John Hersey Leadership Blog

Have you ever had someone stick their head in your office and ask “hey, got as minute?”

Of course you have. Well, when is the last time the question was followed by just a minute of your time? The “just a minute” is usually much more time. It takes your time, breaks your flow and makes you unproductive.

When a person asks this question they are really saying “I have a problem that I would like YOU to solve. I have a monkey on my back and I want to put it on yours”. No wonder we end our day feeling as though nothing got accomplished.

The 30 Minute Rule changes the game and keeps you productive. Here is how it works:

1. When the person asks “got a minute” you answer “Not really. I am right in the middle of something important. I would really love to spend some time with you. Could you come back in 30 minutes?” You want to appear genuinely interested in helping them but just unable to do so at the moment. Be polite and sincere, even if you are not in the middle of something important.
2. Don’t worry, if the challenge cannot wait the person will tell you so.
3. In 85% of the cases the person will say “sure it can. I’ll come back.”
4. in 90% of these cases they never return. They wanted you to solve their problem. Usually they find it was not such a big problem after all, or, they handle it themselves.
5. When they do return in 30 minutes listen carefully to the challenge and then ask what they have done to handle it. When they say “well, nothing, I wanted to discuss it with you first” you know you have someone who either can’t make a decision or they want you to do their work. In this case, ask them to suggest a solution or two. More often than not they have the correct answer.

Leaders are problem solvers but often we confuse this with doing someone elses work. We do not develop the leadership skills of others by jumping in and solving their problems. It may make us look smart and be the hero but it wastes our time and fails to develop them.

Try the 30 Minute Rule and see for yourself just how much quality time you have during your day to do the things that really matter to building your business. Also, see how people develop as leaders. Overall, sit back and watch how productivity soars in your organization.

Be Well & Be Contagious,

John

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Behavior, Coaching, Leadership.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.