One doesn't necessarily think or talk about physics and leadership in the same sentence, but the events of the past several weeks - including a variety of political machinations and challenges in Alberta, Canada, North America and throughout the world - engaged my imagination (delusions) and came to rest on a couple of physics concepts that seem to resonate for me and leadership.
Now I'm not going to profess to being an expert in the field of physics. I successfully avoided the subject through high school and university! I have just enough awareness of the concepts to be dangerous and think I can draw some comparisons to leadership and work challenges.Being very much a wanna be science geek, as attested to by my love of astronomy, Star Trek and the Big Bang Theory, I start to see a relationship between leadership and physics. No more so than as it relates to events that have driven changes in my work and that of my clients through such things as COVID, but also by seemingly distant events like wars and dislocation taking place throughout the world. Add into this mix challenges to supply chains, labour disruptions, and the ever-increasing speed of AI applications and we have a recipe for large scale change and disruption.
The first physics concept that strikes me at present is the relationship between work, time, and power, which brings my own time management and prioritization into focus. When I started my entrepreneurial and business venture over seven years ago, there was the challenge of striking the balance between clear opportunities in the moment versus the need to continuously invest in planting seeds and developing new or better service offerings. The challenge of important versus urgent that we all face. Now add in the new dynamics I have mentioned above and time management and prioritization take on a whole new significance.
As I write this, I continue to make changes in my practice that have both been challenging and beneficial. Almost all of my work has taken on a strong virtual flavour rather than in-person connection. This has also opened up a new landscape of international work with connections now being made and sustained in countries like Germany, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mexico, and Finland. Time zone management in individual and team/group coaching has added a new dimension to my daily juggling efforts.
My translation of the concept of Power as it relates to leadership and business is that power represents our ability to achieve and to get things done. Power is certainly a time-based concept and quantity as all of us know too well. The level of Power we are able to achieve directly relates to two key factors: the amount of Work effort we bring to bear on any one task, and the amount of Time it takes to complete a task (or that we are prepared to give to it). Simple enough on the face of it.
As I work through the current reality it becomes abundantly clear that Work and Time exist in limited quantities! At a certain point there is no more Work to be applied or Time to be had in relation to the quality of Power (or quality of accomplishment) that we expect or can achieve. There are bigger forces at play right now and our priorities are getting reordered almost hourly. Quality and commitment are having to be revisited along the way. Simplification and flexibility are the watchwords of the day.
We often undertake pieces of work, invest in initiatives and in other people and relationships for all the right reasons. We believe we see some current or future value in this investment of our time and energy. Sometimes we have really done our homework while other times we become enamored with the idea of what has been presented to us or is before us.
However, in service of Power (or quality of that Power), we need to make appropriate commitments of Work and Time. Nothing good comes for free.
Now if you google "time management" you'll get a host of tips for getting more Work done in a given Time period in service of results/Power. This list often includes delegation, forensic audit of your last week's or last month's calendar, block off time with yourself, schedule time for inevitable interruptions, take the first 30 minutes of your day to plan, and turn off your technology. If you are like me - and most of my clients - you've done most of these and are still feeling challenged.
A breakthrough for me came when I started to think, "How would I coach one of my clients through this type of scenario?" I started to ask myself some hard questions. What was I prepared to continue to do to make this particular task successful? How long was I prepared to continue to make the investment of Time and Work into the venture? How did that investment of Time and Work relate to other things that were giving me more Power?
The light bulb came on when I recognized that rather than trying to find more Time or give more Work, I needed to really think in terms of efficiency in service of my personal Power (or ultimate goals). Once that equation came into sharper focus and I really owned my personal priorities, the decision became clear (although not necessarily easier). The hardest decisions I had to come to terms with were ones of key priorities and personal choice. Ultimately the same struggle that any one of my clients deal with - being clear on priorities and making hard choices. And that's what leadership is often all about, whether it relates to leadership of self or a business.
One additional side note. The achievement of Power (accomplishment) is, for better or worse, a simple matter of your own Work and Time. Rather we have to deal with the concept of Friction and a potential to lose impact from your own Work. There are other forces in the environment that can confound your efforts. I needed to take that into account as well when considering my decision. In my particular circumstance it was clear that there were too many other points of Friction at play that were not allowing me to make the best use of my personal Work and Time to achieve my full Power.
Long story short - Time and Work are bounded for all of us. We have to be wise enough and strong enough to make the right choices in service of our Power.
Leadership is about setting priorities and having the courage to act upon those priorities. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, but that is leadership.
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE(R), CEC, PCCExecutive Coach/Senior Consultant
gregh@breakpoint.solutions
www.breakpoint.solutions
780-918-0009
Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.
