It's Okay to Be Bored as a Leader
Just because you don't have an explicit to-do for the moment, don't throw everyone else into chaos.
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It's Okay to Be Bored as a Leader
Depending on who you are and your mindset on how companies should work, this may be the most controversial thing I’ve ever posted in this newsletter. Or it might the most plainly obvious.
For those of you deeply ingrained in the “hustle culture,” this is probably very disappointing to you and something with which you’ll violently disagree. I know, I know…you work 115 hours a week and get up at 2 am for your mediation followed by your 3 am visualization before your 3 hour workout, etc, etc. You’re better than all of us. I also have no idea how you managed to find and subscribe to this newsletter because it’s probably not your thing.
For the rest of us that act like normal humans when it comes to work and life, keep on reading.
Let me explain what I’m talking about with the title of this post first and then I’ll explain why it’s okay to agree with me. The general idea is that sometimes as a leader of a team or an entire company, you might find yourself with nothing to do. It might not be super common nor for a very long period of time, but it happens. This is totally normal.
If you find yourself with zero available time where you’re running from meeting to meeting and putting out one fire after another and approving 50 TPS reports and answering 15,000 emails, you might be doing it wrong. This is more a sign of a bigger disfunction in your company or how you’re running things, than what a normal workday should look like.
Take a look at my slightly exaggerated list in that last paragraph. Note that you haven’t actually created or built anything. You probably haven’t genuinely innovated anything or moved anything closer to the finish line. You’ve done the busy stuff. Yes, I know that some of it is actually urgent, but very little of it will be both urgent AND important, but we’ll talk about that another time.
If you find yourself with free time as a leader, it could mean that you’re doing it right. Assuming that your company is performing well, you being bored means the people you hired to do the work are getting it done and getting it done efficiently and independently. This is a reason to celebrate and not panic.
But a lot of managers in this situation get nervous. A few possible things run through their head depending on their personality:
“I need to look busy because I need to show people what I do matters.”
“I should check in on project (or person) XYZ.”
“Now’s a good time to change things up given this lull.”
“For what else can I use this rare time?”
Only one of these four is the correct response, but it’s the one that the fewest leaders default to in this situation. Let’s take a look at each one.
“I need to look busy because I need to show people what I do matters.”
There are so many things wrong with this that I don’t know where to start. If this is how your company works, then start looking for a new job. I worked for a company like this once where there was a very senior manager who would walk around the floor and see whose trashcan was in the hall. At the end of the day, you were supposed to leave it outside your door to be emptied (and somehow everyone complied with this). So, if your trashcan was in the hall and your light was off, that meant you left for the day. The slackers (or so his logic went) had their trashcans in the hall at 7pm.
That wasn’t for me.
Your team doesn’t want to see you busy. They want you to leave them alone to do their jobs. They would much rather see you collected and calm and letting them get on with their work, than interrupting them, but looking busy.
“I should check in on project (or person) XYZ.”
Unless person XYZ is expecting you, leave them alone. This is doubly true if you work for a tech company and have engineers coding or working on challenging analytical projects. Each interruption that lasts only a minute or two is actually a 30 minute interruption for most people. It takes them that long to get back to their place and flow they had before you tapped them on the shoulder and said something useful like, “how’s it going today, buddy?” Resist the urge.
Have regular planned check ins with people and projects. Don’t interrupt out of the blue.
“Now’s a good time to change things up given this lull.”
This might be the worst of the possible options. It’s certainly the one that can cause the most damage. A leader that gets bored and decides it’s time to “switch things up” is only going to cause trouble. Whatever comes from this isn’t likely to be very well thought out or planned. It’s going to just create extra work for someone and delay the things they already had prioritized.
Again, all this talk about being bored assumes your company is achieving it’s goals. If it’s not, you shouldn’t be bored; you should be figuring out what the hell is going on.
So, don’t “change things up” because you’re bored. No one else is and they’re already doing the things you told them to do.
“For what else can I use this rare time?”
This is the right answer. This is the thought you should have when you feel bored. Don’t do any of the things above. Use the time to do some research or set up meeting with people to learn more about the business. After all, you should know how every job and process works to some extent. Maybe help clean the kitchen or put up the holiday decorations. It’s okay…you’re not too important to lend a hand. Or maybe catch up on some reading (maybe an awesome newsletter like this one…and share with others…hint…hint).
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Great post! Great leaders make time to think!