Chris, thank you for your post and reflections on a busy life! I agree with you that as leaders we can very easily get caught up in the busyness of the day as there are so many demands on our time. However, you asked a very good question that I believe we all have to ask ourselves often in order to re-align our priorities:
Reflecting on this story gives the opportunity to consider the difference between proactive and reactive behaviour when it comes to the demands of life and busyness. Am I proactively choosing to create boundaries and margin in my life? Am I reacting to every situation around me in a way that makes my life busier? (Vacher, 2019)
George Ambler (2013) described some ways that, in fact, make us less effective as leaders when we are busy. He says that busyness is fake and unnecessary work; work that does not create results. Though busyness makes us feel important, it only makes us expend energy to produce good, not great work. However, I think two of his greatest points include the fact that:
- Busyness keeps you reacting rather than responding and initiating, and
- Busyness robs you of the capacity needed to reflect and to think deeply about important issues and decisions of the day (Ambler, 2013).
In your post you asked the question about if you were being proactive to set direction for your life and leadership, or simply reactive to the daily situations that arise? This is a very key question to ask. If we are to be transformational servant leaders who conceptualize and impart a clear, shared vision by empowering followers and being a social architect to effect change, we must have a very clear focus on how we are to do that (Northouse, 2019, pg. 178). Working with people and creating an environment of change, though on the surface looks like relating well with people every day in the moment (being generally perceived as a nice person) is actually an act of intentionality and purpose. We must have a clear focus for where we are going, a plan for how we are going to engage people in that process, and use our time very intentionally towards that goal every day. For a busy leader, this often may mean carving out a few moments of time at the beginning of each day to set the intentions for the day and refocus on the goal. Then, when things come up during the day, you can ask yourself how it fits into the overall vision you are trying to achieve.
How do we create time for that reflection and setting intentionality? This brings me to the second point that busyness “robs you of the capacity needed to reflect and to think deeply” (Ambler, 2013). In order to really keep our eyes on the goal, and to solve problems effectively, we really need time and space in order to do so. I wrote about the importance of solitude for this very reason in response to JGarland’s post. I think it is vitally important as leaders that we guard our time, and intentionally create space in our busy lives to have time to deeply reflect and consider and allow the creative process to occur in our minds. This act of solitude and intentionality towards a goal will help keep us grounded as leaders, and will enable us to do not only good work, but great work.
What are some of your strategies for setting your intentionality each day in order to be proactive instead of reactive? Where are you at in this journey of guarding your time?
References:
Ambler, G. (2013, April 20). Busy is Killing Leadership. [web log comment]. Retrieved from: https://www.georgeambler.com/busy-is-killing-leadership/
Northouse, P. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Vacher, C. (2018, November 17). Light from Many Lamps – James Gordon Gilkey – Unit 8. [web log comment]. Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/chrisvacher/2018/11/17/257/.