The Math That Makes You a Better Leader

In the late 1400s, the word ‘priority’ entered the English language as a singular noun. It wasn’t until the 1900s that we began pluralizing it, and once we started, we haven’t stopped.

That pluralizing habit is a math problem, and not the kind leaders usually think about. I know we want leaders to focus on growth and improvement, but often the addition (or multiplication) of growth needs to come after subtraction.

Subtraction is most challenging in two situations, and I’ve faced both.

• Opportunities seem to be everywhere! When things are really good, it can be hard to say no. While “no” isn’t subtraction, more “yeses” likely lead to a greater need for it.
• Times are hard. Our company has found itself in times of revenue shortfalls, and in those times, it is easy to keep thinking of new things to try. It has always been my experience that working on 1-3 actions (rather than trying everything we can think of) leads to better results, because we remain more focused and give our best efforts to the actions we picked. 

What Do Leaders Need to Subtract?

• Priorities. Nearly every organization, leader and person I talk with has too many priorities. How many do you have? If you have 5 (or 7 or 9!), you don’t really have any.
• Projects. How many projects can people really work on at one time? How often have you found yourself losing time and effectiveness by switching between projects?
• Goals. If you can’t remember your goals, they aren’t guiding you in a meaningful way. And the more of them you have, the harder it is to remember them.
• Tasks. I’m guessing you have too many tasks, and so does everyone on your team.

The key point in all of these is simple: less is more. 

Less helps us focus. Less reduces stress. Subtraction becomes a multiplier of effort, focus and results.

How Can Leaders Subtract?

It is easy to nod your head in agreement about reducing priorities, projects, goals and tasks, but intellectual agreement doesn’t ensure implementation. Here are five ways to help you separate the good from the best.

• Acknowledge most all are good. Subtracting something doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea or wouldn’t add value. Subtracting good things is part of this process. Remember that you are removing things that are good so you can work on things that are best.
• Ask: “Will they all get done?” When you look at the list of tasks, goals, and projects, ask yourself if they will all get done. If not, why do we leave them on the list? Reminding ourselves of this is a great place to help us start subtracting.
• Think 80/20. 20% of the projects will get you 80% of the results. You likely already know which ones those are. Subtract the rest (at least for now).
• Think sequence. Subtracting an item now doesn’t mean “never”; it just means “not now.” The item you subtract today might be the most valuable thing to focus on 3 or 6 months from now.
• Ask: “What happens if we don’t?” This is a powerful question we don’t ask enough! Ask it about every item on your list and subtract if the downside of not doing it is minimal. 

How Can Organizations Support Subtraction?

The ideas above will help anyone subtract from their overload. But often organizations aren’t good at subtraction! Every new missive adds to the task list and workload. If you want to help leaders practice subtraction, here are three things you can do:

• Check your starting point. If your organization is already in need of subtraction, start there. Leading by example is always the best approach when you want to make something change in your organization.
• Share subtraction criteria. If you want people to simplify and subtract, give them suggestions on how to decide. Criteria might include revenue implications, budget implications, timing implications (among other things). Clarifying which things matter most will help everyone subtract more effectively.
• Replace, don’t add. Whenever you add a new initiative, help people remove something they are already working on. Sometimes the new thing isn’t new but is connected to an existing priority. Chances are people won’t see that the connection. If it isn’t a new item, help everyone see the connections and you won’t disperse nearly as much focus or add as much stress.

All these actions are things we can do and teach/encourage others to do too. As we get better at subtraction, we will become leaders who get better results.

Several of our expert guests at last year’s Virtual LeaderCon independently talked about the importance of the habit of subtraction as a way to increase results and reduce stress. This is one example of how valuable the event was. Want to gain wisdom from world-class thought leaders in real time and interact with them directly? Join us this month for Virtual LeaderCon. Learn more and register for free here.