One of the BIGGEST mistakes I see with new/first time leaders (not necessarily first time ever, but in that ROLE)

There is a pattern I see in leaders where the moment things calm down - they step off the gas, they think - well hey my team is working and they’re doing enough, I can do less now!

This is also why founders we work with often delegate and then say the business stopped growing LOL.

It didn’t stop growing because they delegated, it's because they delegated and then they stopped growing the department, raising the standard on the team and THEMSELVES.

I get the inclination - but I need to be direct: that instinct is wrong.

When you have capacity, your job is not to slow down. Your job is to get ahead. That window of breathing room is the most valuable time you have as a leader because it's the only time you can work on the stuff that actually prevents the next fire.

Preventing problems is more valuable than solving them.

And what’s scarier than that is - your team is watching what you do when things are calm. They are always watching. When they see you heads down building shit, planning, improving systems even when there's no crisis or power from above forcing you to and that sends a message louder than any all hands or Slack post: "We don't coast here. We use the space to get BIGGER AND BETTER."

On the flip side if your team sees you checked out or in "maintenance mode" the second things stabilize, THEY WILL MATCH YOUR ENERGY. They always do. I've talked about this before, nothing you say will ever be louder than what you DO. And "what you do when it's calm" is one of the loudest messages you send.

This is especially important for those of you whose teams are running well right now. If your team is executing without needing you in the day-to-day - GREAT, that's what you built. But that does not mean your job is done. It means your job has CHANGED.

You should be spending that time working on the future. This means next quarter's plan, the hiring pipeline for the role you'll need in 90 days, the process that's "fine" but could be so much better, the development conversation with your high performer who's ready for more - you get to put time into things that used to be luxuries to think about or work on.

Why is that? Because if your team can't see what you're working on when you're not in the weeds with them, they will assume you're not working. That's not a trust issue, that's human nature so please don’t blame them.

Something I realized about 3 years ago when I watched a leader completely neuter their team with their own behavior is - your team's intensity in the present is a direct reflection of your intensity toward the future.

If you are not working hard on what's next on the plans, the systems, the strategy your team will not work hard on what's NOW. And if they do, it’s because you are not their true leader, someone else is and they are modeling that person and not you. (Sorry lol its true, there are lots of informal leaders)

Because why would they grind on execution when the person leading them doesn't seem to be grinding on anything? THEY WILL NOT OUTWORK YOU. They're going to match you. And if what they see from you is coasting, that becomes the ceiling for the entire team. I've seen this play out so many times it’s essentially a law of human nature.

The leader who's visibly building the future gives their team a reason to pour everything into the present. The leader who isn't? Their team decides "good enough" is good enough. And then six months later everyone's confused about why results suck and good people leave.

I'll share what I personally do when I find some capacity so you can pick what YOU can do:

1. I plan the month before the month starts.

Most leaders plan week to week. That is TOO LATE. By the time you're planning Monday morning you're already behind because you're likely reacting to whatever showed up over the weekend instead of executing against something you decided on with a clear head. I plan at the month level. Before a new month starts, I sit down and identify the 2-3 things that actually need to move forward in the next 30 days to hit my MITs. Not 15 things. Then I break those down into weekly blocks so that every week has a clear purpose before it begins. The reason this matters is that when you plan at the month level, you stop being surprised by your own calendar AND your teams (check theirs too) You stop getting to week 3 and realizing you forgot about that process you were supposed to redesign or that hire you were supposed to kick off. You also start to see your capacity in advance AND you can fill it intentionally instead of letting other people fill it for you. If you aren't doing this - uhhhh please start. It takes an hour at the end of each month and it will change the quality of your entire next 30 days. Your weeks become execution, not figuring-out-what-to-do.

2. I make my "future work" visible to the people around me.

When I'm working on something strategic whether it's the book, a new org design, a planning framework for the ELT team I share it. Not because I need validation but because I want the people around me to see that when I'm not in their day-to-day, I'm fucking WORKING. I'm building the thing that makes their next quarter easier. I'll drop a note in a thread, mention it in a 1:1, or share a draft and ask for input.

This does two things: it keeps me accountable, and it shows my team that "not being in the weeds" doesn't mean "not working." It means working on DIFFERENT things. You should be doing the same.

When your team sees you building systems, improving processes, planning ahead even when nobody asked you to, they learn that capacity is a runway, not you checking out. And remember what I said above - they ARE modeling you. If they see you investing in the future with urgency, they will invest in the present with urgency. If they see you drifting, they will drift. That is a guarantee.

3. I keep a backlog and I use Monday Hour One to pull it forward

We all have the ‘list’ whether it be on your phone, asana, your head, or paper. Most leaders keep this list in their head, which means it just floats around creating low-grade anxiety and never actually gets done.

What I do instead: I keep a running backlog. A WRITTEN one - prioritized, visible to me at all times. I look at it every week and it’s on my weekly list as well at the bottom in case I get free time by the grace of god lol.

Every item that's important but NOT urgent goes on it, the things I know I need to do but that no deadline is forcing me to do. Then on Sunday mornings before I open Slack or check email, I do what I call Sunday Hour One. I open the backlog. I look at my capacity for the week and I pull items off the backlog and schedule them into actual time blocks.

These practices make the difference between leaders who always feel behind and leaders who are consistently ahead. Both have the same list. One has a system for getting through it. The other just hopes for a light week that never comes :P

Bottom Line

If you are leaders, you must learn how to CREATE capacity, if you are not - then ask yourself why? That is the leaders job. Stop waiting for someone else to do it for you, and recognize it’s YOUR responsibility.

The best leaders I've ever worked with treat a lesser schedule as the highest and most precious thing they could ever get. They cherish that time because they know it's when they can do their best and highest leverage work. And their teams see that they do that and are HAPPY to work intensely on the present day as they know they open up room for their leader to build a better future.

Appreciate you all.

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