I
want to pick a fight with the idea that business leadership means lots of
hours, 6-7 days a week.
Just
listen to the conversations you hear entrepreneurs, business owners, and
executives have. It’s almost as if entry into THE CLUB requires working around
the clock. It’s further exacerbated by peer groups, which help foster the idea
that many hours are required of business leaders.
“Everyone I know is putting in the big hours, so therefore it must be the right thing to do.”
I
have no complaints with working many hours – but I do have a problem with it
if:
- You have people working for you, and
- There’s never a change. You’re always working these hours, with maybe a slight reduction when you’re on “vacation.”
Leadership
ability is strongly correlated to the number of hours one MUST work. The better
leader one is, the fewer hours he/she MUST work (I stressed MUST for a reason - it's quite another thing if you CHOOSE to work many hours).
Note:
the quality of your employees is not a factor in the equation.
If
you’re a leader, and you’re working weekends and vacations, then you may have
some room for improvement when it comes to leadership (we all do, by the way). If
you disagree, think about it: shouldn’t your people be able to do the work that
you’re doing at 2AM, or when your family is actually on the beach and you’re in
the vacation home working? If you can get your people to do the work you’re
doing, you would get much more done and you’d fuel your business's growth.
Start
with this goal: when at work, work. When at home, be
at home. Don’t mix the two worlds up. Provide your undivided attention to your
work when you’re there; do the same for your family/friends when you’re not at
work. Don’t become the Ebenezer Scrooge that you swore you wouldn’t become when
you were a kid.
If
you want some help achieving that goal, give us a call at (202) 640-1908 or
just send me an e-mail!
Ingar Grev
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