The Big 3: How Strategic Leaders Protect Their Focus

Focusing on the right work has always been one of the most essential skills for leaders. In the environment we’re operating in right now, it matters more than ever.

Demands keep rising. Decisions have to be made faster. Teams are leaner. AI has increased capability and noise. And the leaders I’m working with continue to be asked to deliver bigger results with fewer people, budget and time to think.

Photo by Vlada Karpovich

The question I ask my clients more than any other these days is a simple one: Are you focusing on the most critical work? When the answer is yes, leaders accelerate their results and impact, even under pressure. When the answer is no (and it often is) they run hard, often with no end in sight.

The pattern shows up in different forms. Some leaders are overloaded with work that’s urgent but not important. Others are working hard on something without clearly defining it first. In other words, they’re deep into the how before fully agreeing on the what. Either way, the capacity gets eaten up on activity that isn’t moving anything forward, and the work that would move things forward gets pushed farther and farther out.

Being an effective leader does not mean working more hours than everyone else. It’s about getting clear on what really matters in your role, and building the discipline to protect time for it. Focusing on the right work is also one of the Core Strategies on our New Lens® leadership development platform, because I’ve seen, again and again, that it shifts how leaders show up under pressure. If you only have time to focus on one area of leadership development right now, this is the one that drives everything else.

Stressed Leaders vs. Strategic Leaders

In my coaching work, I’ve found that many leaders fall into a couple of broad categories:

Stressed leaders get pulled into urgency. Their calendars fill with meetings that could have been emails, decisions that could have been delegated and reactions to things that would probably have resolved themselves. Over time, they fall into destructive patterns like micromanaging, avoidance and overwork.

Strategic leaders are busy, but they deliberately protect what gets their deep attention. They focus long-term. They delegate with intention. They stay curious under pressure. And they guard their time and energy for the important work that uses their unique capabilities.

The shift from stressed to strategic doesn’t require more hours in the day. It simply comes down to a few specific moves.

Identify Your Big 3

Your Big 3 are the three areas where you can have the biggest impact on your organization, given your role and strengths.

If you’re like many high performers, you often overlook your strengths. You might set the bar so high for yourself that you stop noticing what you actually bring to the table and why it matters. But as you focus on the next challenge or opportunity, don’t lose sight of how you are already making a difference. Start by identifying your top three strengths and then go a step further: Define the “so what” of each strength: What does it enable you to do that others can’t easily do? How does it create tangible value?

Let’s say approachability is one of your strengths. The “so what” might be that people openly tell you what’s really going on—which means you surface issues earlier, solve problems before they become crises and build the kind of trust that makes teams perform at a higher level.

Put Your Big 3 Into Action

Once you identify your Big 3, determine what percentage of time should be spent on each and start making shifts. Then look at your calendar for insights. What does it tell you about how you currently spend your time? I am always amazed at how much you can notice just by pausing for a moment. 

Next, look for opportunities to drive more alignment with your Big 3. What’s getting in the way of your Big 3?  Create capacity as needed. Maybe there’s a project you could delegate to a team member that could also be a development opportunity for them. Or perhaps you bow out of a low-value meeting or try to reduce the frequency of the meeting. (The other attendees will probably be 100% behind you!)

As you free up time, start adding dedicated blocks for focused work in your Big 3 and schedule it for when your energy is naturally highest. For most of us, that’s in the morning. Shut out email, calls, Slack and other distractions as much as possible. Each interruption costs you from eight to 25 minutes of productivity.

Aligning your calendar with your Big 3 isn’t a one-time exercise. The leaders I’ve worked with have found that taking even 15 minutes of reflection per week helps them stay strategic instead of slipping into reactive mode.

Align Others Around Your Big 3

Don’t keep your Big 3 to yourself. Share them with others.

Start with your manager. The two of you should agree on your Big 3, what they are and how much time to allocate to them. Once you’re aligned, make a habit of regularly sharing how you’re driving results in these areas. Take at least five minutes at the end of each week to notice what you accomplished and the impact. Remember, part of your manager’s job is to maximize your potential, and they can more easily do that when they can see how you’re creating value.

Your team members also need to know your Big 3, to help them understand what’s important and why. If you don’t explain the why, they’ll fill in the blanks themselves.  To take it a step further, help each of your direct reports identify their own Big 3 and guide them in making the necessary shifts in how they spend their time.

Just Get Started

This week, I want to challenge you to identify your Big 3. You can’t afford not to. It’s a critical first step in turning stressed leaders into strategic leaders (whether we’re talking about you or your team members). We’ve been down this path with so many leaders over the past 18 years, and can give you perspective, guidance and support along the way. Just get in touch to learn more.

---

Don’t wait for performance to drop before taking action. Discover how the New Lens® platform helps organizations support managers with bite-sized, actionable learning—built for today’s fast-paced, high-stress environments.

Bite-size learning can fill employees' craving for development

As someone in the leadership development space for over 15 years, I’ve seen a big gap emerge between how much employees want (and need) to learn on the job and how much they’re able. I believe the solution to this problem will come from thinking small—at least in leadership development content—to bite-size learning.

Image by reallywellmadedesks from Pixabay

The desire to learn isn’t the problem 

One reason I love my work is that I get to fulfill employees’ desires to learn and evolve professionally. In one survey, more than nine of 10 respondents said learning opportunities would motivate them to stay with their employers longer. About the same number believe that learning and development increase engagement. Meanwhile, HR executives say they are feeling the pressure to provide more training 

That pressure isn’t just coming from employees, though.  Executives are losing sleep over whether their employees have the skills and potential to become their organization’s future leaders. 

So if executives believe employees need more development, and employees want to learn more themselves, what’s the problem? 

Too little time, too many distractions 

First, we’re all squeezed for time these days. More than half of workers say their jobs have gotten more intense and demanding. We already recognize that overstuffed schedules lead to burnout. But they also take a toll on learning and development. Over 40% of employees lack time for training and education. Another study found that employees have an average of 24 minutes to spend learning during an average workweek. 

And those minutes probably don’t all come at the same time. We’re only able to spend an average of three minutes on any task before being interrupted or switching to do something else. 

While we joke about our goldfish-like attention spans these days, the reality isn’t funny. Typically, we can only pay attention to one screen for 47 seconds at a time. 

It’s hard to think about taking even a half-day away from work for leadership development in this kind of work environment.

Teach in the way people learn 

When my company was developing New Lens, our own learning platform, we knew we had to design it for busy, distracted users. Our embrace of micro-learning content is part of a larger trend.    

“We have to teach in the way people learn,” leading analyst Josh Bersin says. “People want engaging, bite-size learning that is integrated into everyday work. Twenty minutes feels too long in this day and age. Focus on content that is two to seven minutes long.” 

Priyanka Mitra of the research firm Everest Group is another advocate for “bite-size” learning: “This less-is-more approach often aligns well with the modern learner, who grapples with shorter attention spans and limited time availability.” 

Today’s technology makes it possible for training and development to be available wherever and whenever we can engage with it. Imagine a busy professional who wants to build her leadership skills, but who can’t find room on her calendar for a full-day, offsite development class. However, the same professional has a few minutes between meetings each week she can use to complete lessons on her phone. 

When bite-size learning is better 

It’s important to note that bite-size development content isn’t just a response to our harried schedules. In some situations, shorter, more accessible material is actually a more effective way to learn. 

As you’ve probably experienced yourself, knowledge is easier to retain when you can put it into practice. Let’s imagine two employees, Carmen and Vanessa, who want to get better at leading productive meetings. 

Carmen attends a daylong offsite event that’s packed with information. Vanessa uses a learning platform that delivers five- to seven-minute lessons and that she can access from any of her devices. While the offsite event provides useful advice on meetings, the pace of the training makes it hard for Carmen to remember every point. Back on the job, it’s a pain to dig through the materials to find the relevant information when she needs it. 

But with the learning platform on her phone, Vanessa can easily access relevant information when she needs it—for example, when she’s creating a meeting agenda—and view the material as many times as she needs to for retention. 

“Where bite-size learning excels is that it recreates the ‘spacing’ that learners need because it’s designed to be returned to again and again,” says Ryan Chynces, senior manager of online education at Hootsuite. “(T)he learner’s effort of going back and retrieving that material makes it easier for them to recall it later down the line.” 

Longer-format forms of leadership development are not going away. And, as an experienced executive, consultant, and leadership development expert, I don’t want them to. But I’m also excited about the different forms that learning can take today. By embracing bite-size learning alongside traditional methods, we can create a more flexible, accessible, and effective approach that better serves both organizations and employees. 

This article was originally published by Neena Newberry in Fast Company.

Leaders, Are You Ready for 2024?

In my last article, we explored how your team performed in 2023 and what they might need to thrive in 2024. Today, I'd like to focus on you. These five thoughtful questions are designed to help you conclude this year on a positive note and set the stage for a successful 2024.

Photo by Rebrand Cities

1. What Can You Do for Yourself?

As the year winds down and we look toward 2024, consider what changes could simplify your life. If constant distractions and interruptions are a challenge, discussing ways to streamline communication with your team could be beneficial. Alternatively, if you find coaching your team challenging due to time constraints, our New Lens® app might offer the supplementary support you need.

2. Are You Getting the Support You Need?

In our fast-paced lives, it's easy to neglect our personal connections. These relationships, however, are crucial, especially during busy or stressful periods. Don't hesitate to reach out proactively for support. For instance, you might ask a partner to encourage you to start your day with a walk or run if they notice you're overworking and becoming irritable.

3. How Will You Balance Results and Relationships?

As high performers, it's common to focus intensely on results, sometimes at the expense of nurturing relationships. Remember, effective leadership is about achieving goals through and with others. To build stronger relationships in 2024, consider setting aside 15 minutes each week for relationship-building activities, such as sharing articles or making introductions.

4. How Much Did Your Behavior Reflect Your Intentions?

It's important to realize that others assess not only your accomplishments but also the experiences others have working with you. Your intentions are vital, but if they are not reflected in your interactions, they may fall short. Regular feedback from peers can be invaluable in ensuring your behavior aligns with your intentions.

5. What Team Issues Did You Play a Role in?

Every team faces challenges, such as conflict, low performance, or stress. To prevent these issues from spilling into 2024, it's helpful to reflect on your contribution to your team's dynamics. For example, I advised a leader who was inadvertently enabling a problematic dynamic by taking over urgent tasks. By helping her team reprioritize instead, she made a positive change.

What insights did you gain from these questions? Were there any surprises? As you continue to develop your leadership skills, consider exploring our range of products and services, including the innovative New Lens® app, designed to make leadership coaching more accessible.

Here’s to being intentional in shaping what your leadership journey looks like in 2024!

How to Stay Focused Before the Holiday Break

The fast pace of work seems to get even more hectic as the year winds down and the holidays get closer. You probably have more work to do than you can actually complete in a day, and distractions are everywhere. It's easy to feel scattered and that you aren't accomplishing anything meaningful. So today I want to share some ways to regain your focus and make the final workweek of 2019 a productive one. You can also use these strategies to get 2020 off to a productive start.

1. Prioritize the Right Work

The first strategy is to always focus systematically on what matters the most. In other words, focus on the “right work” — the work that will have the biggest impact on business results. That typically includes just three or four priorities. How clear are you about what those should be? If you haven’t recently identified where you should focus to have the biggest business impact, given your role and skills, take a few minutes to do so.

Raising your awareness about this will help you start making different choices about how you spend your time. You may be juggling a lot of balls, but are they the right ones? Make sure you take some time to evaluate that. 

2. Set Aside Reflection Time

During this hectic season, you need quiet time more than ever. Book an appointment with yourself to step away from your tasks and just reflect. Whether you're identifying the right work, finding ways to create more capacity in your schedule or preparing for what’s coming up next year, blocking time will allow you to be much more deliberate.

3. Shut Out Distractions

Also recognize when you need uninterrupted time to complete important work. Leave your desk if you think you’ll have too many distractions. You can go to a conference room or another quiet area of your office. Sometimes it can help to work a little bit from home before you come to the office.

4. Take Control of Email

Another big distraction is email. Put some more structure in place for how you manage your inbox. When I ask people if they get more than 100 emails a day, most say yes. And a lot of them get distracted by each email as it comes in because there’s a notification. So, regardless of what they are doing, they get derailed by an email that might not be that important compared with what they should be working on.

A great first step toward getting a handle on email is turning off notifications. Resist the temptation to constantly check your email. Instead check it at specific intervals throughout the day. 

5. Tell Others What You're Doing

No matter what strategies you use to stay focused, communicate them to others. For example, let others known about your new approach to email so that they know how to get hold of you if something urgent comes up at a time when you're not checking email. You might say, “Text or call me if it’s something that can’t wait.”

These conversations help others understand that you are taking steps to increase your efficiency, responsiveness and ability to get the most critical work done. It will get them thinking about your effectiveness and what they should be doing to improve their own. 

Pick at least one of these strategies to try and notice how the changes you make affect your productivity. For more tips like these, check out "Staying in the Driver's Seat," one of the titles in my Leadership EDGE℠ series.