Confronting the Tyrannies of Leadership

Leadership

Feb 6

Many senior leaders we work with talk about how they need to constantly wrestle back control of their time so we thought we would share three ways in which you can begin to take back control and plan the kind of day, week, or year you really want.

To do this, you will have to confront one of three ‘Tyrannies’ in your life. Tyranny is quite a strong word. It speaks to the act of unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control. What’s that got to do with how you plan your time? Here are three tyrannies in modern working life that often exert unreasonable or arbitrary control over leaders. Have a read and see if any of these has taken up too much space in your life.

Tyranny of the urgent

If you haven’t read Charles Hummel’s excellent little book “Tyranny of the Urgent” already, add it to your planned reading. Hummel suggests there is a frequent tension between things that are urgent and things that are important. Far too often, the urgent wins.

Urgent things are often less important and yet we prioritise them because of the ‘heat and light’ they generate. Consider the impact of a demanding email, or a sudden change in requirements for an important piece of work. Urgent isn’t necessarily bad. It’s just that it can dominate and push the important things to the back of the mind.

The important things tend to revolve around strategic goals – building important relationships, improving processes at work, taking care of your health. They don’t have the same ‘heat and light’ as the urgent, but they are pivotal to helping you thrive.

Sometimes important and urgent are clearly connected so it is right to respond as quickly as you can. Frequently they clash so we have a simple principle to suggest to you – if it’s important (not urgent), set a plan to deliver it. If it’s urgent (not important), can you defer or delegate?

We know that there will also be times when the urgent has to take your time, but there is ample evidence from research and experience that says what is considered ‘urgent’ is often unreasonable or arbitrary. A good leader takes to time to know the difference and respond accordingly, and to make sure their team are doing the same.

Tyranny of the To Do List

I am definitely a ‘To Do’ list person. It has helped me avoid missing important appointments and get things done in the busyness of life. How does a To Do list end up exerting unreasonable or arbitrary control over your life?

There are three main issues with To Do lists.

They can become overwhelming – an ever-growing list of tasks that can leave us feeling anxious and paralyzed. We can end up jumping from one task to another without a clear focus, leading to reduced productivity and quality of work.

The simplicity (and satisfaction) of creating a To Do list can encourage us to be overly ambitious and overcommit ourselves. It’s a vicious circle – the busier you are, the more you overestimate your capabilities and underestimate the time required to complete tasks. You can find yourself constantly disappointed that your list hasn’t shrunk. It may even have grown by the end of the day.

Finally, To Do lists often neglect the most important actions to help you truly thrive – actions that support your own well-being. We often speak to leaders who tell us that putting ‘Go for a walk’ on their To Do list feels gratuitous or selfish when there are so many things to do.

We often point out that the more meetings we have back-to-back or the more de-energised we become from demanding emails, the less productive we are. A short break, or a healthy meal can make you more productive and re-establish a healthy sense of perspective and control.

Tyranny of the dead-end distraction

It’s in my nature to be distracted by new and innovative ideas. Some of those distractions are useful. Moments of inspiration or ‘what if’ that stop me from doing what I’ve always done.

Sometimes these distractions are unhelpful. Mindless social media scrolling, or pop-up notifications from side conversations or different tasks can distract from the important things that require a focus on detail and ‘getting it done’.

Despite the potential drawbacks, there are times when I recommend ‘staring out the window’ or going for an aimless walk somewhere pleasant. Why? Precisely because it can give our internal world a chance to breathe: a chance to pull back from the details and see the bigger picture. The space in our mind that these experiences create can be filled with new ideas or perspectives that will help us move on when we are stuck in a rut or in danger of reacting instead of responding.

Positive actions that distract from difficult tasks help reduce stress levels and improve effectiveness according to new research from the Otto Beisheim School of Management and Trinity Business School. They found that it’s quite de-energising trying to stay calm after reading an annoying email or trying not to get frustrated with a complex task. This loss of energy can hamper engagement, creativity, and even affect behaviour toward colleagues. A positive distraction, perhaps one that inspires gratitude or that makes you smile can help you re-energise and re-focus.

Like all systems of control, it isn’t simply a question of changing overnight.

It takes a combination of timing, tenacity, and tactics.

Timing - Which tyranny is most in control right now and why?
Tenacity - Do you have the energy and desire to overthrow it?
Tactics - What one or two actions are you going to commit to that will change where the control sits?

At FiveAndCo. we know this kind of change isn’t easy. It takes honesty and courage. But if we don’t plan how we are going to change where control sits in our leadership, we’re setting ourselves up for failure of the worst kind: failure to use our time for the things that matter most – whether that’s doing well for the business or feeling well in our current context.