Who is the Leader – You or Your Calendar?

“Feedback is a Gift” – those are words of wisdom a great trainer I once had shared with me that always stuck with me, and continues to be a theme I use in my work and my leadership of others. Coaching is the most critical aspect to leadership, and those that believe otherwise, distracted by the daily demands and associated tasks that they believe are the critical parts of their work are missing the point. As easy as it is to let your schedule dictate your day and sometimes all that you accomplish, ultimately the only thing you will accomplish is knowing that you were where you were supposed to be throughout the day, or were you?

Leaders ‘Lead’, and is not something that can be done by checking the many boxes that are part of a leader’s day, attending all of the meetings, and reporting out on the project calls attended. Leading requires time, energy, strategy and focus directly with the people who matter most. The saving grace is that leaders who are ruled by their calendars, and can show 100% participation in all of the calls and meetings do often get a pass from their people. Some even think their leader is great because they see the shared calendar, how packed it is, and do their best to stay out of the way, try and handle their own responsibilities without asking for help or input of the leader.

Yes, there are times a leader will be unavailable or have a day so compressed that they struggle to find or create the time to stay in regular connection with their team. The important thing is to be sure that this is not an everyday, all day practice. The more days like that, the further disconnected from their people a leader becomes. A leader who allows their calendars to become their work is more a project manager or individual contributor than a leader. That’s fine if that is what the career objective is, but taking on leadership comes with responsibility for people, their work, their career, and their experience as a team member and employee with your organization and company. The further away a leader gets from those primary responsibilities, the bigger their risk for their people to be successful and to stay engaged in their work and you’re their team.

So, you’re a leader, a member of the management team, and the collective work and results produced by your team are ultimately the ‘bottom line’.  Mostly that is what will be looked at and inspected closely to  assess how effective you are as a leader. And it should be. Your people will mostly care about their own results, at least the conscientious ones, believing that if they are holding up their end, producing the volume and/or quality of work assigned, they will be considered successful. If each person your team is clear on that, and works with that achieve that mission, that is a great start.

With each employee focused on their work, and the leader attending every meeting, following their calendar from start to finish, everyone goes home somewhat satisfied, believing each has put in a solid day’s work. But, who was led, and who did the leading? When and how has that happened? Was it an email sent with what was done well? What was missed? What project, product, or initiative is ‘coming soon’? It is important to inform, to give advanced notice on changes and what is coming up, but is any of it leadership? If a leader is mostly getting out such communications, ruled by their calendar, showing up at all of the meetings, their priorities may be a bit out of whack.

If you want to stay organized, as those who follow their calendar do, and you recognize the goal of your work is develop people and help to keep them engaged, productive and performing at a high level, than get all of the ‘real work’ into your calendar. Your coaching, the one-on-one and team time where you share your knowledge and wisdom, allow your team members to share their experience and thoughts on how to best execute the team and company mission or strategy, is how you earn your stripes as a leader and coach. Much like your people respect your calendar and try to get time with you when they find an available time slot, others will see that same busy calendar, one that you have filled yourself with that coaching and development time for your people, and look for availability to schedule the meetings and calls where your presence is needed.

A high-level of organization and prioritization are extremely important attributes for a successful leader, and if approached proactively to dictate the terms and structure of your day, you will quickly see that your work is focused on the right things, and all of that work associated with the calls and meetings you once prioritized still got done, and you actually didn’t miss a thing. Don’t put the cart before the horse, which in this case is putting the outcome before the work required to get there.

It can be easier said than done as there is never a shortage of demands that pull you into many different projects and initiatives, particularly if you are good at what you do.(And if you’re not pulled into, or asked to part of, the project team launching a new tool, initiative, or project, you may not be the all-star you have told yourself you are!). If you want to be held up as that high-performer, recognize that you won’t get there simply by ‘showing up’. You need to put in the work to show the world, which is of course your organization, that you know how to take the content from all of those meetings and translate that vision to your people, coaching each team member to help execute a strategy to ensure success. That is why teams need leaders, it is why you are there, and what the real goal and expectation is. Don’t be fooled by the distractions of a busy calendar, it will not be how your measured. How much and how well you own your team through strong, innovative coaching and leadership is what your own leaders will be looking for, asking about, and ultimately how you will be measured. Make that your focus, build your strategy for people-development, fill your calendar with as much time with your team as possible, and regain the focus on the areas that will make you and each person you lead successful and engaged, not as manager to employees, but as true partners who pull for one another and enjoy the team success that is the hallmark of great teams.