ELI Group's Blog

Living in the Past or the Future?

One of the most challenging tasks for most leaders is finding time to think.  While leaders may claim that they spend all day “thinking,” what they’re actually doing is “reacting.”  Consider where you spend a majority of your day:  responding to email, sitting in meetings, answering phone calls, dealing with emerging employees issues, etc.  While these are all necessary activities, how much time is actually spent in planful consideration of the future? 

The risk of continually operating in “fire-fighting ” mode is that you’re primarily living in the past — the issues have already occurred and you’re responding to them in some way.  In order to be a more effective leader, time and energy should also be directed towards the future — planning for upcoming opportunities, considering creative new solutions, preparing your group for what’s around the corner.  The challenge is finding ways to actually make this happen:

1. Block time on your calendar on a weekly basis for thinking about the future.  Protect this time by yourself as much as possible so that you can truly engage in thoughtful reflection.  Resist the tendency to use this time to simply catch-up on email.
2. Set personal targets for where you want your group to be in 5 years.  While this may align with established organizational goals, don’t feel like you need to limit yourself in that way. 
3. Allow some group time in your team meetings for brainstorming.  Avoid slipping into problem-solving mode and focus instead on proactive planning.

By carving out time to really attend to the future, you’ll find that you can actually lead in a more intentional and impactful way.