There’s nothing worse in the building of leadership and trust than to suddenly act in a completely different way than you have been prophesying, basically losing it. This will have the completely opposite effect to the impact you would have built setting you back to the start or worse. That is why in developing these habits you not only think about how they will elevate and nurture your impact but how they will affect others around you. The opposite effect, not landing right, can be totally counterproductive.
Now, remember you already have impact, you have been thinking about what in your behaviour, your beliefs and values is already promoting the impact you want to have so focus on doing more of that to start.
Like with strengths, doing more of what is positively affecting our leadership impact is going to bring us further than focusing on the behaviours that are not serving us well. When planning, look out for the activities that improve your capacity for positive impact. Is it about connecting with people? Is it time to think strategically? Do you need time to re-energise to be at your best?
Why not be busy?
I believe, making time for the things we love, that we find energising, that we know work for us and make us do better, be better, feel better, takes away time from things that get in the way. If you plan enough of the positive activities, reflection time and purposeful practices, you won’t have time for anything else. It’s a win-win. You’ll still have a full day, but your ‘busyness’ will be creating a positive leadership impact.
Follow us on: LinkedInInstagramFacebook