Leadership

Leadership Podcast: It's About Time, Part 1

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Thank you for joining the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast! Everyone wins when a leader gets better.

In this podcast, Craig discusses time—your most valuable, non-replenishing resource. You can always make more money, but you cannot make more time. You must learn to manage your time wisely. Poor time management results in well-intentioned leaders who consistently allow the urgent to overwhelm the important. Over Episodes 3 and 4, Craig will discuss four principles of great time management.

1. Schedule your values. Prioritize what is most important to you. Good time management doesn’t mean you do more, it means you do more of what matters most. The difference between the values you embrace and the life you live equals the frustration you experience. Determine your non-negotiables—they go on the calendar first. Invest your best in what matters most.

2. Say ‘no’ to many small things to say ‘yes’ to a few big things. The barrier to a meaningful life for most leaders is not a lack of commitment, but over-commitment. Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re doing the right things. Just because you can do something does not mean you should do something. At Life.Church, one of the core values is “To reach people no one is reaching, we have to do things no one is doing.” Conversely, you also need to not do the things everyone else is doing. Do the things which give you the highest return on your time and energy investment.

“Whenever you say yes to anything, there is less of you for something else. Make sure your yes is worth the less.” – Louie Giglio

Like what you’re learning? Share and subscribe to this podcast, and read the notes for Part 2 for Craig’s last two principles of great time management.

Discussion questions:

Here's an exercise you can do to grow as a leader—ask your team these questions:

  • What are the things you value most that you are not doing? What are you going to do to change it?
  • What do you need to add to your “to-don’t” list?
  • What are three important issues that have been crowded out by your urgent issues?

Questions from Leadership Podcast subscribers:

“What are some ways you can maximize your margin time?”

If you are asked for an impromptu meeting, meet in someone else’s office. You’ll have the opportunity to leave.

Don’t go out for lunch. Bring it, have it delivered, or meet for lunch where you work.

Limit the length of your appointments. Be up front about how much time you have, and stack appointments close to each other.

Don’t take calls or texts during the day. It breaks your momentum.

Reduce meeting times and frequency. It forces you to plan ahead, and it makes the time you do spend in meetings more valuable.

“If you could only do three things as pastor of Life.Church, what would you do?”

Craig said this is a question every leader should ask, and he said he would 1) preach, 2) create and guard the culture, and 3) identify, equip, and empower leaders.

“What are your thoughts on a ‘cult of personality’? How do you spot and avoid that type of leader?” Does the leader lead to himself or herself or do they lead to the organization? There’s a big difference between personal ambition and organizational drive.

Have a question for Craig? Email leadership@life.church.

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