What Can You Take Off Your Plate?

Last night three friends and I were trying to schedule a night to grab dinner. We’ve been friends for 15 years and we try to get together every couple of months or so. But it seems like every year, we triple the number of texts and calls it takes to land on a date when everyone is free. When we were all young working mothers, we thought we’d have MORE time as our kids grew up and went off to college and careers; that clearly hasn’t happened.

I’m sure you’ve heard yourself saying time and time again, “I am too busy to [fill in the blank with the activity you keep putting off]. Randy Walton actually addresses this increasingly familiar lament in his video, Having Enough Time, with a refreshingly candid perspective and key steps for taking back our day.

“What we’re really saying—and I think it’s important to acknowledge it—is that I have something else that I believe is more important,” explains Randy. “’I don’t have time’ sounds like somehow I’m a victim of something that I can’t change or control. When I say I believe there are other things that are more important, I’m really taking control back in my life, and maybe for a season of my life right now work [as an example] is more important than some other things.”

We hear from people in the Leadercast community every day about the overwhelming demands placed on their time. And while intentional leadership is more important than ever when you’ve got more on your plate, many organizations are finding it difficult to fit in traditional training to help their people get there. That’s one reason why Leadercast Now was created – to help busy leaders get real leadership insights with key action steps, all in five minutes or less.

As Julie Bauke comments in her video, Leading with Consistency, “Leaders need to realize that everything they say and do is always being watched and potentially scrutinized.” Julie puts this challenge under the heading of Ethical Leadership. In business, ethics are the values and principles that an organization uses to guide business practices and actions. Importantly, ethical behavior reveals a person’s integrity even when nobody’s watching.

“We live in a world of diversity, which means that ethical business practices can vary widely,” adds former Leadercast CEO Keith Wilmot. “We can’t expect all the people in an organization to come in with the same beliefs. That’s why organizations must clearly define those values and practices and constantly communicate and model them. It’s also the first step in understanding the type of people who will be successful in your organization.”

According to the Leadercast ebook, Leadership Principles:

"A contrast in beliefs does not exempt leaders from operating with moral and ethical values. And while it might sound counter-intuitive, experts recommend that leaders use caution when relying on their own personal assumptions of what is right or wrong when making business decisions."

Why? Think about the people you work with and all the different ways in which they were raised; the different places they’ve lived; the experiences they’ve had. It’s no wonder that a person’s own standards may not always align with the organization for which they work. Organizational principles should enable people at all levels to act responsibly and with integrity, respect and reliability, in any given situation, on a consistent basis.

When your organization establishes its values and behaviors and communicates them clearly to everyone (including clients!), people feel confident working toward common goals. Having this level of trust in each other helps increase collaboration, productivity and client satisfaction.

So if you make time for just one {more} thing this week, check out Randy’s Having Enough Time, or Julie’s Leading with Consistency, and let their insights help you carve out more time and embrace the kind of leadership that matters.

Once you take the non-essentials off of your plate, you might even find time to have dinner with friends.