Time As a Business Partner

Leadership Mindset - Do You See Time as a Business Partner?
If you're not using it - you're losing it.

No matter what the corporate makeup of your organization  - for profit or not - the ability to be an effective steward of all resources is a critical competency for every leader and employee. Among those resources is time.

Have you ever considered time as a business partner? If not, you should.

Last e-coach we discussed ensuring you have a power hour and the benefits that can come from that. Well,  I made an assumption that anyone reading that e-coach was already a pretty effective time manager. And probably for many, you are.

However, if you are not... this is your coaching prompt because time is not only a key asset, the use of time determines your leadership effectiveness.

Here's how I see it: Time is...

• a coach
• a reality check
• a measurement
• a gauge
• a truth-teller
• a road-map

to name a few.

For example, in its basic form time is used in accounting - e.g. quarterly reports, monthly summaries..etc. It's used to determine how employees are paid - e.g. hourly...pretty basic stuff. It's so embedded in the standard operations of an enterprise (and our lives in general), I think we take it for granted.

So, the coaching question this week is how are you working with time as your partner? And, if you're leading leaders, how are they and their teams?

If want to improve how you use it. Here's a 3-step tip using the mantra - Plan it, Map it, Manage it

Working with a week at a glance:
1. Plan what you want/need to do (tied to vision & strategy of course, determined from your "power hour").
2. Plug it into your calendar. Beyond meetings, map out when and how long you'll work with needed activities.
3. Manage it - you might need to bump things around and re-prioritize as the week progresses.

These 3 activities - if done consistently - will significantly improve your outcomes because they incorporate key time management skills: time awareness, time estimation, and time navigation.

The Bonus:
Using a week at a glance - which I call a time map...
- documents your activity
- gives you a record to refer to when your memory fails you
- serves as a coach because it shows the reality of how you work, particularly how and why you make the decisions you do
- it also helps you stay on track related to your vision and strategy...tracking decisions and activities keeps you mindful of alignment

These are just a few bonuses of using a time map to truly make time a partner. Of course, ultimately your goal is to be effective - getting the most needed stuff accomplished. 

Coaching Reminder: Each month we have a theme. Download these, do the action items, build a notebook of proven activity & results (I call that a "performance tracker"), and teach others.

Stay Tuned: Next month's theme -Effective Coaching as a Leader ...are you one?