Have you ever experienced running in a million different directions in order to resolve urgent issues and, at the same time, you’ve had to put something aside that was strategically important?
Then, that strategically important thing stays unresolved until it is too late, and nothing could be fixed.
Eventually, you start to understand that if you had have done this important thing on time, nothing would have broken in the first place!
I have had that experience in my life.
For example, I once held the position of head of recruitment division for a large Russian company. We had a lot of vacancies to fill, and most of them were urgent. Business as usual. When I was appointed I had a team of 10 recruiters. Then out of the blue, hiring volume increased further. New functions were added to my division, but the number of team members stayed the same. Moreover, my recruiters began to quit. In fact, half of them left.
Of course, I was looking for their replacement, but mainly I was focused on carrying on with my regular tasks. I also divided the remaining load of work between myself and the rest of my team. Every day I was running and solving urgent problems, thus not having enough time and energy to fully invest myself in recruiting and building a new team. To cut a long story short: Everything was a disaster!
Tension, stress, and exhaustion. I began to make mistake after mistake and thought of quitting myself. I was totally burned out.
Some time after, I realized what I was doing wrong.
I didn’t resolve the bigger, strategic issue.
I didn’t have the necessary resources.
I didn’t realize that by doing the strategic things today – you increase your efficiency and productivity tomorrow.
When you have the right resources, you are able to delegate those ‘urgent’ tasks and focus on strategy - something that is vitally important in the long run. It’s about giving you time to work ‘on’ your business rather than ‘in’ your business.
Having been there, I have some good news for you. If you can clearly understand that the speed of urgent issue resolution depends on the solution of important ones, it is easy to prioritize.
Create a support system and provide resources.
Everything else.
I’m raising awareness of this because I have seen that very mistake a hundred times! If you want to be an effective leader and be a successful business leader, do not forget about it.
And finally. It takes a lot of courage to ask for help. This is a strength, not a weakness. If you need my coaching help to find your own ways to set up correct priorities don’t wait! Contact me HERE or email me at: kolesnikoff.maria@gmail.com and we will find the best priorities setting approach for you.
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