If somebody inherited your calendar, what kind of organization would they end up running?
I can hear some of you now. “What kind of question is that?” But seriously. How you manage your calendar shapes your organization more than you might think. It both reflects and influences how proactive or reactive you and your team are.
🔵 Do you add your priorities to your calendar, even if they don’t involve other people? If you don’t, then other people’s priorities will naturally overtake your schedule, your attention, and your energy.
🔵 What kinds of items dominate your calendar? Are they reactive and task-oriented like incident reviews or proactive and people-oriented like one-to-one conversations?
🔵 How much time to you block for your own “Deep Work”? Does it allow you enough concentration to fully grasp the details you need to make effective big-picture strategic decisions?
🔵 How often do you reschedule your calendar items. How consistent and predictable are you with meetings that affect others? How flexible can you afford to be in moving your own personal priorities to make space to serve others?
🔵 When you do pre-allocate your calendar with your priorities, how much space do you leave to make room for others? If you fill it too full, you won’t have room to move anything, and others will be forced to ignore your busy status and schedule on top of you. If you leave it too empty, you may be overlooking strategic opportunities for personal and strategic growth.
Many managers abdicate control over their calendar to others, and it shapes the way they lead their teams. If you can reign in your calendar, you can begin to bring order to chaos and shape your organization for success.
If you’d like a confidential conversation to explore your specific calendar in more detail, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
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