This week I casually asked a leader how he was doing. His response? He smiled and said, “My plate is full.”
I love that answer. In an age when our culture has attached a strange nobility to the notion of being “busy”, here was a leader who instead simply acknowledged that he was carrying a full load.
In other words, he had learned to avoid the “I’m so busy” trap.
You’ll never hear an effective leader get caught in the “I’m so busy trap” because they know it can actually communicate something quite different…
“I’m so disorganized…”
Some people attach a misplaced sense of nobility to the notion of being busy.
But in a lot of cases that frantic pace is just a reflection of poor organization skills and lack of focus.
“I don’t have clear goals…”
Without clear goals, a precise strategy and iron-clad priorities it’s easy to just run around from one disjointed activity to the next.
It might look like hard work, but in many cases it’s just squandered energy.
“I can’t build teams…”
Show me someone who keeps telling everyone they’re busy, and I’ll show you someone who might not have team-building skills.
Because leaders who know how to build, empower and motivate teams also know how to spread the work around.
“I’ve mismanaged this project…”
Nothing will bring out the “I’m so busy” chants quite as fast as a project that has been allowed to run amok.
Rather than fessing up, some people will simply grab onto the “I’m so busy” lifeline.
“I’m just trying to impress people…”
Let’s face it.
Our culture has hoisted the notion of “busy” onto such a pedestal that many people have simply learned to mimic the “I’m so busy” mantra merely as a status symbol.
So keep your goals clear, your projects in-line and your teams on task.
You’ll not only be more productive, but you’ll also avoid the “I’m so busy” trap.
