You are paid to Think, Not to do



‘To be an effective leader requires the confidence to do the so-called invisible work of thinking’

A leader has about 2,500 hours a year available to work, and a significant part of a leader’s role and what they are paid for is to think. It is therefore entirely okay for a leader to spend time sitting looking out of the window, thinking. Too often, thinking is seen as being idle or lazy. To be an effective leader requires
the confidence to do the so called ‘invisible work’ of thinking. Of course, while staring out of the window may involve considerable cognitive labour, it’s tough to explain to one’s colleagues. Dealing with minutiae gives the appearance of being busy, but being busy masks the fact that a leader can easily be busy on the wrong things.The importance of being seen to be working is not a new thing: presenteeism has existed since the dawn of the modern office.

For many leaders, having space and time to think is crucial to their success. And this goes beyond pure meditation. Mindfulness, the act of being completely present in the moment, not worrying about the past or the future, is currently in vogue.
Google’s 70-20-10 rule,which prescribes that staff must spend 70% of their time on core business, 20% on related tasks and 10% thinking about something completely unrelated, has caught on like wildfire among many innovative companies. Although some school of thought believed that to be successful, business leaders needed to act first, and think later ,however a large number of management experts believed otherwise
So, if giving leaders the time to think is essential, how much thinking time is enough? Experts believed that leaders should be aiming for a 50:50 ratio between thinking and doing. “But there is no need for absolute rigidity. There might be times when the balance is 60:40, for good reasons. The important thing is for the leader to understand the required balance and where it needs to be at any one time. Ultimately, leaders must find what works for them. But, before getting bogged down in all the technicalities of running a company, make sure that you are looking after and engaging your most powerful business tool ; your mind.