Hello everyone,

I want to tell you about a workshop I ran not long ago.

I was working with a group of very capable, bright, mid to senior level managers in a larger organisation. We got onto the topic of presenting to the Exec. These managers had a monthly reporting cycle. The process was clear: get the pre-read deck out ahead of the meeting to allow the Exec to read it and be able to make the decisions.

Everybody knew the deadline. Everybody busted a gut to hit it, because the pre-read had to go out on time.

And then they'd get into the room to present their bit.

And it would become very obvious, very quickly, that several people around that board table hadn't read it.

Same result. Every month. And nobody said a word. Because that's just how it is.

Now I want to be clear. This isn't really a story about a pre-read.

It's a story about what happens when you look around the top of an organisation and realise that so few people up there are actually stopping to think. Not reacting to the latest issue or idea, not rushing from one thing to the next, actually thinking. About strategy. About people. About what kind of leader they need to be this week, this quarter, this year.

Because you can bet your bottom dollar the urgency culture doesn't start with you.

It starts at the top and flows downward. When the people at the top aren't modelling strategic thinking, aren't protecting time to plan, aren't showing up prepared, that becomes the norm for everyone below them.

And the managers in the middle, people like you, absorb it. Extend the day. Keep the plates spinning. And call that leadership.

Which it isn't. It's getting by. And there is a very big difference.

This is why I am so passionate about helping managers find the time to actually lead.

And in my experience, it all starts with what I call the Golden Hour. One hour a week of protected thinking time.

I know how that sounds. I know the look I get when I say it in workshops. But I cannot tell you how often, when I ask a room full of senior managers what their biggest insight of the day was, the answer is the Golden Hour. It comes up in action plans constantly. And the managers I coach who actually implement it always say the same thing: I can't believe what a difference this has made.

They tell me that planning feels like a luxury. And I understand it, I really do, as I have felt that myself. But if you are leading other people, planning is not a luxury. It is an absolutely essential part of the job. Because the idea that you're saving time by skipping it is a false economy.

All the problems that come from being reactive, putting out the latest fire, the missed conversations, the decisions made in a rush, that is what's eating your time.

The hour you don't spend planning costs you ten hours you didn't account for.

You do not have to wait for the top of your organisation to change. Because honestly, that permission is probably not coming. But you can decide to lead differently, right now, at your level, in your team.

Anyway, I've made a video all about it this week. It's a bit of a different one from me. I've got opinions and I wanted to share them 😉

​Watch it here.​

Let me know what you think.

Helen x