One of the hardest things for people to grasp as they transition to positions with additional responsibility is that their focus must also shift to a longer time horizon. If you’re a front-line worker, you may only need to be concerned with having inventory for the next hour, whereas managers must be thinking about the next quarter and leaders need to work several years ahead.
I describe the shift via a series of pie charts — the change in proportion may not occur on a daily basis, but overall leaders should spend more of their time on the future compared to others in the organization whose role demands a more current focus.
“Doers” who ascend in the organization may discover that more responsibility does not necessarily mean more tasks, but rather more strategizing and addressing challenges — meaning that more of their time should be spent on thinking about what’s next. If you are a junior-level employee with leadership aspirations, I suggest developing habits that help you think about a longer time horizon than you currently hold. Maintain a calendar set several months ahead and consider that month’s needs when planning your time this month. Notice your organization’s cycle for budgeting and prepare long-term proposals to coincide with that. Even pre-setting the next appointment and agenda at the conclusion of a meeting helps tweak your perspective to become a bit more toward thinking ahead.
If you’re a senior-level employee, review how you are spending your time and brutally assess what proportion of your work is spent on the issues of the day vs. creating strategies and systems or building capacity for tomorrow. Shift your focus to intentionally craft agenda items, planning sessions, or reflection times that allow you to keep your focus down the road as is expected from your role.
It’s easy to become consumed by the day-to-day barrage of emails, meetings, social media feeds, and problems but those who are most successful create ways to align their time with the appropriate “pie” perspective.
