Leadership Keystone

Respecting others’ time is a keystone of effective and impactful leadership. If the point of a leader is to effectively manage and implement change, then a certain degree of time must be afforded to the people doing the changing. Providing clear guidance and expectations should go without saying, but so often, it doesn’t. Instead, many people in leadership positions provide general information with a questionable degree of confidence in their delivery. As a result, subordinates are left guessing what they should really be doing because the leader didn’t share all the information required for the task at hand. So, everyone just needs to wait until the next meeting before taking action. What a waste of time.

Leaders must attempt to foresee challenges and ask questions on behalf of their subordinates. Don’t just receive a half-baked tasking and give the “Yes, Sir. Yes, Ma’am” without truly internalizing the mission. Be thoughtful and think as your people would. What resources are needed? What is the deadline? Who is the point of contact to follow up with should you, as the leader, have more questions? This ensures that you have thoughtfully processed what you are asking of your people.

Sometimes, a good idea fairy just spouts off wishes to see what will stick. Don’t assume and subsequently own a theoretical project or task because your boss mentioned it in passing or during a sidebar conversation. No. Don’t do it. Sure, you can think about it, but there is no need to activate the troops without clear intent. The last thing you want is for your people to spend time and energy working on something that is not intentional or truly warranted.

Once clear intent is gathered on your end, communicating timely information is pivotal. Don’t give your people information that is five days old and then hold them to an unrealistic timeline to get the mission done. No! You must backwards plan so the people doing the work have the time and resources needed to be successful. Your inability to get organized should not become someone else’s emergency.

There will then be questions. Leaders must be available for follow-on questions and to provide support. Subordinates shouldn’t have to wait for you. If something is important enough to take a member away from their regular job for a special or additional duty, be there for them in body, not just in spirit. I have seen members from other units sit on partial information, waiting for further instructions from their absentee boss. The members are then left having to answer for their boss’s inefficiency and lack of productivity. It’s very likely that the members will not narc on their boss, but will be left answering for him or her. No. Don’t be that leader. It corrodes culture.

Failure to be available for your members can have multiple negative effects. This assumes, of course, that you, as the leader, provide unwavering support and empowerment so your people can work problems and develop solutions to the best of their ability. Your people will impress you. But there will be times when you are needed. That’s what you are paid for! Telling your people to just email or text you is unacceptable unless you are geographically dislocated. Sometimes, a member needs to feel safe and worthy enough to have unfettered access to you.

Keep your door open. Invite your members to frequent it, even if they don’t have a real reason. As a leader, it is your job to be available. Hold yourself to the same duty hours as your team so they know when they can count on you and your time. More likely than not, they don’t want to waste your time. You should do the same.

But respecting time goes beyond meetings, taskings, and open doors. It also means recognizing that your people have lives outside of work. Every unnecessary late night, last-minute request, or “quick” task that turns into hours of work takes something from them. Sometimes that something is family time. Sometimes, it is sleep or the opportunity to simply turn their brain off for a few hours. Those things matter. A leader who consistently disregards them is sending a message, whether intentional or not, that their people’s time is less valuable than their own.

This is also where trust comes into play. When you give someone a task, give them the information they need, establish the desired outcome, and then let them work. You don’t need to insert yourself into every step of the process. Constant check-ins, unnecessary meetings, and last-minute changes don’t demonstrate engagement; they demonstrate a lack of trust and create more work. Empowerment means giving people enough space to actually do the job you hired, selected, or appointed them to do.

Ultimately, respecting time is about more than efficiency. It is about respect. Your people should not have to waste hours waiting for you to make a decision, sitting through meetings that could have been emails, or redoing work because you failed to communicate what you actually wanted. Their time is a resource, just like money, equipment, and manpower. And as a leader, you are responsible for how that resource is used.

Use it wisely. Your people are counting on you.