The reality today for anyone in a leadership role is that more is being expected for less. I want to give you 4 principles to help you not just get things done, but get the RIGHT things done.
1. Measure your capacity to meet with people rather than all of the projects you are working on. When you’re a leader one of the primary tools you have at your disposal is the act of meeting with people. Leadership is about getting the right things done through others. This is best done by actually meeting with people.
You simply must measure and know your capacity to meet with people. You do this by figuring out what I call your capacity number. Look ahead on your calendar for the next 100 days. Clarify on your calendar exactly how many meetings you can actually block and make available to schedule in the next 100 days. Let’s say you block 40 meeting slots in the next 100 days. That’s your capacity number for the next 100 days.
Now that you know your capacity number, take a look at the list of people you can meet with to move things forward. The reality is that your capacity number and the number on that list don’t line up. You’ll always have more people to meet with than time available to meet. This is where you have to make some tough decisions about who you can focus on in the next 100 days and who you can’t.
2. Focus on what you can do, not on what you’re working on. I want you to focus on what you can do in the next 100 days to move your organization forward, not what you’re going to do, not what you want to do. Focus on what you can do. What you must do. What you will do.
Help the other people around you on your team determine what is most important. They need your coaching on this! Few people have the innate drive and ability to provide themselves with this sort of self-leadership at first. Make sure they know the number one thing you expect them to accomplish in the next 100 days. They’ll benefit greatly from your coaching in working through their priorities.
3. Establish your own goals as a leader for the next 100 days. This is a list of five major things you must have accomplished in the next 100 days that you know deep down are going to move your ministry forward. Here are some very specific things you can do to protect your energy and focus so that you are really getting those five things done:
- Write your list of 5 things down somewhere where you can see it all the time.
- Limit your use of email in the next 100 days to one hour a day. (Use templates and delegate where possible.)
- Block time for phone calls during the week. (Put these on your calendar as appointments.)
- Schedule your project time. Block an hour, two hours, or three hours to work on a specific project, and have that reflected on your calendar.
4. Schedule a Sunday evening review. Before shifting back into the Monday morning craziness, review your past week. Look ahead to the next two weeks. Set appointments with yourself on key projects to move forward. Block those times on the phone. Look at how you’re limiting your use of email. Review that list of five things in the next 100 days.
I believe that we’re not called to live constantly in a state of pressure, overwhelm, and busyness. We are to seek after that peace God gives us deep down to know, “I’m abiding in You, and I am doing what You’ve called me to do. I’m doing the best I can with the time, the resources, and the energy I’ve been given.”