Why Leaders Need to Master Intentional Time Management

Navigating one of the biggest - and most common - challenges for leaders

Aug 08, 2024

When you’re in a senior leadership role and wanting to achieve big, every minute counts.

There are important things that you want to do and there are urgent things that you need to do. Yet the degree to which you are able to get both done hinges on how successfully you maximise and manage your time.

Yet what seems like the simplest of skills is one that even the most experienced and successful leaders frequently need help with.

We all have the same amount of time. 24 hours. Every day.

Yet how do some leaders achieve more in the time they have? Why for others does it feel like a constant fight against time? And why does it sometimes feel like your diary is managing you, rather than the other way around?

Nearly 15 years ago a high performing Director, and new mum, said to me “Before I had children I used to think I was efficient with my work time. Now I’m efficient.”

It was an observation that stuck with me and it made me question how efficient we really are with our time.

For high achievers and ambitious leaders, learning to optimise the time you have available is critical.

There will always be things that fill your time. And there will always be things that get in your way of you doing what you really need or want to do.
Additional is never going to come; unless you create it.

So how can you make space for the things that you really want to be doing?

Here are six things to help you be more strategic with your time:

Wise words: In leadership there is always something urgent. And always something important. Yet they’re not always the same. In today’s volatile and unpredictable world, leaders have often had to be drawn to the urgent, doing what you need to do to get through the next day/week/month.

Yet constantly focussing on the urgent, risks sacrificing long term strategic value.

I’ve been using the model that stemmed from President Eisenhower’s quote above to help clients identify actions that are both urgent AND important.

Where do you and your leadership team naturally spend your time?
What’s the minimum amount of time you want to focus on the important each week? What is it now?
How often do you strategically review where your energy should be invested for maximum benefit?

Concept: The famous Pareto Principle has been widely applied since its economic origin. In business and leadership you can apply the concept to time and effort; 20% of your actions generate 80% of the results. On the flip side, 80% of the things you do likely have no direct impact on the overarching results you want to achieve.

What can you take from this concept?
Which activities get you the results you need?
What activities are time sappers that don’t have a direct impact on your goals?
What can you do to grow the activities in the 20% bucket?

Stop it: Jim Collins, the management thinker advocates creating a stop doing list, as well as a start doing list. For leaders with big ambitions this year what do you need to stop doing? What will you do instead?

Live it. A super simple tip that’s popular with clients is to use a sticky note on your PC or write your top three goals on a desk notepad; so they’re always right in front of you. The key is not to just look at them though (as inspiring as that might be). Instead actually use them to drive how you spend your time. Every day and before key tasks ask yourself: