Early on in my career, on a consulting project, I worked with a ‘star’ manager. He was a rockstar for the client. But for the team, he was a disaster.
In his zeal to impress the client, he would often take detours from the already tight scope of the project. The team would always be gasping for breath trying to fulfil his asks.
For him, everything was important AND urgent.
Thankfully, it was a short project. It got over before the team lost its balance.
Back then, mental health was not making headlines. Yet the horrid memories of the pain suffered on that project stayed with me for years.
Silver lining: that experience sensitized me to always seek the right balance between the important and the urgent - for myself and for my team members.
I have two insights to share.
One:
If you are consistently spending over 2/3rd of your time on things that fall in quadrant 1 (important AND urgent), SOMETHING needs to change about your work life. Else, your mojo may fizzle out sooner than you realize. You may win some battles but would lose the war.
It does not matter what job or role or industry you are in, how senior or junior you are, or what your career ambitions are.
This something that needs to change could be -
a.) You - how you prioritize and scope your work, how you set expectations, how much you push back, or even what your definition of important is.
b.) Your manager - let’s face it, some managers are toxic. As a team member, you can do only so much to change their behaviour. Easier to steer yourself away from them.
c.) Your role/job - some roles, industries, and organizations glorify over-work. The smarter you are the more susceptible you are to fall for them. They thrive on insecure over-achievers.
Two:
If you consider quadrant 3 (low importance, low urgency) to be redundant, think again. It’s not all waste. Rather, spending some time here (10-25%) is critical to your mental well-being and for the long-term success of your team and organization. This space is the fertile ground where resilience and agility thrive and where seeds of innovation and future growth are sown – both for individuals and for organizations.
#job #career #work #management #leadership #mentalhealth