Stop!

One of the most important questions to ask yourself in business and personally is, “What should I stop doing?” As difficult as this is, it is critical in becoming an effective leader and successfully managing your time. Follow these four tips to help STOP doing the things that hold you back.

1. WHY STOP:

An extremely powerful way to improve your effectiveness as a leader or manager is to stop doing so much. No matter how hard you work and how well you manage your time, there will not be enough time, UNLESS you learn to stop doing things you should not be doing.

2. WHAT TO STOP:

Stop everything that is not you at your highest and best use — the use where you contribute the most and often uniquely to your organization’s success. Leaders must stop dong the details of operations to shape the future of the business. Managers must focus on the highest value aspects of their work. Front line employees must stop busy work and make time to focus on real work. Most all of you reading this spend too much time in the business and too little on the business. A Harvard Business School article reported that over 150 executives in large companies spend, on average, less than three hours a month on true strategic issues.

3. HOW TO STOP:

Develop the ability and confidence of the people around you so you can delegate.

Delegate what you will stop doing to them. Failure to delegate extensively restricts growth.

Design systems so you never have to do repetitive tasks; build better linkages between people and departments with systems.

Delay things that are not urgent.

Discard items which are not important and urgent.

4. STOP EVEN TRYING TO SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM:

Select the ones that will move the business forward. Use your Vision, Mission, Purpose, and Core Values to guide your drive towards your top three business objectives.