You don't have time to THINK. (And that's a huge career risk in the age of AI)

Welcome back to Lead with Intention! The sun is shining in the UK AT LAST! But beware, for this is the “false spring” we are so often warned about, and if precedent is anything to go by, we’ll all be on the beach during the Easter holidays in a North Face arctic fleece and gloves. Still, let’s enjoy it while we can eh?

Today I want to explore one of the problems I’m seeing many of my coaching clients (all leaders in their fields) dealing with.

“Louise, I don’t have time to think anymore.”

Let me explain why this is happening and why it’s so dangerous (oh and what you can do about it!)

This is one of the most common conversations I have in my leadership coaching practice and it goes a little something like this:

“I just don’t have time to think. Conservatively I have about 5 meetings a day and the rest of the time I’m either frantically responding to emails, dealing with team issues or inbound requests from stakeholders. I have all this important work to do in my role, but I end up postponing it or doing it in the evenings and at weekends. I feel burnt out and not fulfilled and I’m worried I’m not coming across as strategic. What can I do about this Louise?”

Here’s what I tell them…

Meetings have become a proxy for “trust” at work

Somewhere along the line, meetings became our default way of working with others (the pandemic is just one of those factors.)

And what I think is really happening is that we stopped trusting others to work in an asynchronous way. That something couldn’t be “trusted” unless it was done in full sight of others. That “invisible” meant “not happening.”

This is largely the fault of out-dated leadership modes, where visibility is another word for control and therefore, a lack of it can’t be trusted in the eyes of those who still believe this. Combine this with the increasing stakes and risks of modern working life (and we are living and working through some of the biggest right now), and meetings start to become a real comfort blanket.

NOT for the people that have to attend them. But for the leaders who insist on them.

So we end up scurrying from meeting to meeting and call to call, context shifting, re-arranging our faces, being “present” and then not having time to pee before the next one. Exhausting.

Is it any wonder your strategic capabilities are taking a hit as a result?

Meetings are also YOUR proxy for being VALUABLE

You may not want to hear this, but I need to say it out loud. We often think that being in all these meetings is necessary because that’s how we’ll show our value.

But how valuable is turning up to every meeting, even when:

• You don’t have a particular reason for being there?

• A member of your team could go instead (and gain that exposure for themselves)?

• You have nothing of value to add?

• You recognise it doesn’t need to be a meeting?

• You are only attending because the “right people” are in the room?

Try this checklist out for some of your meetings and sit honestly with the answers…

I’m not saying all meetings are bad or lack purpose. And of course, visibility is an important facet of your professional development and success.

But in the RIGHT meetings and in the right ways, for the right reasons.

Too many pointless meetings just to “check in”, “catch up” or go around the room for an hour while everyone shares their to-do list with a group that isn’t listening and couldn’t care less is a one-way ticket to boredom, stagnation, frustration and more.

As a leader you NEED time to THINK.

And we’re in short supply of this in our corporate world. Most of the leaders I coach are in their leadership position because they, uniquely, have a set of experience, expertise, skill and strengths that is sorely needed for the success of the business or organisation they work for.

Therefore, as leaders, we are often set strategic tasks that require time, focus and deep thinking, so we can apply our skill, insight and expertise to them, and solve problems to shift the organisation forward.

And then our calendars fill up with meetings and there is no time to think.

So we can’t apply ourselves in this way and end up being far more reactive and tacticcal than our role (and our experience) demands.

We use our emails (other people’s) as our to do list. And our meeting schedule as an indicator of the importance of a particular task or topic.

These are false indicators and we need to recognise them as such.

And let’s talk about the impact of AI

Ok just for a second. I’m no expert! BUT I want you to think about the type of skills and leadership strengths that will be required of us and seen as valuable in the world of AI.

Critical thinking skills. Judgement. Discernment. Horizon scanning. Empathy. Curiousity.

It’s hard to focus on those when you’re 5 meetings and 57 emails deep every day isn’t it?

So we know that time to think is a critical enabler - for leaders of today AND tomorrow.

But how can you get more time to actually THINK?

(Below for paid subscribers, is the exact list of questions I run through with my coaching clients when we are working on freeing up their time for more strategic impact in their leadership role.)