How to Lead on a Tight Schedule

In the last episode, we explored the crucial balance between leadership and management, and why it’s never a case of choosing one over the other.

If you missed it, you can find it here.

In today’s episode, I’m building on that idea by tackling one of the most common and damaging traps I see leaders fall into… Leading In Your Spare Time, or as I call it, LIYST.

It’s what happens when you get so bogged down in doing and managing that leadership only happens if there’s time left over.

But let’s be honest, there’s never time left over.

This episode will help you change that.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why leadership must be intentional, not incidental
• The Leadership Equaliser model-and how to use it
• How to rebalance your efforts between doing, managing and leading
• The 3-part strategy: Ditch, Delegate and Do
• Simple ways to free up time so you can lead with purpose

If you’ve ever felt like you’re constantly firefighting, always busy, but never quite leading, this episode is for you.

Ben’s Key Takeaway

Your team deserves more than the scraps of your attention. Leadership can’t live in the gaps between meetings and tasks.

It has to be prioritised, protected, and practiced, just like any other key part of your role.

Want to take your leadership skills to the next level?

The waitlist is now open for the cohort of my ‘Leader in Me’ programme.

If you’re ready to:

• Build confidence and capability as a leader
• Break free from firefighting and become more proactive
• Learn how to inspire your team and deliver results…

Join the waitlist here for early access and updates on the next open programme.

Prefer bite-sized learning?

Check out the 10-4-10 Leadership Programme, my free online course that delivers powerful, practical leadership tools in just 10 minutes a week.

You’ll get:

• Weekly lessons on topics like delegation, motivation and prioritisation
• A short video, podcast, and book recommendation each week
• Simple tactics you can use straight away

It’s practical, no-nonsense leadership training that fits into your busy schedule.

Learn more about the 10-4-10 programme.

As always, look after yourself and those you’ve got the privilege and responsibility to lead.

Until next time…

#LeadOn

 

 

Podcast Transcript

How to Lead on a Tight Schedule 

If you caught the last episode of The Leaders Kitbag, we talked about the essential difference between leadership and management, and why effective leaders need to be intentional about using both. 

If you missed it, I’ve included the link in the Show Notes for this episode. 

Today, we’re continuing that conversation by digging into a common trap I see far too many leaders fall into – LIYST. 

What’s LIYST? Leading In Your Spare Time. 

It happens when all your energy goes into doing and managing, and leading your people only gets attention when – if – you have any time left over. 

The problem is, there’s never any time left over, right? 

So leadership gets pushed to the margins, and your people – the very people you’re responsible for supporting and developing, start getting the scraps. 

To explain this, I want to introduce you to a model I call the Leadership Equaliser. 

Imagine an old-school audio mixing desk with three dials: 

Doing things 

Managing things 

Leading people 

Now, for many leaders – especially those new in role – the doing and managing dials are cranked way up. 

And the leading dial? Barely touched. 

And it’s easy to see why: 

Doing is what made us successful. It’s where we built our reputation. 

It’s our comfort zone. It’s what we enjoy.  

Managing often comes with KPIs, dashboards, and deadlines. 

And as we all know – what gets measured, gets done. 

But here’s the rub: few organisations actually measure how well you lead. They measure what you deliver. 

And so, we keep doing. We keep managing.

And leadership – real leadership – gets whatever time is left. 

Which, more often than not, is none. 

So, how do we rebalance the dials? 

We need to make space for leadership. And that requires us to ditch, delegate, and do things very intentionally. 

Let me explain, starting with DITCH 

Ask yourself:
What am I doing today that adds no real value? 

There’s always something.

It might be a legacy report that no one reads. 

A weekly meeting that hasn’t served a purpose in years. 

A spreadsheet you update out of habit. 

Start by getting ruthless.
What can you stop completely? 

Your time is too valuable to waste on things that no longer matter. 

Next up is  DELEGATE 

Some things do need to be done – but not by you. 

Look at your to-do list and ask:
What can I delegate to someone else….or, a more powerful question to ask is this: 

What am I continuing to do since stepping into a new leadership position that I really should let go of and delegate to someone else? Delegation isn’t about offloading. It’s about empowerment.
It helps others grow while freeing you up to focus on the things only you can do. 

It might feel uncomfortable at first – especially if you take pride in being the one who “gets stuff done.”
But if you want to lead well, you need to let go. 

Finally, let’s look at what you need to DO differently. 

This is about choosing to start doing the things that fall under real leadership. 

Things like: 

Regular one-to-ones. 

Walking the floor, talking to your team. 

Carving out time to plan, reflect, or scan the horizon. 

Checking in with someone who’s struggling – or being stretched. 

These aren’t “soft” tasks.

They are the core of leadership. 

And they only happen when we deliberately make time for them.  

Here’s a final thought: 

The truth is: your team deserves more than whatever’s left of you at the end of the day. 

Leadership can’t be something we do in the gaps. 

So take a look at your own equaliser today: 

What’s turned up too high? 

What’s barely been touched? 

And what can you ditch, delegate, or do – starting this week? 

That’s it for this episode. 

As always, look after yourself, and look after those you have the privilege and responsibility to lead. 

Until next time… lead on.