What about tomorrow?
There is so much talk about being in the moment, being mindful, really connecting with the now. All very laudable at an individual level and yes it does have a massive effect on people’s mental health.
There is however a down side to all this in the moment thinking. What about tomorrow? We are increasingly working with clients that are struggling to allocate enough time, resource and brain power to the future.
The truth is, being busy is easy. Anyone can do it, filling your days with:
Dealing with whatever is creating the most noise
What you like doing
Seems to be urgent
Firefighting
Mopping up after underperforming team members
But what happens to all the stuff that needs to be sorted to secure tomorrow – the new clients you need to find, the innovation that needs to be focused on, the proactive growth plans with key clients, the thought leadership you need to produce, the competitive analysis you should be doing, the people engagement you have been meaning to implement.
As you read this, I bet you recognise the scenario, I certainly do for my business as I write this! But where do you start? We know what doesn't work ...
Expecting them to do it on top of the work they already have to do
Allocating specific time in people’s calendar to do this
What you must do is make it a way of life, a key part of people’s role and something they are confident to do.
If you are interested in finding more about how we can support your teams to become effective in managing the demands of their clients and focusing time and energy into the future, we’d love to talk more.