Flexability | Daily tasks that help you win at leading

Leadership isn’t easy.

There’s so much to do and keep tabs on. You can end up feeling like a chameleon on a pile of M&M’s, not knowing which color (task) to pick first.

Over the many years that I have worked as an entrepreneur, leadership coach and strategic facilitator, I have come up with a daily action plan that helps me keep it all together. I’m sharing it with you.

Here’s how it goes. Split the day into sets of morning and afternoon tasks, with a “pinnacle activity” for each.

In the morning, you’ll gather the information you need to fulfill your pinnacle task – a walkabout. If you are in an office, the walkabout must be done in person and on foot. It’s about connecting with your colleagues.

In the afternoon, your most important task will be to make space to learn and reflect, so that you enhance your ability to respond and adapt to the ever-changing marketplace.

Morning Tasks

So, here’s how to get ready for the all-important walkabout, which you should do in a different form, obviously, if you run a business that has people working in centers far away from where you are based, or if you have staff working remotely.

First, scan the news, especially about your industry. Be firm with yourself. Don’t get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of each story. What you’re looking for is the high-level trends and policy changes that will affect your operations.

With that done, you can move on to the next task: checking the company’s digital dashboard and website. The dashboard is (or should be!) a visual representation of the key indicators important to your company’s growth. It should give you a vital eagle-eyed view of what’s going on, and where there are peaks or slumps. There are two forms of this dashboard. The first is a shared digital dashboard available to everyone in the company. Displays should be simple, authentic, and inspiring. The second is the dashboard for the leadership team to track quarterly goals and trends so the team is informed on daily and/or weekly progress.

Next comes your personal task list, calendar and the messages you have received via email, voicemail or messaging apps. My task list is no longer than three to five items, all of which I know I will accomplish by the end of the day. I get great joy and satisfaction as I cross an item off my list. Every morning, I revise my list and commit to my schedule and tasks. It sets the course for my day.

Yes, list-making and prioritizing requires practice and discipline. You can easily get caught up in trying to do too much. It is critical to remember that the task list is not a project list. Projects must be delegated to the leadership team.

Also, reviewing messages is not a task for you alone. Your assistant should have full access to your messaging services and be able to filter and prioritize messages so that you don’t have to read email messages that are longer than a few lines or listen to voicemail messages that are longer than 15 seconds.

One caveat: it is crucial to appear approachable. You never want to hear, “I thought you were too busy” or “You can’t possibly be interested in what I’m doing.” You want your colleagues to know that you respect the passion that goes into producing great work. I treat my colleagues like I treat my most important client.

Okay. Walkabout time.

The walkabout

Having gone through the news, the company website and dashboard, and your emails and other messages, you should be armed with all the up-to-date information you need to go walking about.

If you work in a physical office, it’s time to get up from your chair and actually move around. When you meet colleagues, stop and chat. Touch them, hand on shoulder or arm, and make a personal remark. You want to show that you know what’s going on, and that your interest is personal. This is your time to inspire.

If your company has subsidiary offices in other locations or you have workers who are fully remote, use modern technology such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom to do this. Make a point of visiting satellite offices at least a few days a quarter so that you reach every employee in person.

Importantly, the walkabout has no agenda other than showing that you are available and interested.

Walkabout done, it’s time for a lunch break before you hit the afternoon tasks.

Afternoon tasks

Your afternoon will culminate in space you must – absolutely must – carve for yourself to learn and reflect. Here’s how to get there.

Start off with taking some time to think about big ideas. I call this “ideas, ingenuity and innovation” time, and it’s becoming increasingly important as working life and the world out there become more complex.

Reimagine company processes, compare performance to key goals and identify what is limiting growth. Ingenuity is the willingness to act beyond current limitations and boundaries. Innovation is the courage to let go of the safety of the status quo and embrace change. You need them both.

You can think of this time as brain gym time. It requires discipline but, without it, your ability to lead will atrophy. It’s to you that others look for ingenuity and innovation.

With quiet thinking time done, it’s time for action. If you’re like me, that’s music to your ears. This is the time to do things that will aid business development, marketing and public relations. I pick one task from this bundle every day and put real effort into it, whether it is a physical visit or phone call to a warm lead or an in-person review of company marketing swag.

The next task is aligned, but important to view as its own, separate activity. Every day, make a phone call, physically visit or e-meet a client, without a sales agenda. Find out how they are, and how they experience working with your company.

When I do this, I listen actively and do not worry about having answers or solutions. At the conclusion of the meeting, I ask what I can do for the client. I always come away with new insights, new work and a better relationship. An important aspect of this daily habit is to make sure the leadership team gets feedback too, so that they learn to adapt and respond in a client-focused manner.

Learn and reflect

And now, the big one for the afternoon: make time to learn and reflect. The focus is on so-called “right-brain thinking” – your creative, emotional and intuitive side.

I might read an article about an outlier, watch a TED Talk, have a discussion with a peer leader in another industry or take Spanish lessons. I’m broadening my mind.

It’s so easy to push this task aside amid the hurly-burly of life. That would be a mistake. What I’m after is enhancing my ability to create and adapt, essential attributes for any leader who is going to effectively respond to the crazy-fast changes that we all face, whatever industry we’re in.

And don't forget to ...

Yeah, we’re not finished – but the rest is fun stuff.

Every day, spend some time with the company superstars. It’s priceless.

I let the integrator or human resource specialist manage problem employees, but I choose one star performer each day and spend 10 to 30 minutes with them in a one-on-one discussion that focuses on transforming challenges – personal or professional – into a passion for excellence.

Each of these employees needs to be inspired and “rededicated” to anticipating and solving client issues. These are my top thinkers, and I need their input to help me and the company adapt to the ever-changing needs of the workplace and the world out there. I strive for a work environment inspired by love, where my colleagues feel their daily actions are heroic.

And finally, celebrate!

If you perform each of these tasks daily, you will experience tangible and intangible results that you will want to celebrate. Do so.

Publicly celebrate wins, even the small ones, whether they are about clients or about team members. Acknowledge the process as much as the result. Each celebration, small or big, recommits a team to sustainable success, and that is, in the end, what we all want.