Time is an absolute luxury and is becoming increasingly important these days. How much time do you allow yourself each day for managing and developing your employees? Or should I ask about the amount of time you spend on management each week? In our day-to-day work with our clients, we encounter many people who know a great deal about management in theory and are very knowledgeable about the subject matter. On the other hand, however, it is alarming to observe how few people manage to turn their knowledge into skills (i.e., into implementation and action).
A key vehicle for immediately putting leadership into practice is a leadership routine. A leadership routine is a habit or system that ensures that people consistently implement leadership. We humans already have many routines in our everyday lives that ensure results in a wide variety of areas. Would you like some examples?
- Sports program at the gym (e.g., circuit training)
- Regular meeting dates
- Regular meetings in production, such as shop floor management, etc.
- Regular events: birthdays, Christmas, New Year's Day, etc.
The goal of a leadership routine is to consistently implement a four-step system with regard to leadership.
Follow these four steps to implement leadership routines in your everyday life:
- Define time (days/time/duration)
- Define area (self-management/management of others)
- Select suitable elements from the guidance routine box
- Implement/Do!
Possible contents of the management routine box:
- Reflection/reflecting (self-management) -> Thinking through important issues and feedback in depth
- leadership guidelines and think through leadership guidelines (leading others) -> Structured document guide that is continuously revised and in which all leadership-related topics and areas relevant to an employee's leadership are recorded.
- Reading books (self-guidance) -> Lifelong learning and development
- Identify values (self-management/management of others) -> Recognize how I and my employees "tick"
- Meditate (self-guided) -> Experience peace and quiet
- Physical exercise/sport (self-management) -> Activate your body and keep fit
- Identify strengths (self-management/management of others) -> Identify your own talents and those of your employees using a strengths test.
Practical example
To illustrate how this can be implemented in everyday life even more clearly, here is a practical example of how one of leader we coach in one-to-one coaching sessions implements leader leadership routine:
- Weekdays from 7 to 8 a.m. (i.e., one hour daily)
- Combination of self-management elements and leadership of others (three topics per day, each lasting 20 minutes)
- Topic 1: Read a book for 20 minutes (self-management)
Topic 2: Complete 20 minutes leadership guidelines employees (leading others)
Topic 3: Do 20 minutes of physical exercise (self-management) - The leader committed to implementing this routine on at least four out of five working days and provides brief weekly feedback.
The three topics per day always remain the same for one to two weeks. After that, new content for the next period can be selected from the leadership routine box.
In our leadership training courses, we often find that people quickly grasp the concept of leadership routines on a rational level. However, they encounter difficulties when it comes to implementing them on a long-term basis. One-to-one coaching is an excellent way to help leaders integrate leadership routines into their daily lives and gain more time for leadership.
Based on feedback from numerous coaches, as well as our own experience, we can guarantee that your leadership routine time will become one of the most important and valuable parts of your day.
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