Time and Its Essence

One of SmarterWisdom’s core approaches to our leadership consulting work is to help leaders prioritize among the myriad of bright shiny things that beckon them each day. Step one is to prioritize, and step two is to stay true to the path you set for yourself.

So how do you prioritize? A good first step is to consider your work in levels, or as the McKinsey article suggests, gears, that is low, medium and high. Examine all the major projects that you are involved in—which takes precedence, what is next, and so on. If you stay focused on less important, mid-level tasks, you are likely to be stuck in medium gear. Yes, you can tootle along getting stuff done, but both you and your vehicle are not turning on the high-power capability that will allow you to move faster and cover more ground—and dive deeper. As a leader in your organization, you want to be in high gear a lot of the time. Think of high gear on the freeway and the large distances covered. Yes, you need to be paying more attention to your driving—but you will get you and your passengers to more places.

Whisper Words of Wisdom

The Beatles’ 1970 album, Let It Be, hit the record stores when I was a junior in high school in the UK. “The Long and Winding Road” brought tears to my eyes and became my go-to Beatles ballad for a very long time. In his new documentary, “Get Back,” Peter Jackson chronicles the making of this seminal album over a period of days and in doing so, according to a wonderful recent article from The Economist, reveals some reliable and creative thinking about an effective team of four.

An Ounce of Prevention...

Research shows us that boards and leaders who have already faced different kinds of crises, perhaps the need to cut programs, or a significant loss of accustomed admissions sources in schools, or a public relations scandal of some kind, or the loss of a senior leader mid-term and so on, are better equipped to face new ones, such as the pandemic. Schools, for example, who put policies and practices in place during the mid-2000s SARS-epidemic crisis, or even just surfaced the key generative questions, were more prepared for the recent challenges related to Covid. Having faced different trials and tests, organizations that incorporate ongoing reflective learning from these experiences, and create replicable, sustainable approaches, will thrive during new challenges and threats.