I am swamped! I have a to-do list as long as my arm. Everyday I walk into my office, new stuff pops up. I feel like I am always fighting fires or dealing with the regular day-to-day administrative duties and sales functions. And when I’m not doing any of that, I’m on the road.
Yes, I am productive. Yes, I get it all done albeit, sometimes by the skin of my teeth. But I still worry.
I worry about the future. I worry about what my organization will look like in 3 to 5 years. And it’s this strategic thinking that so often gets pushed to the side.
I am an entrepreneur, but this scenario is no different for most leaders out there. Anyone in a leadership position runs the risk of getting themselves into the same rut. Too much going on day-to-day and not enough time to think strategically about the future.
To be clear, strategic thinking is at the core of every leader’s responsibilities.
One of the keys to successful strategic thinking is to have time for strategic thinking. And the only way for any of us to get this time is to learn how to delegate better. By delegating better, we free up valuable time to look at the big picture and plan for tomorrow.
Strategic thinking requires strong delegation skills. Unfortunately, delegation is not one of my strong points and certainly there are many leaders out there that will claim the same.
- We need to more systematic and purposeful about our delegating.
- We need to understand that people around us are just as capable, if not more capable, of doing the stuff that we’re doing day in and day out.
- We need to take the work we do and prioritize it to give us a better road map to what we should be delegating.
In short, we need to take more time to train others around us to give ourselves more time to think strategically about our business. If we don’t take the time now to think about tomorrow there won’t be a tomorrow.
