7. Don’t Lead in a Hurry
How many rushed, overworked, overwhelmed leaders have we seen in life? So many. So, so many that it seems that leading in a hurry is the norm. Indeed, leading in a hurry might as well describe the whole age …
Contrary to popular opinion, living and leading in a hurry is not a sign of superior leadership, but rather a symptom of someone who is firing on all cylinders, who is overwhelmed or who is stretching far too much and too quickly for their own good and, of course, for the good of the organization.
Obviously, there are times when there is a need, or a demand, that leaders accomplish things very rapidly. This is natural and, on certain occasions, unavoidable. The problem is when leading in a hurry becomes the default, whether for an individual leader or for an entire organization, as sometimes entire companies develop cultures of constant urgency.
Often the best decision may be not to decide. This is a most frequent decision, and from some points of view probably the most important. The fine art of executive decision consists in not deciding questions that are not now pertinent, and not deciding prematurely, and not making decisions that cannot be made effective …
― Chester Bernard, Former president of the Rockefeller foundation
Ask yourself: do you live, feel, think better, when you’re constantly in a rush, or when you have a little more space and time in your life? Do you treat yourself, and your employees, better when you are under constant duress, or when you are in a more resourced and spacious place? Do you make better decisions when your mind is overwhelmed or calm?
These questions seem so obvious right? And the answers to these questions seem even more obvious. And yet, there go all the rushed managers and executives, constantly leading in a hurry. What seems obvious and simple is not so obvious and simple after all ... As we said, there are of course situations, and times, that call for rapid actions. However, leadership that has “Rush” as the default setting is a bad idea, and not just for the leader but for the organization as well.
There are so many examples of this in history, among failed leaders, during recessions, crises, or wars, or in the contemporary corporate ranks, that we could spill an endless amount of ink. For the latest case studies on the consequences of rushed leadership, one can simply read the current headlines: Purdue Pharma rushing OxyContin to market, fully knowing it was a highly addictive and dangerous opioid, literally destroying hundreds and hundreds of thousands of lives, and now having to file for outright bankruptcy due to the “fiasco”; the monumental Boeing 737 MAX airplane catastrophe resulting in 346 deaths and over $50 billion dollars of direct and indirect losses; people in positions of leadership, across sectors, tweeting away their latest “thoughts,” and thereby revealing to all how little leadership they actually embody; public officials – directors of hospitals, public health executives, ministers – emphatically telling citizens to follow health and travel directives during a pandemic, while vacationing in the Caribbean; the emissions cheating scandal at Volkswagen, impacting public health and the environment, and defrauding investors in their securities, resulting in over $30 billion of losses; the rushed British referendum on whether to stay in the EU, and the terribly negotiated Brexit deal, and on and on it goes ...
What we American executives often do not do is digest. We handle. Quickly. We don’t think. We don’t ask apparently absurd questions to see if we can discover profound connections and relationships in the order of things. We don’t because we don’t have the time. We’re too busy doing.
― Allan Cox, Business consultant and author
How many leaders, how many organizations, are making poorly considered, terrible, or outright deadly decisions because of the failure to lead calmly and deliberately, not to mention virtuously. So, beware not to lead in a hurry. Beware, over the years, not to be transformed, or deformed, into such a leader. Beware not to become an entire organization consumed by a culture of rushing. For indeed, superior leadership, superior culture and values, and superior organizations, are rarely, if ever, the product of speed.
Putting it into Practice
Spend time at the beginning of the week to plan to do what is most important, not just urgent.
Block out time in your calendar to regularly think and strategize, and protect that time.
Make a plan to simplify and streamline your work environment. Treat this as an on-going practice, to ensure that you do not get overwhelmed and always lead in a hurry.
Practice saying “No” to people, to meetings, to things that are extraneous or unnecessarily time-consuming.
Ensure that you are not propagating a culture of rushing with your team members. Empower them to work at healthy pace, to simplify their own work flow, and to say “No” to extraneous things.
Take vacations and encourage your staff to do the same.