In a world of crammed diaries, decisions, hybrid working, exponential growth in data, and a volatile global environment, three essential acts of leadership are going missing. Why is it so challenging for leaders to practise these habits, and what are the simple steps that can make a difference?
We believe that time to think, time to build trust, and time for self are the neglected acts of leadership. This has nothing to do with negligence. The pattern of neglect that we are observing in our work with hundreds of leaders is happening at the same time as people are working harder and at a higher intensity than ever before.
For us, time to think is at the heart of productive leadership. We mean the quality of thinking that makes space for leaders to contemplate future challenges and unravel complexity, to move beyond immediate reactions and into strategic foresight. The best leadership thinking prevents crises by planning ahead. It creates clarity and purpose, and fosters creativity and the exploration of new solutions.
So where has time to think gone? Our clients describe barriers at global, organisational, and individual levels. From the permanent sense of crisis we seem to be existing in, to data overload, and a back-to-back meetings culture, leaders not only struggle to find time for reflection but also can’t think straight when they do carve it out.
Add to this the tensions that leaders are navigating: What is the value of thinking when I’ve always been admired for action? When do I step in versus standing back and thinking? And of course, where do I start in a world of big questions and no right answers?
In this environment, it’s not surprising that time to think falls out of day-to-day practice at a time when it is more crucial than ever.
Equally concerning is the neglect of building trust. There’s a persuasive body of evidence that demonstrates the benefits of high-trust organisations. In 2023, the MIT Sloan Management Review calculated that where trust is high, employees are “260% more motivated to work, have 41% lower rates of absenteeism, and are 50% less likely to look for another job.”
Yet Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends Review reported that employee trust in employers doing the right thing for them has declined from 80% in 2022 to 69% in 2024.
In our experience, the decline of trust in leadership has a longer timeline. Institutions and individuals who may once have commanded trust simply because of reputation and status can no longer rely on that certainty. Scandals have undermined public trust in organisations, from banks after the financial crisis to police forces and churches. Inappropriate behaviour by leaders across sectors has been exposed, resulting in ended careers.
At a time when leaders need to earn, not expect, trust, they are also negotiating a post-pandemic environment in which their essential relationships may be with people they are rarely in the same room with. Building trusting relationships in a hybrid world remains a work in progress, with differing attitudes about how successful it can be.
At a personal level, the hectic pace we highlighted earlier robs us of time for others as well as time to think. And when the moment for an authentic conversation arrives—for us, the DNA of trust—it can be undermined by fear of offence, hasty assumptions, or the simple challenge that we’re too tired to see and listen to the person in front of us.
One might imagine that with agendas and dilemmas like this, the value of leaders having time to themselves for reflection, recovery, and re-energising would be clearly recognised. This may be the case in theory; however, our experience suggests it is much less so in practice, leading to our third neglected act—time for self.
The extraordinary growth of the wellness industry, valued by McKinsey in 2021 at $1.5 trillion with an expected annual growth rate of 5-10%, might seem to indicate that we are very invested in caring for ourselves. Yet the same report uncovers that consumers worldwide don’t experience improvements in wellness. In fact, most consumers (with the exceptions of China and Brazil) report stagnation or decline.
For some of the leaders we work with, taking time for themselves comes with additional complications: feelings of guilt at taking time out when their to-do lists are endless and their teams overstretched; blurred boundaries between work and home; and not actually knowing what they really need to replenish themselves if it isn’t the new fitness fad, wearable tech, or supplement.
Let’s pause for a moment and breathe.
For leaders to be their most productive selves and to enable productivity in others, we need to stop, think, and make simple actions habitual.
In a world as cacophonous as the one we have described, simplicity can seem, well, too simple. For us, it is returning to the basics—not once, but regularly—that liberates us.
We recommend starting with:
- Taking back control of your diary. Take an ego-free look and ask: What should I stop doing? Or what could others do as well as me?
- Scheduling thinking time and using thinking directions to help you focus and make a start. We use four options, from Open Page for unlimited creativity to Planning, to help you anticipate what you need to be at your most effective in the shorter term.
- Making time for authentic and high-quality conversations with colleagues characterised by honesty, empathy, accuracy, and respect.
- Pinning down what you really need to be at your best. It’s a very personal prescription. Once you identify what it is, make use of techniques like habit stacking—blending a new habit with an existing one—to make a positive change easier to sustain.
Reclaiming the neglected acts of leadership is about making deliberate choices and taking action. In a world filled with distraction and tension, we believe leaders can enhance their effectiveness, innovate, and build stronger relationships, and in doing so, shape a more productive future.
References
https://www.mercer.com/insights/people-strategy/future-of-work/global-talent-trends/
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-build-a-high-trust-workplace/
www.oxford-group.com
