“You gave us time.”
Of all of the things she could have shared about the content of the retreat, the readiness of other participants to share, the impact of the work on the challenges we face as a society, this retreat participant focused on the gift of time.
Often in our workplaces, we don’t feel like there is enough time. Sometimes there is a real crisis to tend to, at other times the feeling of crisis is artificial. Sometimes we have deadlines to meet. Other times, the quick pace and task-oriented nature of our work help us escape the news cycle and gives us a sense of control when so much feels beyond our control.
But what might happen if we made more time for what is most important to us?
Stephen Covey popularized the Eisenhower Matrix in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Dividing work tasks into 4 quadrants, Urgent/Not urgent and Important/Not important.
The quadrant many of us spend most of our time in is the Urgent one (both Important and Not important). Tasks like, responding to other people’s requests, or working to meet deadlines. What gets considerably less attention are all of the activities which are Important and Not urgent. They include:
Developing trust and camaraderie amongst your staff.
Reflecting on the past year and considering the strengths your team exhibited through their work.
Having open conversations about what did not go well and integrating the new learning as opportunities for growth in the year ahead.
Visioning and turning that vision into practical steps for implementation.
As the leader of your business and organization, I invite you to do an exercise with me:
Name 3 things you wish you and your team could discuss but you just don’t have the time.
Ask yourself, if there were one thing we could discuss that would make a big difference in our work as a team, what would it be? Circle that one.
Take out your calendar and schedule time (30 minutes more than you think you need) to begin the conversation.
There is time. You just need to decide to create a boundary to protect it.
With the Jewish holidays approaching, the rhythm of the calendar creates a time boundary to create the space for self-reflection. Safeguarding time for what is important is a condition for personal growth. It’s good for our personal soul.
Now, safeguard time for what is important to your team for their development and growth.
That’s good for your team’s soul.
Warm wishes for Shana Tovah.
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