A common issue facing many of the High Potential clients we work with is the ability to fit all of their work and personal lives into the time they have. Most often it is the personal part of their life that inevitably suffers as they work longer hours, and fail to disconnect during the evenings, weekends or while on vacation. In some cases, they are already starting to see the impact of that imbalance in their significant relationships, their friendships, their health or their dreams. For the more proactive, they fear the inevitable if something doesn’t change. They will often describe their challenge as one of “Time Management” and look to their coach to provide well-worn tools and techniques for managing their time more effectively.
Quart in a Pint Pot
There is of course an entire industry dedicated to Time Management. You will find videos, books (summarized to save time of course), Apps and gurus ready and willing to help you pack more into your day. Using techniques such as getting up earlier (seriously!), building to-do lists, setting clear agendas, setting time-limits, and so on, they promise to help you squeeze that quart into your pint pot. Chances are, however, that the HiPo has already tried many or all of these techniques and is either (1) finding they don’t work or, more likely (2) finding that when they do work, the time they free up is consumed by… yet more work!
That’s why the coach will rarely approach this as a time-management problem.
“Work inevitably flows in their direction as their team, peers, manager and customers come to recognise that they will always deliver, no matter what”
As we discussed in previous posts exploring the Anatomy of Potential and The 20 [Bad] Habits of a HiPo– the High-Potential designation is typically given to those employees that are ready, willing and able to go above and beyond in support of organizational success. That will be driven by a motivation to deliver high-quality work, to grow personally and professionally, and to progress in the organization, but it may also be driven by a need to win, to control, to perfect and to please. Regardless of the drivers however, work inevitably flows in their direction as their team, peers, manager and customers come to recognise that they will always deliver, no matter what.
No Matter What?
In reality – the “What” does matter, because it includes the relationships, health and dreams we mentioned earlier. And that’s where the coach can begin to unpack the real challenge with their client, perhaps inviting them to consider the following:
- “Whose work are you really doing? What’s your work?
- “When you’re doing all this work, what aren’t you doing? What is the cost of that?”
- “What values are you honoring or failing to honor in your life when you take on more work than you can handle?”
- “If you solved this problem, what would your life look like?”
These are the kinds of powerful questions that begin to challenge the assumptions, beliefs, habits and behaviors that allow the HiPo to continue this potentially destructive behavior unchecked. That last one in particular can really get to the heart of it. Rarely does a client describe a vision for a life that is entirely full of work: They will also talk about their family, their friends, their community, their health and their happiness. They will describe a vision of a future where they have it all – a successful professional life coupled with a fulfilling personal life.
As the HiPo reflects on that vision, they can start to explore their priorities, both now and in the long term. How is their behavior today serving the vision they’ve described for their ideal future? And how is it contradicting the values they’ve described? They will begin to see that they are making choices that either align or are mis-aligned to the life they long for, and that is the most powerful insight: They are always at choice.
“Whether conscious or not, we are always making choices”
The Power to Choose
While we may have influence, the harsh truth is that we control very little. We can’t ‘make’ people think or act the way we want them to. We can’t control many of the external or environmental factors that affect our work or life. Serendipity is always at play whether we like it or not. What we always have, however, is the power of choice. Whether conscious or not, we are always making choices about how to perceive and respond to the world that is outside of our control. By recognising that we have the power to make those choices consciously, we can regain an enormous amount of ownership over our own experience, and our outcomes.
“Whatever the driver(s), the real power comes from breaking the cycle, taking themselves off auto-pilot and making conscious choices.”
When a HiPo comes to recognise this power in themselves, and the way they can harness it to affect their ‘time management’ challenge, and indeed all aspects of their life, then real and lasting change becomes possible. They start to see where they are making unconscious choices when work comes in: Perhaps they are unconsciously choosing to follow someone else’s agenda or priorities? Or unconsciously choosing to take on more work rather than to spend time with their family? With the awareness often comes an urgent need to understand what is driving those choices. Perhaps it’s the need to please people in authority, or to chase perfection, or to feel validated by being recognised for the work they do? Whatever the driver(s), the real power comes from breaking the cycle, taking themselves off auto-pilot and making conscious choices.
Even with this insight they may of course decide to behave in the same way – and outwardly, things may therefore appear no different. However, the simple act of surfacing the choice will still offer an enormous sense of empowerment as they begin to take ownership of their lives. But, more often than not, there are profound shifts in behavior when they become capable of saying “No” if it’s the right choice to make, as they work in congruity with their values and in balance with the vision for their life.
“As they start to reduce their workload to manageable levels, they will start to live more sustainable and ultimately fulfilling lives both inside and outside of work”
Everyone Wins
As a manager of a HiPo you may now be concerned that, with this new superpower of conscious choice, they will stop doing great work. In our experience what you are far more likely to find is that the quality of work increases as they are able to focus and prioritize far more effectively. Often the unmanageable workload is comprised of work they should have let go of (perhaps from a previous project or team) or work they should be delegating. Their priorities may be unduly influenced by the agendas of others that may not be aligned to your team or organizational objectives. Or they need to learn to stop when good enough is good enough rather than endlessly chase perfection. In addition, as they start to reduce their workload to manageable levels, they will start to live more sustainable and ultimately fulfilling lives both inside and outside of work. Their relationships will strengthen, their health will improve and they will have new energy to offer both you and themselves.
In short, everyone wins when we get past the time management myth and arrive at the true power of choice.
What now?
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