11 Jun How ‘I Don’t Have Time’ Is Hurting Your Culture
It’s a universal truth: Time is our most important currency.
It doesn’t matter your industry, your job title or your experience, we could all use more time, and the 24 hours in a day are valuable to all of us.
But as a leader, how we choose to use and give that time can often give insights into how our team is performing and why.
Here’s a look at how leaders make decisions about where to spend their valuable time, and the impact those decisions can have on an organization:
‘That’s Below Me’
There’s a phenomenon that happens among leaders in business, and we’ve seen it time and again.
Somewhere, as a leader goes through their career, they learn that people-related drama, issues or problems are below them. That means when these things arise or slowly creep in, they see them as something that doesn’t deserve their time or as an unnecessary distraction to their important work.
Unfortunately, this is an approach that isn’t just unproductive, it can be harmful to your company and exacerbate existing culture problems.
Often, these leaders haven’t had the right training along the way. They see a people issue and say, “I don’t have time to deal with that,” instead of tackling the problem as leaders should.
Consider the Message You’re Sending
Instead of tackling a people problem head-on with authority, a leader kicks the can to a direct report because it isn’t important enough to warrant their time. What message does that send to the team?
At Talent Suite, we challenge leaders to think about the signals they’re sending to their employees through the decisions they make.
In any functional organization, the people of the company marry strategy to results. If your leaders are making it clear that they don’t have time for those people, why would they expect those people to execute for them?
Too often, leaders get caught up in managing processes rather than managing people. While they claim they “don’t have time” to solve people problems, they find themselves spending time on lower level functions, not delegating enough and not earmarking time on the calendar to allow them to be responsive to their people.
From drops in performance to a lack of clarity, a leader’s people will always need their time and attention to continue performing. If they don’t have that attention, they find themselves drifting aimlessly, lacking feedback, direction and trust and ultimately leave the organization
We encourage leaders to audit their time and identify how much of it is being spent on processes and tasks versus how much is being spent on people development. It might be a surprising revelation.
Every Business Problem is a People Problem
Whether you’re reading LinkedIn posts or sitting in a seminar, it’s easy to notice that “culture” is a big buzzword right now.
So many leaders love to talk about maintaining company culture, building a unique company culture or prioritizing their company culture. But while they say that out loud, they’re often making decisions that are counterproductive to the very company culture they claim to be building.
And most of the time, they have no idea.
That’s why, at Talent Suite, our leadership development programs seek to build on the whole leader, helping them understand themselves and others, inspire people to reach their full potential and champion collaborative and cooperative work.
Our “learn-use-repeat” approach helps your leaders retain information at a higher rate and then use that tangible information to change their daily interactions and even the trajectory of their careers. This isn’t just listening for two hours and then never using it again — we transfer valuable information to our clients in a short, actionable format that creates scalable, sustainable change.
You might be shocked by how much a company culture can change when leader development becomes a priority.
Curious about how your organization could benefit from this kind of development?
Reach out to book a 30-minute introductory call with us today to learn more.