Leadership & Initiative Overload

By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth

Are you guilty of making the mistake of taking on more work than you should and thereby committing initiative overload? As we rapidly approach Q4, it is my most sincere hope that you will take pause for a bit of reflective thinking – I would ask that you ponder the following question: “Am I so busy that I’ve lost the ability to be as productive as I need to be?” One of the most common problems facing leaders is the lack of ability to remain focused on highest and best use activities. While we could talk about being better managers of technology, communications, interruptions and various other productivity killers, today’s post will focus on the number one killer of executive productivity, which is biting-off more than you can chew, or what I like to call initiative overload…

The fact is that many leaders are their own worst enemy when it comes to taking themselves out of the “productivity zone” (see Finding the Zone). Fact: bright, talented executives with a bias to action will often take on more than they should. Fiction: multitasking accomplishes more than focused effort. The reality is that maximizing results and creating a certainty of execution is all about focus, focus and more focus…

While the mind of a leader may be oriented towards the future, he/she can only act in the here and now, so the knowledge and skills required to master any endeavor only happens when we focus on what we’re currently doing. This is the definition of presence, and it is only when we operate in the present that real creativity, growth and innovation occur.

Is your rubber-band stretched so tight that it’s about to snap? Efficiency and productivity are not found working at or even near capacity. Rather entering the productivity zone is found working at about 60% to 70% of capacity. Operating in excess of that threshold will cause increased stress, lack of attention to detail and errant decisioning.

It is important for executives to learn to apply focused leverage to a limited number of highest and best use activities rather than to continually shift gears between multiple initiatives. Resist the temptation to just advance a broad number of disparate initiatives, and alternatively focus your efforts on the completion of a few high impact objectives. The simple reality is that if you continue to add new responsibilities to an already full plate, all of your obligations will suffer as a result. Face current challenges head-on by keeping your head down and applying focused leverage to the task at hand. 

Don’t delude yourself into thinking that changing direction mid-stream will produce better results as it rarely will. Remember that most people who fail just quit a bit too early in the process. While I’m certainly not recommending blind faith that flies in the face of solid business logic, but neither am I encouraging you to run away by changing focus or tactics when the right thing to do is stay the course regardless of the difficulties that may present themselves.   

It is through the accomplishment of current objectives that the victories are won and success is born. The achievement of current goals and objectives free up the time & create the resources to move on to bigger and better things…Trying to do too many things at once will impede progress, dilute effort & energy, add to chaos and lead to burn-out. Bottom line…success equals focus.

Have you bought-off on the myth of multi-tasking, or do you believe in the power of restraint and focus? Sound-off in the comments below…