“Can’t talk now I’m under the pump!”

When leaders go on about how busy they are, they are modelling unhelpful behaviours and inadvertently sending bad messages to their teams, such as: I’m too busy to spare any time for you or your ideas, or I’m just super crap at managing my time. In most instances, you can’t avoid being busy, but you shouldn’t let your busyness define your leadership style. People need time to think and let their mind wander, otherwise they may miss out on good ideas.

People who are ‘so busy’ are not the high achievers, but people who are trying to make themselves feel important. Busyness can make a leader look insecure and try to make up for low importance with volume, or gives the impression that these leaders don’t manage their time well. Leaders can miss out on hearing ideas or challenges put forward by others by getting stuck in their own vortex of busyness.

Busy cultures breed burnout and reactionary behaviours, so people should do more ‘deep work’ with less communication and immerse themselves in longer, more ambitious projects. Leaders often will be too busy to attend meetings, but they should say something like “I don’t have the energy” rather than “I don’t have the time”. You can also try being more honest about your shortcomings in managing your schedule, and rewire your tendency to humblebrag about being busy.

Try to be genuinely interested in other people. Say, “I’m doing great, how about you?” when someone asks how your day is going. What have you been working on?’ Just take an interest in people. People fascinate me, so I want to know what goes on in their minds. Leadership is all about giving the impression that you have all the time in the world to talk to your team.