Why Being Unavailable Could Make You a Better Leader

Leadership Availability vs Productivity

If you’ve ever promised yourself you’d switch your phone off for an hour, only to find your hand reaching for it ten minutes later, this episode is for you.

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore why being unavailable, something most leaders find genuinely uncomfortable, might be one of the most useful things you can do for your team.

We’ve all had the moment where we picture switching off and our brain goes straight to the risk. What if my boss needs me? What if my team hits a problem and can’t reach me? That fear is real. But it’s only looking at one side of the equation.

Because there’s an upside to being unavailable that goes well beyond you getting your own work done. Without meaning to, a lot of us have trained our teams to come straight to us the moment a problem arises, which makes us the bottleneck and keeps us constantly interrupted. When you’re genuinely not reachable, your team has to work things out for themselves.

I share why that pattern needs breaking, and a simple experiment you can run this week to find out what actually happens when you switch off properly.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why it takes so long to mentally refocus after a distraction, and what that costs your day
• How constant availability can quietly train your team to stop thinking for themselves
• The two hidden costs of always being the one with the answer
• Why short periods of genuine unavailability can make your team more resourceful
• A simple experiment to test what happens when you properly switch off for an hour

Ben’s Key Takeaway

Being unavailable isn’t neglecting your team, it’s giving them the chance to think for themselves.

Without realising it, many of us train our teams the way Pavlov trained his dogs: problem arises, come to the boss, get the answer. That pattern makes us the bottleneck in our own team and keeps us constantly interrupted.

If you want your people to think for themselves, that pattern has to be broken somewhere, and your unavailability can be exactly where it breaks. Pick one block of time this week, even just sixty minutes, and go properly unavailable. Notice what breaks. It’s probably less than you think. And notice what your team works out without you.

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Podcast Transcript

Why Being Unavailable Could Make You a Better Leader

Twenty-three minutes and fifteen seconds.

That’s how long it takes us, on average, to refocus after we’ve been distracted by a notification on our phone or another device.

That’s the finding from Gloria Mark’s research at the University of California, Irvine.

Not the ten seconds it takes to glance at the notification. The mental re-focussing afterwards.

So if you’ve got a piece of work that genuinely needs your deep focus, there’s a strong case for making yourself unavailable while you do it.

Phone away. Notifications off.

But here’s the bit I want to focus on today – because in my experience training and coaching leaders at every level, being unavailable is scary.

The moment you picture switching off, your brain goes straight to the risk.

What if my boss needs me?

What if my team hits a problem and can’t reach me?

That fear is real. But it’s only looking at one side of the equation.

Because there’s an upside to being unavailable that goes well beyond you getting your own work done.

It can make your team more resourceful too.

Here’s what I’ve noticed over the years.

Without meaning to, a lot of us have trained our teams the way Pavlov trained his dogs.

Problem arises → come to the boss → get the answer.

The two main issues with that are that it makes us the bottleneck in our own team, and leads to us being constantly interrupted.

If you want your people to think for themselves, that pattern has to be broken somewhere. And your unavailability can be exactly where it breaks.

If you’re not reachable, they work it out themselves.

If you’re not reachable, they talk it through with a colleague instead.

If you’re not reachable and they need a document or information from you, they find another way to get it.

And none of that happens if you’re always one message away.

So, here’s an experiment for you to run this week. 

Pick one block of time this week — even just 60 minutes — where you go properly unavailable. 

Not “check every twenty minutes” unavailable. Dark mode! 

Notice what breaks – nothing most likely. 

And notice what your team works out without you. 

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.