It seems like being a leader is all about keeping busy: emails, meetings, making decisions, and solving problems every day at the workplace. But the main idea behind effective leadership is not about doing more things. It's about choosing to do the work that matters most. By learning to prioritize what is most important as a leader, people can focus their time on activities that have a lasting impact on the company rather than just producing for a short time.
When people aren't able to prioritize their work, they tend to be reactive to situations rather than proactive. That means they allow urgent messages and unplanned issues, as well as the distractions of day-to-day life, to dictate their schedules. Over time, this type of reaction to situations leaves little opportunity for strategic thinking. With that in mind, leaders who have set clear priorities can ultimately lead their teams from a position of focus, clarity and purpose.
What do Priorities in Leadership Mean?
Like any other type of leader, when a someone is prioritizing, they are trying to determine what tasks or initiatives will take priority over others. They have many demands being placed upon them, so they need to evaluate all of the competing workloads based on both urgency and the long-term effects those workloads will have on the organization.
Prioritizing effectively is important for a leader because it allows them to apply their resources (time, money, people) to get results instead of being spread over multiple initiatives. Good prioritization means narrowing down to a handful of actions which produce the greatest results.
Why Do So Many Leaders Get Stuck in the Prioritization Process?
There are plenty of reasons many leaders get stuck with the sheer number of new opportunities and requests that are constantly coming their way. The first one is, with so many great things available, it can be difficult to determine which ones need to be addressed first. A second reason that many leaders fail to prioritize effectively is due to the culture within some organisations.
Many organisations reward people who are able to respond quickly and immediately, rather than those who take the time to thoroughly analyse the situation, weigh the options, and come up with a well thought-out decision to move forward. In this type of culture, leaders are placed into "reactive mode" as opposed to spending time considering what actions they should take to reach their longer term objectives.
Leadership Frameworks That Help Set Priorities
Frameworks and processes are both designed to help leaders define their leadership priorities and assist with the completion of projects. They're there to help leaders establish priorities through well-structured decision-making tools. The Eisenhower Matrix is an example of a popular project management tool for classifying work by noting its level of urgency and importance. This allows leaders to separate what needs to be accomplished today and what needs to be completed later.
The MoSCoW Method is another useful framework for establishing priorities when managing a project. This methodology classifies items that need to be done, into 4 different categories of importance. This assists leaders in determining which tasks are immediate and which tasks can wait until later. The MoSCoW Framework divides work into following four categories:
- Must Do: Critical work needed for successful outcomes
- Should Do: Work that contributes to success
- May Do: Work that can be done if within budgets and timelines
- Will Not Do: Work that will be done at a future date or not performed
By utilizing the above frameworks for projects, leaders can improve upon the quality of their decision-making and limiting the influence of pressure or urgency during the process of determining priorities.
An Action-Based System for Establishing Leadership Priorities
An effective method for determining priorities is to have a solid understanding of the organization's overall goals. Leaders must know exactly what the individual/team/organization is going to accomplish over the course of the next few months in order to maintain strategic clarity and stay aligned with long-term goals., so that when they have clear strategic goals defined, they can easily assess which of their activities truly contribute to achieving those goals.
After obtaining clarity on what they're trying to accomplish, leaders should then take a good look at their current workload and commitments.Frequently, leaders will discover there are items that use a lot of their time to little avail relative to the broader goals of the organization. Establishing a limited number (ideally three to five) of high-impact priorities ensures attention is focused on work items that create significant incremental progress.
An example of a practical prioritization process would include:
- Identify the organization’s important goals
- Create a list of tasks, projects, and responsibilities that are currently ongoing
- Evaluate the items in your task list based on impact and urgency
- Focus on a few (three to five) high-impact priorities
By using a practical prioritization system, leaders are able to prevent themselves from becoming overwhelmed and provide greater levels of focus and attention to their most meaningful work.
Learn a deeper look on Align Team Goals with Company Strategy, Explore How to Align Team Goals with Company Strategy
Conclusion: The Benefit of Prioritization as a Leader
Learning to prioritize as a leader can greatly benefit both your ability to get things done personally (your productivity) and the overall performance of the organization you lead. When leaders focus their energy on the things that will have the greatest impact, they can provide their teams with the most clarity and confidence in their guidance.
Through the use of clear goals, structured decision making frameworks, and the ability to delegate effectively, leaders can establish a focused environment in which their teams understand what matters most. Over time, this increased clarity establishes alignment that produces results and ultimately allows organizations to achieve their objectives with purpose.
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