Leaders Think Often
As I near the end of Habits of the Household, I covered sections on work, play, and conversations. This week I also visited Fort Cavazos to teach soldiers who are transitioning out of the military how to plan to start a business. As I reflected on my activities this week, the common prevalent theme was about the importance of leadership thinking time.
Thinking is so integral to the success of being a Steady Leader. It is important to spend time becoming a more effective thinker so you can be a better leader. Here are three things that help me as a leader to prepare for and execute my thinking time most effectively:
Protect the Time: By this, I mean to highlight the importance of literally setting aside time for thinking. Put it on your calendar - regularly. Ensure you are blocking enough time to enable yourself to go somewhere, physically, that gives you the space to clear your mind, avoid distractions, and actually put deep thought toward whatever it is you need to spend time thinking on. The point is that you have protected, dedicated time for this so you can hold yourself accountable to doing it. Don’t short-change yourself by blocking yourself too little time for this important task; you certainly don’t want to give yourself any excuses that could undermine your thinking efforts.
Create Structure: I believe that when you bring structure to your thinking time, you can do it more effectively. Choose your focus: a business topic, or a problem to solve, or an opportunity to pursue. Create boundaries around your thoughts so you don’t go digress too far from your intended focus. And then ask yourself, “what is the model I am currently using to solve this problem or pursue this opportunity?” For example, in our real estate business, we have a “33-touch” model we follow that outlines how and when we will communicate with our database of clients 33 times each year. The next step is to consider: is that model constricting your creative thinking? Is there, perhaps, any way(s) you could innovate on that model? Returning to my example: could we change how many times we reach out to clients each year? Could we change the ways in which we perform our outreach? Challenging yourself to structure your thinking time, and then push beyond that structure, can produce even greater productivity.
Pursue Health: You personally have to be in your peak state, health-wise, to think effectively. By health, I mean that you have properly taken care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Get a great night’s rest, exercise that morning, eat a healthy meal, meditate or pray, and offer up your fears and worries to a power greater than yourself. When you are healthy in each of these three areas, you will bring the proper mindset to your thinking time. Your brain will work more productively and efficiently. You must pay attention to your health to achieve your most effective thinking time.
By now, I sure hope you have subscribed to the truth that great leaders think often. They are intentional about it. A main part of a leader’s job is to think – for their business, for their people, for themselves. When a leader thinks effectively, the payoff is clarity. And the biggest benefit of clarity is that it produces a Steady Leader.
Go seek that clarity in your life – for your business, your people, and yourself. Don’t neglect your thinking time.
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Written by Schuyler Williamson
REALTOR. Leader. Veteran. Business Owner. Investor.
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God Bless!
~ Schuyler Williamson