Leadership Perspectives

Want to be more productive? Spend more time sleeping.

An article last week in the Wall Street Journal focused on the effect of adequate sleep – and sleep deprivation – on work performance.  Pointing out famous short-sleepers, such as the late Margaret Thatcher, who famously operated on far less than the often recommended eight hours sleep per night, the article makes the case that […]

The downside of failing to delegate

We are certain that leaders – at least on an intellectual level – understand the benefits of effective delegation.  Yet too many delegate too little.  Would we delegate more if we truly understood the impact of NOT delegating?  Perhaps. Here’s just a few of the consequences that arise out of a failure to delegate: You, […]

Benefits of delegation and why leaders don’t delegate

As leaders, we know that we should delegate so that we can spend our time more efficiently and give others in our organizations the opportunity to learn.  We also know that we don’t delegate nearly as much as we should.   We even know that there are negative consequences associated with not delegating more and we […]

4 ways to work more sustainably

Last week I wrote about working sustainably and the magic of pausing.  Here are some additional ways that leaders can work more sustainably. 1.  Examine your systems and fix ones that are inefficient Do you know exactly what you need to do and where to find the paperwork, tools, or other resources that you need […]

Working sustainably: The magic of pausing

When someone refers to a sustainable workplace, do you think of environmental initiatives; installing blue bins for recycling, replacing disposable water bottles with water bubblers, or retrofitting lower wattage light fixtures?  If so, you are not alone. On a bigger scale, perhaps you think of sustainability as it is discussed on the world stage, in […]

Six ways to tell if your performance is being stymied by clutter

Is your office super streamlined, without a paper or knickknack in sight? Are your files – what few you keep – neatly organized, out of sight, and easily accessible? Do you know immediately where to find what you need to keep your projects on track, whether it’s the notes from last week’s staff meeting or […]

Not getting anything done? Are you focused on Progress or Maintenance?

A client recently told me that the most important distinction I had shared with her was my notion of “Progress versus Maintenance.”  The concept is simple and it is one that I started working on very early in my career and adult life when I noticed how easy it was to get bogged down with […]

Priorities are a funny thing

I’ve noticed a funny thing.  Whenever I have a trip planned, whether for business or pleasure, I always start a few days or weeks in advance (depending on how far in advance the trip is planned) listing and trying to chip away at the things that I need to do before I leave. Listing the […]

Four step plan for cleaning up unresolved issues and projects

Those issues that you know you need to address but just haven’t gotten to, and those half-finished projects, often the result of multitasking (see prior post: Multitasking: a less effective way to cope), are like the proverbial ball and chain that weigh us down.  Over time, unresolved issues contribute just as much stress, if not […]

Multitasking: A less effective way to cope

Stress is inevitable.  Deadlines, decisions, presentations, staff issues, the economy, and much more conspire to make leadership a stressful endeavor.  Fortunately, we can choose how to deal with stressful circumstances.  Unfortunately, leaders often choose multitasking. Multitasking, the logical choice.  When overburdened leaders feel stressed out, the first coping mechanism to kick in is multitasking.  The […]