A Total Leadership experiment is a planned change — a doable stretch. It is deliberately aimed at making life demonstrably better in all four domains — work, home, community, self.
A quick review will show you the range of experiments and help you come up with ones that are best suited for your situation.
- Tracking and reflecting experiments involve keeping a record of activities, thoughts and feelings to assess progress on goals. This can increase self-awareness, help maintain priorities and clarify what’s important.
- Planning and organisation experiments involve taking new actions to use time better and plan — say, using a technology for organising or creating ‘to do’ lists that involve all life domains. One participant set a few ‘must keep’ dates with his wife and children, which he treated as not just an appointment but as a “deliberate attempt to define things better with stakeholders” at work and at home.
- Rejuvenating and restoring experiments involve attenr exercise programme is a common restorative experiment. One participant arrived at work earlier so she could leading to mind, body and spirit. Engaging in a regulave earlier and spend the evening at the gym or with friends. This motivated her to be more productive during the day and to meet deadlines she set for getting out of the office.
- Appreciating and caring experiments involve having fun with people, caring for others and appreciating relationships.
- Focusing and concentrating experiments involve efforts to be physically or psychologically present when needed by key stakeholders. Sometimes this means saying no.
- Revealing and engaging experiments involve sharing more of yourself with others — and listening to them — so they can better understand your values and support you. Effective leaders continually nurture connections.
- Time-shifting and re-placing experiments involve working remotely or during different hours to increase flexibility and efficiency in different domains. These experiments often make you question traditional work methods.
- Delegating and developing experiments involve reallocating tasks in ways that increase trust, free up time, and develop skills, often through working smarter by reducing low-priority activities. By assigning more responsibility for data analysis and report writing to her team, an investment banker freed up more time for her projects while presenting staff with a chance to learn new skills.
- Exploring and venturing experiments involve taking steps towards starting a new job, career or activity that is a better fit with your core values and leadership vision.
Stewart D Friedman’s ‘Total Leadership‘ is published by Harvard Business Press in June.
