What Pointing to the Past Reveals

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I share a fascinating moment from a recent leadership programme I ran with 22 managers from across Europe.

When I asked them to answer a simple question, “point to the past”, every single one of them pointed behind them.

That might not surprise you… but it completely threw me.

Why? Because I would instantly point to the left.

This seemingly small exercise reveals something much bigger: our different orientations to time,  in time vs through time, and how these shape the way we plan, structure our days, and lead our teams.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The two distinct ways people perceive time
• How your time orientation influences your behaviour as a leader
• Why recognising these differences in your team is so powerful

I’d love to know your perspective on this.

Would you point behind you for the past, or to the left?

Share your answer in the comments wherever you’re engaging with this content, or drop me a message on social media.

I’m curious to learn more about the mix of orientations we all have.

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Podcast Transcript 

I was recently working with a group of 22 middle managers from all across Europe and, as part of that leadership programme, I asked them all to stand up and answer one very simple question: point to the past. 

What happened next was fascinating, and it totally threw me. 

So, to today’s episode of The Leaders Kit Bag. 

When I asked that group of 22 middle managers from all across Europe to stand up and point to the past, every single one of them immediately pointed behind them, and it completely threw me. 

Now, if you’re like them, that probably doesn’t shock or surprise you. But if you’re like me, it absolutely will, right? 

Because if you were to ask me to point to the past, I would immediately point to the left. 

What that experience showed me was that all 22 of those managers had what we call an in-time orientation. In-time people, when asked that question, will point to the past because they see the past behind them and the future laid out in front of them. But they see time much more emmersively. Time is in front of them, but not necessarily in a linear, ordered, structured format. 

Now, this isn’t necessarily a leadership flaw or a leadership strength, but it is a really powerful group dynamic. 

Our time orientation affects how we perceive time, how we plan and structure our days, and it affects how flexible or dynamic we are. 

Both in-time and through-time have amazing strengths. If you are a through time person like myself, you see time laid out in front of you, almost like a calendar or timeline with the past on the left and the future on the right. 

This is something new for me that I’m really enjoying exploring and learning about. 

But one of the challenges I have is I can’t find any data yet that gives us an indication of what percentage of people have an in-time preference and what percentage of people have a through-time orientation. 

So to help me , and so I can share it back with you, I’d love it if you could either, in the comments below, just add whether you are in time or through time. 

Would you point behind you for the past, or would you point to the left? 

Or you can click the link in the show notes and just answer one simple question for me: are you in-time or through-time? 

I really am fascinated by this and curious to learn more about which of us have which sort of preference. 

As always, I hope today’s episode of The Leaders Kit Bag has been really valuable for you. 

Until next time, look after yourself and look after those you’ve got the privilege and responsibility to lead. 

#LeadOn