Are You Making Time to Lead?

A Reflection on Stepping Up and Prioritising Leadership

In the context of our day-to-day work leadership can feel like another item on our already crowded to-do list. Our plate is often piled high with demands for outcomes and productivity, meetings, deadlines, and emails.  This keeps us in a reactive state, where we are often addressing immediate concerns without making time to intentionally lead. But leadership isn’t something that just happens. It requires deliberate focus and time.

The question I often ask myself is: Am I making time to lead, or am I just getting things done?

Leadership can’t be left to chance, it’s not enough to lead when it’s convenient or when there’s time.  

I have come to realise that for me to lead effectively I need to carve out specific moments for it. What about you?

For me, this means regularly stepping back from the day-to-day to focus on bigger-picture thinking. Some of the ways we can consciously make time to lead include:

1. Blocking Time for Strategic Thinking: I reserve blocks of time on my calendar every week/month that are non-negotiable. This is where I’m not focused on doing but on my direction, potential obstacles, and long-term goals. This time is for clarity on how I can achieve success in a more meaningful way.
2. Regular Team Check-ins: Beyond typical meetings, a practice that works well is scheduling regular check-ins with team members where the focus is on them—their growth, aspirations, and challenges. This is not about giving feedback but about listening. These conversations create space for leadership opportunities to guide, and support others.
3. Prioritising Development: Leading isn’t just about achieving short-term goals but ensuring long-term development for yourself and your team. Making time for learning is critical—whether it’s through reading, attending leadership workshops, or engaging with mentors.

This is about creating the routines and habits that will give you a foundation to lead and support you to be consistent in your leadership.

Leadership can’t be confined to routine check ins.   While making time is important, it’s equally crucial to recognise when to step up and lead in the moment. This means seizing the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive.

Stepping out and leading in the moment normally happens in two ways:

1. In Moments of Uncertainty: Step up when things don’t go as planned. There will be moments that require you to switch from doing into a role where you provide clarity, direction, and support. It’s not just about solving the problem—it’s about modelling calmness, resilience, and a forward-thinking mindset for the team.
2. Identify When To Be A Change Agent: Leaders must be able to identify when to be an early adopter of change.  There are times when stepping out and leading means being the first to embrace new ideas, challenge the status quo, or take a calculated risk. If we don’t proactively lead in these moments, the team can become stagnant. It’s our role to encourage innovation and growth.

Making time for leadership doesn’t have to be complicated. The key is to start somewhere and to remain committed to the journey of growing as a leader. 

Here are a few simple strategies that I’ve found helpful:

1. Leadership begins with self-awareness. One simple way to start leading more effectively is by scheduling time for reflection. This could be 15 minutes at the end of each week to ask yourself questions like: What went well? What could I have done better? Where can I step up and lead? These reflections sharpen your leadership instincts over time.
2. A common reason we don’t make time to lead is because we’re too busy in the doing. One way to free up time is to delegate more effectively. Empower your team to take ownership of tasks, to create space for yourself to focus on leadership and provide growth and accountability in others.
3. Not every leadership moment requires a formal meeting or process. Sometimes, leading can happen through simple, everyday conversations. Making time for casual check-ins with team members or peers can be powerful moments. They may seem small, but they add up to creating your leadership presence.

Start Small.  Making time to lead starts with a mindset shift. It requires us to move from a reactive, task-oriented approach to a proactive leadership approach. You don’t need to overhaul your entire schedule to make time for leadership. Start by identifying one or two areas where you can step out and lead more intentionally. Maybe it’s dedicating time to mentor a team member, or perhaps it’s starting each week by setting clear goals for where you want to provide leadership. Small, consistent changes build the habit of leading.

Leadership doesn’t just happen because you have a new title or a team. It requires conscious effort, reflection, and the discipline to make time for it. In my journey, I’ve learned that leading effectively means intentionally stepping out of the day-to-day grind and focusing on long-term vision, empowering others, and being present in the moments that matter.