Leaders are busy people. They regularly have more things on their “to do” list than they possibly can achieve. But they don’t have to live and work that way. Do you know that it is possible to free up 30-50% of your time as a manager? If that interests you, then consider the following recommendations.

Most leaders stay busy. In fact, they stay so busy that they never take the time to evaluate what takes their time. Until you stop long enough to truly discover what’s taking your time, nothing will change. 

Because you are likely the top paid employee in your company, you should  primarily do things that align with your pay scale. If you’ve never done so, determine what it costs the company to have you on payroll. Make sure you include benefits as well as your salary. Divide that total number by 2,080 (40 hours x 52 weeks). 

For example, let’s assume the company pays you $140,000 in salary and benefits.  $140,000 divided by 2080 = $67 per hour.  

Take a look at the things you regularly do and ask yourself, “Would I pay someone $67 per hour to do those things?” If not, you want to rethink your daily task list. You should only do things that you would pay someone else $67 per hour to do. Otherwise, you are wasting your company’s money. 

Just doing things is not a good use of your skills and time. You want to do the right things, the things that require your $67 per hour expertise.

If you work in your areas of strength, your ROI (return on investment) will be high. If you work in areas of weakness, your ROI will be low. 

No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. As a leader, you want to discover what you’re really good at doing and spend most of your time doing that. 

How do you know what you’re really good at doing? If you’re really good at something, it is usually easy for you to do. It almost doesn’t feel like work. You will find yourself energized by doing it. In contrast, if you work in areas of weakness, it is hard. You struggle to get things done and find yourself drained at the end of the day. 

If you’re not working primarily in your strengths, you’re wasting your greatest asset. Working in your strengths produces tremendous ROI for your company. It energizes your workflow and improves the quality of your life.

When owners hire people, they expect them to develop on their own. While a few employees will personally develop themselves and improve, most will not.

One reason leaders carry much of the company load is that they have not developed their personnel. Because their employees have limited ability, they feel the need to carry the company on their back.

Frankly, this is just not smart. Instead, you want to hire competent people and help them grow and develop so that they can carry most of the company load. Your role as a leader is to develop such people.

Some leaders are fearful of developing people. They struggle to place their ego aside and recognize that someone might be able to do something better than they can, or they worry about a competent worker leaving the company.

In contrast, strong leaders delight in finding, developing, and retaining really competent people. They love seeing people grow, take on more responsibility, and add value to the company.  Seek to be that leader!

Once you find good people and develop them, your load gets lighter. In fact, I’ve found that if a leader properly structures his company, he can reduce his personal workload by 30-50%. 

Leaders often complain about how busy they are, but let’s be honest, some of us would struggle if we no longer did 50% of what we currently do. We might even be depressed. We want to feel needed.

You are needed, but maybe not in the way you think. You need to do leadership tasks, not daily grind tasks. For example, having the time to research and visualize how your company could grow is not a luxury but a necessity. Yet, many leaders are so buried in the daily grind that they don’t have time to dream.

In addition, developing people takes a lot of time. I share with clients who grasp these concepts the following statement: “Your role moves from doing to developing.” You do management things, not daily grind tasks.

Freeing yourself 30-50% also gives you the freedom to enjoy the fruit of your labor. You have time to dream again, to spend time with your family or friends, and to enjoy those hobbies that relax you. Don’t miss out on those things. They make life enjoyable and work more productive. 

If you find your schedule full and discover that you are doing a lot of the wrong things, reach out to me. 

If you want to reduce your workload by 30-50%, schedule a time to chat. It’s a no pressure call to help you gain clarity about you and your company.  You can schedule a short call here:https://penncoaching.com/meetwithdave