Paid to think

At least one version of the truth is that leaders get paid to think. There’s only so much actual ‘doing’ involved in leading, the rest is about considering and weighing-up and deciding, holding conflicting thoughts and playing what-if sumo.

When the thinking is done, you’re left with communicating and managing the outcome of all the conclusions. But the thinking: that’s the baseline.

So when do you do that?

Between back-to-back meetings? In the shower or bed? On trains, planes and automobiles? Maybe it’s the annual strategy offsite or scheduled holes in your diary or just in those moments of clarity and brilliance?

All of the above?

Whatever your method, you need more time to think. Not to stare at clouds or cover more ground, but so you have enough bandwidth to treat every problem with the respect it deserves.

Skippy Strategy: Carve out time and space to think things through. On your own or in a group, the more you give to thinking today, the fewer problems you’ll have to deal with tomorrow.

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Category:
Leading