Secrets to Balance Your Leadership

by Loreen Sherman, MBA

Leverage and Balance Time. Leadership is constantly on the go. Is this done? Did you finish that? In the course of the day many activities are required. Does the leader have to engage in them all?

The answer to effectively leveraging and balancing time is important to maintain a healthy attitude and reduce stress. If the leader loses his/her composure and is affected negatively from too much stress it can lead to health problems including heart attacks. This is not the desired outcome of being a leader. Instead, leadership should lead to a healthy and balanced mental and physical health.

One way to accomplish the semblance of sanity is to relinquish control. For some business leaders this is difficult and for others this is undesirable because often it seems that only they can get the job done. This is especially true when the company is starting a new project envisioned in the mind of the leader. Careful planning lends itself to much involvement and letting go of specific tasks sometimes feels impossible. "Only I can get this done!"

To balance oneself, one must learn to leverage time. There are only 60 seconds in an hour. One can use this time effectively or one can waste it. In business there is an adage "time is money." So, the question comes to what can an executive do to leverage time? Core activities that move the company forward should be explored and maximized. Are they the sole responsibility of one leader and if so why? If this leader was not replaced would the activity be unfulfilled? Whenever an activity is successful only because of one, how long will it take before a problem occurs or something happens to prevent its fulfillment? Obviously, the answer is not long.

Therefore, here are some time management principles to help leverage a 60 minute period:

(1) Systematize the action or the deliverable into steps that another could follow. Even though initially this takes time in the long run it shortens the workload.

(2) Prioritize the main activity and sub-divide it into smaller bite sizes for execution later.

(3) Determine that the activity will yield results.

(4) Transact what the activity means personally to the leadership.

(5) Measure the costs of inactivity and what no action will yield in the advancement of the company.

(6) Leverage time and weigh the importance of the activity to decide if this should be continued or is a temporary condition.

Learning new leadership skills strengthens business leadership. To learn more about corporate leadership strategies visit Loreen Sherman's business presentation on Gear Up For Successful Leadership.

Learning how to stay balanced and to leverage time effectively will help your leadership interact better with front-line, mid-level and top-level management to attain an empowered workforce. Business leadership that maintains focus has a competitive advantage. The role of leadership is to empower individuals and it starts with empowering the leaders.

How do you lead? What do you need to gain a competitive advantage, improve communications and be a high-impact leader?

Loreen M. Sherman, MBA is a Business Expert on Leadership Development who has over 20 years of inter-disciplinary organizational experience alongside faculty certification. She shares her insights and knowledge in her high-impact leadership modules and business presentations on leadership to help you at http://www.loreensherman.com/page/decisions-leaders.

As a leader you will learn how to increase your managerial decision making and learn how to optimize organizational behavior to help your company increase performance, productivity and retention.

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