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Welcome to the third blog in this mini series – What does it take to REALLY lead?

If you have not read the first two blogs, please do read them first.

I covered:

L – is for learning.

E – is for example.

This time it is;

A is for Availability.

‘My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things’ – Bill Gates.

To be good at leading you must be available to the cause. You need to be accessible to those that you lead.

However,  what I have all to often observed is that leaders tend to be ‘very busy people’ and can get distracted from their primary role. Therefore to excel in leadership, you must allow your priorities to be challenged. Leaders need to guard their own time wisely in order to remain fruitful in their leadership.

As a busy leader myself, I have had occasions where I have said ‘yes’ to many things, ultimately to find that I spread myself to thinly and not serve people as well as I should. Saying ‘no’ would have served them, and myself better.

I totally endorse this quote from Tony Blair “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

As I grow and get better at remaining focused on what I should and should not do I become more liberated to say ‘no’ to ‘good causes’ and this ultimately helps me to remain in ‘my lane’ growing in effective leadership.

Jesus calls us not to be busy but to be fruitful. One of the keys to remaining fruitful is to be available to grow and serve in the areas you should do, and not to allow your time and effort to be taken up in areas that you are not really called to.

As a leader, not only should you remain available to those that you lead, but also you should have time to be available to invest in yourself. I come from the premise that you will always find time to do the things you want to.

If we want to bring value and growth to others, we must grow ourselves – this takes time. Making sure we are available for the ‘right things’ will tremendously help us in our journey.

In the increasingly busy world which we live in, we must constantly review our priorities to ensure that we remain available to the areas that are of most importance to us. Too often I have witnessed good people get ‘distracted’ from what should have been their  main priority, and loosing their focus in the process.

Making sure we keep the ‘main thing as the main thing’ will allow us to grow in our leadership and not be distracted by other ‘good’ things. Our focus and vision must be set on the bigger picture.

Are there areas in your life that you need to have a review to ensure that you are available to do the right things? Or are you simply being a busy person? Are you fruitful? Remember this, if nothing changes – nothing will change! Being radical with our time, helps us in our leadership.

History shows us that people of great influence were not great just because of what they earned or possessed, rather for what and how they gave their lives to accomplish.

If you want to grow in being an effective leader keep the main thing as the main thing and stay focussed on your vision, role and responsibility. Be quick to recognise distractions that often come dressed as ‘very good causes or opportunities’ and guard against them effecting your availability within the great leadership role you have been called to.

Keep an eye out for the last blog in this mini series, which will be released soon…..