Do you know how many of your leaders are getting up at 4am in order to ‘get their work done’ before the day’s meeting frenzy begins?
It’s likely to be more than you think.
Or perhaps not – perhaps you’re also trying this tactic to get on top of your meeting overload?
This is an alarming pattern that I’m seeing in my conversations with senior leaders. For example, one high performing, high achieving leader who is in line for promotion has recently started getting up at 4am to clear his work schedule.
He wasn’t getting ‘the important work done’, had no time to think; his days and weeks were jammed-packed with meetings.
To feel satisfied that he was doing a good job, he’d resorted to stretching his working day by three hours. Yes, starting at 7am just wasn’t doing the trick!
Apart from feeling increasingly exhausted, he still wasn’t feeling that much more productive.
Then a repeat conversation with a senior executive running a major business brand: in that organisation, people felt no compunction about calling meetings on top of meetings. It was stressful just to look at her schedule.
The ‘open diary’ system, designed to increase visibility in the new work-from-home world, seemed to fuel an insidious if unintended disrespect for others’ time.
When meetings take up all your top performers’ time and yet they no longer ‘get work done’, there’s a real problem.
Unproductive meetings are a large part of the burnout epidemic. It’s a price people shouldn’t have to pay, and if it results in ill health and resignations, it’s a price your organisation can’t afford.
Discover more about burnout in my new book FlexAbility, or by listening in to my recent conversation with Mark Butler here.
Book a call with me today to find out how my FlexAbility Coaching helps you take stock, reset, and to take back control of your work and your life.
