33: The Myth of Lazy + Plan for the Unplanned

Transcript – Episode 33: The Myth of Lazy + Plan for the Unplanned

Joe:
Businesses everywhere are struggling to find and keep staff. Why it’s happening and how to stand out if you have roles to fill. Plus, the productivity hack that will keep you calm and sane during even the busiest times. It’s all ahead now on Boss Better Now.

Alyssa:
You’re listening to Boss Better Now. Please welcome speaker, author, and kayaker, Joe Mull.

Joe:
Welcome back, BossHeroes to the show for smart leaders who care deeply about being a great boss, but don’t always know how. If you’re looking for some laughs, or some advice, or a little pick me up, well, that’s what we hope to give you on each week’s show. Please welcome my co-host, professional coach extraordinaire -I like putting that word in your title, Alyssa, – Alyssa Mullet. Hello, my friend.

Alyssa:
I feel like I should go “Ta daaaaaaa!”

Joe:
We should have our little sound effect, like coach extraordinaire, *ding* Alyssa Mullet.

Alyssa:
Oh, I don’t know. That was…what is that? Triangle? I feel like the triangle is the essence of weakness to me.

Joe:
Oh, man!

Alyssa:
I feel like… I think…

Joe:
That’s some major shade toward the triangle.

Alyssa:
Well, you know, it’s gotta bump up its game. I mean…

Joe:
You know that the triangle is the strongest shape in engineering

Alyssa:
Really? Is that true?

Joe:
It is. Yeah.

Alyssa:
Or is that just made up?

Joe:
It denotes strength.

Alyssa:
Like you just made that up.

Joe:
No, I swear. That is something I heard a long time ago and that I am certain is true.

Alyssa:
Huh.

Joe:
Don’t ask me to cite a source, but yeah. The triangle is for strength.

Alyssa:
That’s pretty interesting. Ok. Alright.

Joe:
So, I say again, Alyssa Mullet, coach extraordinaire *ding* Strength.

Alyssa:
Okay. Maybe it’s resonating a little more now. I’ll take it. I’ll take it. And maybe it’ll grow on me. Maybe it’ll grow on me.

Joe:
I like –  we used a musical instrument and you said resonating, that kind of works together too. It’s so good to see you. We were on a little hiatus for a little while. So, if you stuck with us through a little bit of a summer break and some spacing out of our episodes, we greatly appreciate that. And I am so excited to be here with you too, my friend.

Alyssa:
Yay! Let’s do it! Let’s get into it!

Joe:
Let’s do this. Well, uh, we’re starting today by talking about something that I call the ‘Myth of Lazy’. Um, if you’ve been out in the world, my friend, you’ve seen “help wanted” signs everywhere, right?

Alyssa:
Yes. I have.

Joe:
We, we all know that many businesses are struggling to hire. And if you’ve been on social media at all, there’s this kind of collective narrative that has been out in the world. And, and it’s been out for a while and it rears its ugly head from time to time, even before the pandemic. But I’m hearing it now more than ever. And it’s this idea that well, people just don’t want to work.

Alyssa:
Ahhhh. Yes.

Joe:
Uh, this idea that ‘well, people are lazy’. Uh, and that the reason that so many organizations are struggling to fill roles right now is because of a lack of work ethic, uh, or people mooching off the government, right? I’ve had many conversations and seen many things posted about, well, the little bit of extra unemployment is keeping people from taking jobs. Um, I had a conversation at a conference recently with, uh, a dear, intelligent, respected colleague who said, “Well, the problem is stimulus. Everybody got stimulus. And uh, you know, they, they went on vacation or they, they don’t want to work because they got stimulus.” And there’s just no data to back any of that up. Um, go ahead.

Alyssa:
I’m chomping at the bit because, you know, my whole take on this is obviously it’s…mine’s not based upon anything with data. It’s what I have seen in my coaching practice. It is what I have felt myself. Is that throughout this, uh, period of time we have blurred the lines of work and life, if you will, so much that people have completely burned themselves the heck out. And now that people are starting to say “No, no, no, no, no, no, sir, no more. This is what I want. This is when I want it. And I’m not going to settle or make myself available for more than what I want in my life.” The moment we put up those boundaries and we tried to re-establish, then you get this, ‘people are lazy’, ‘people don’t want to work.’ That mentality of the whole, ‘we’re just the products, the widgets that we’ve made the productivity machinery’. Right. I call BS on that too.

Joe:
Yeah. And so much of what you described as a part of this collective restacking of our values that has taken place since…during, and since the pandemic – since doesn’t feel like the right word, since we’re still in the thick of it but, um – let’s think about what happened during the pandemic, right? A lot of businesses…if you think about the businesses that are struggling to hire people the most right now. Which are restaurants and retail, right? And so many of them endured closures, endured, uh, furloughs. So many folks who work in those industries were told, you’re going to have to figure out how to live with less work, and guess what happened. They figured out how to live with less work. And the, and, and, and these are folks who are saying, you know, what I can get by, or I am not going to continue to endlessly suffer in these roles that are so challenging when there are new opportunities and better opportunities out there for me now. The industries that are struggling the most to hire staff, restaurants, and retail, are typically the roles that have the lowest pay, lousy hours, high stress at work, rude customers, and little to no benefits. And all of a sudden, these folks have said “Wait a minute, I can get a call center job working from home during banker’s hours for the same pay? Why am I killing myself waiting tables all night, uh, in these environments for less than?” And so that I think is a big part of this. There’s been this collective shift around quality of life. And these, some of these industries are going to have to figure out how to catch up with that in a way that’s going to be really challenging.

Alyssa:
Absolutely. Those are some brilliant points to bring up. And I think the … the thing that those of us who are not in those industries need to remember is how are we a part of the problem, or how can we help to try to dismantle some of those, um, biggest challenges in retail, in restaurants? Meaning, number one, be a freaking decent human being whenever you go into these establishments!

Joe:
Right. Right.

Alyssa:
I mean, there’s a reason why there’s a term called a ‘Karen’. There’s a reason why people are filmed at the airlines going crazy. I mean, people need to take a step…I get enraged just thinking about… Just thinking about watching those videos of people getting enraged.

Joe:
Alyssa has wild eyes right now. If you’re watching on the YouTube channel.

Alyssa:
It’s… Kindness counts. It counts so much. And I think that as a person who partakes in those industries, who goes to stores, who goes to restaurants, it is incumbent upon us to re-establish our expectations of the people that fill those roles.

Joe:
There’s a meme going around lately, uh, that I really quite like it says the whole world is short-staffed right now, uh, be kind to those who showed up.

Alyssa:
Hmmm. Yeah.

Joe:
And it’s absolutely true. Um, you know, and I think the… the businesses who are able to attract and keep talent are going to be those who most quickly accept that this is a total sea change, that this is a paradigm shift. Oh, I used one of those HR phrases, no paradigm shift, but it’s true. Um, we’re not going back to the way it was. We are not going to have…if I’m running a restaurant or a retail store, we are not going to have access to the talent pool that we had before the pandemic.

Alyssa:
Right.

Joe:
Because the entire world has figured out how to make remote work, how to make work from homework. And it’s… It is a sea change for a lot of industries who are now going to be, uh, robbing your prior talent pool of the people who relied on the restaurant and the retail industry. And so, the things that these industries have to do in order to now attract talent and retain talent are actually the same things that all industries are going to have to do. So, you know, we have a lot of folks who listen to our podcast who work in healthcare, who work in technology, who work in a kind of traditional white-collar, uh, quote-unquote roles.

Alyssa:
Yeah.

Joe:
And so, the things that they have to do to attract and retain talent are the same things that restaurants and retail are going to have to do. And, and namely higher pay – yeah! But also changes related to quality of life, flexible schedules, better workload distribution, a better leader, training, and support. This is another reason why restaurants and retail are struggling a little bit because we know those industries typically have little training or support for leaders. Those folks who were in leadership roles or are promoted based on tenure or they’re the owner. And the result is that restaurants and retail everywhere are filled with bad bosses. And, uh, you know, I’m not trying to paint with too broad, a brush here. I’m not making a broad-sweeping generalization. That’s not founded in the data. We know that those industries typically do not have leadership development and support programming for folks who supervise others. And, anecdotally, on our Boss Better Now YouTube channel and whatnot, the comments that we get, uh, overwhelmingly about bad bosses and from being frustrated with leadership come from those industries. And so, if I go to work and I endure any of those things that we just listed related to hours and pay and schedule and rude customers. And, uh… And I have, uh, like you said, uh, a bad human being, right? If I work for somebody who, who barks at me and yells at me and treats me like crap…

Alyssa:
Yup.

Alyssa:
Um, it’s not sustainable.

Joe:
And so, these are the things that all industries are going to have to do. They’re going to have to think about that leader, training, and support. And you know, and the other thing too, Alyssa, is regardless of what industry I work in, what we know about human nature is that employees want to have a voice. They want to have some influence. And so, coming to work and just being told what to do and when to do it without having any chance to influence how, when, or where I work, uh, that that’s robbing people of what they need to be successful in this day and age as well.

Alyssa:
And that’s not lazy.

Joe:
Right!

Alyssa:
That’s empowerment. Right?

Joe:
Right.

Alyssa:
So, trying to understand our own maybe, um, slanted backgrounds of what “productivity” and what, um, “work” actually looks like in order to, uh, be deemed worthy and how many hours and all of the rest that got to start taking the back seat there on those old, washed-up habits. It’s a new land out there. Just like you said, we have to try to change at the highest levels. The pool is going to change. We’re in a whole other ocean now.

Joe:
And the ‘Myth of Lazy’ is debunked by the data that we do have. So, we know that – and I brought stats, get ready!

Alyssa:
He brought stats! Oh boy!

Joe:
Here we go. You know, we had 4 million people who left their jobs in April, and the numbers were similar in May and June. So, you know, almost 12 billion people (Alyssa: Wow) in the last few months who have left their jobs. And when you look at the data among all separations, and this is according to the latest job openings and labor turnover survey across all separations. So, you’re talking about layoffs, firings, retirement, quitting, et cetera.

Alyssa:
Okay.

Joe:
Straight up quitting made up 69% of all total separations. And it’s being sparked. This is what the … the latest job openings and labor turnover survey has said. It is sparked by people’s confidence that they can get a better job. That has nothing to do with “lazy”. It’s not that people don’t want to work it’s that they don’t want to endlessly suffer anymore in a job that takes a toll. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t willing to deal with difficulty or stress at work. This is a really important point, I think, right? Because the … the shade that we ended up throwing at “these kids today”.

Alyssa:
Mmm-hmmm.

Joe:
Is that they just can’t tolerate the hardship that I’ve dealt with in my job. And that’s bunk. The suffering has been constant. The suffering for you — think about our frontline healthcare workers. And in the last, you know, 19, 20 months, the compassion fatigue was gone a year ago. Okay. Um, the, the people are willing to endure ups and downs and hard times and stress and difficulty, but it can’t be 24/7.

Alyssa:
It can’t be relentless.

Joe:
When it does, people get fried, they get burned out and they say, I need to do something else because otherwise, I’m going to…I’m dying slowly. It’s death by a thousand cuts.

Alyssa:
Absolutely. I think I’ve said this before on the podcast, but, uh, it reminds me of this whole thing again, of people establishing boundaries and that boundaries are the highest form of self-compassion.

Joe:
Absolutely. Yes.

Alyssa:
And so, if we can orient ourselves to the fact that it’s not lazy, that’s self-compassion. And if you think that that’s lazy, then maybe you need to direct some of that self-compassion towards yourself. And then start directing it outward too. So, every time we go into a restaurant, every time we enter a store, every time we interact with our fellow freaking humans out there, compassion.

Joe:
Absolutely. You know, and the other side of this is that those boundaries are relative to the opportunities available to us to set them. And what I mean by that is that in a super tight job market, where there isn’t as much opportunity, I maybe don’t have as much flex in my life to set those boundaries. Okay. I need a job. I got to pay my bills. And the only things available to me based on my education or experience are these kinds of roles with these kinds of hours in these kinds of settings. And so, I settle and maybe I settled for a while. But in this market, when there is so much opportunity, and so many people are hiring, I have all the leverage as an employee.

Alyssa:
Yup.

Joe:
I now have the potential to set better boundaries to say, I’m going to take a job that allows me to be at my kids’ afterschool activities now, for the first time in years. I’m going to set boundaries for myself that say, I’m going to prioritize different things in my life or my health. This is what happened during the pandemic. People who were forced to live with less work, suddenly find themselves exercising more or eating healthier, or spending more time with their kids. And they’re living a better quality of life. And so, in this market where opportunity allows that to be a boundary now, it’s what’s happening.

Alyssa:
Oh, that’s, uh, you just, triangled the heck out of all of that! Zing, ding, ding! I triangle you!

Joe:
A triangle of strength. You know, and… I want to…I want to say one more thing about this because this is where it kind of gets my goat. And I almost, I almost made this one of our Stop It! segments, but I didn’t want to rant.

Alyssa:
Rant away!

Joe:
But to bring our triangle full circle…

Alyssa:
Oh, God. Too far, too far.

Joe:
Sorry. Sorry. The laziness is actually on the part of the people who are espousing the view that people don’t want to work because they’re lazy. That view itself is lazy. It’s really easy to espouse a broad character defect on a whole group of nameless, faceless people. That just betrays a deep cynicism – right? – about people, but at levels of values, judgment against people. And even worse than that, it’s just fundamentally not true. Like when you talk to people, when you look at data when you go out into the world, and you find out why people aren’t working. Are there lazy people? Are a few people being like, ‘Yeah, you know what? I don’t want to work. And I’m going to mooch off the government a little bit.’? Of course, there are, but it is a smattering. It is a sprinkling compared to the overwhelming majority of people who are out there. So, it’s just, it’s lazy and an uninformed opinion. And we see that opinion a lot across generations, right? The number of folks who want to label the generation coming in behind them as having a lesser work ethic or lower, less established values.

Alyssa:
Yeah.

Joe:
There is no research or data that bears that out. And so that too, that too is lazy. I mean, yes, some people aren’t wanting to work, but it’s a smattering and that’s not unique to the generation coming in behind you. There have been lazy people forever. (Both laugh) Right? In every generation.

Alyssa:
Yeah.

Joe:
And so, so the next time you see your, your crazy uncle post on Facebook, about how these people today, nobody wants to work. And it’s, it’s “people don’t have a work ethic.” Uh, if you want to engage, go ahead, and engage. I don’t do that because it’s, I just don’t have the patience for it, especially on the cesspool that is Facebook. Uh, but know that it’s a myth it’s not true, and there’s nothing out there that bears it out.

Alyssa:
Excellent. Excellent points and strategies and mindsets. Thanks, Joe.

Joe:
Well, I thank you. And I would welcome any other additional feedback from folks who are listening or watching, um, you know, good, bad indifferent, agreed, disagree. You can, uh, send your comments to us here at bossbetternow@gmail.com. If you’re watching the episode online, you can just drop a comment below the video. We will see all of those. And we, of course, thank you for listening.

Joe:
And that brings us to the Camaraderie Question of the Week. Bosses build teams by giving folks a chance to experience camaraderie. And we do that by making it easier for people to find things in common with each other. That’s why, here on our show, every week we give you a question you can use at meetings at huddles, at get-togethers, at gatherings to facilitate connection and build camaraderie. Now, this week, Alyssa, we are in the throes of back-to-school season and in classrooms, everywhere teachers are assigning students, their first essay of the year. It’s usually something like how I spent my summer vacation. And so, this is your camaraderie question of the week. If you had to write that essay, how I spent my summer vacation, what would you write about,

Alyssa:
*laughing* You know, I was trying to figure out like, um, you know, when Ralphie, like what, what is the … the, uh, he has to write a theme…

Joe:
Yes. He has to write A Theme.

Alyssa:
Yes.

Joe:
I want you to write A Theme.

Alyssa:
It was A Christmas Story movie, folks. A Christmas Story movie.

Joe:
Yes!

Alyssa:
Um, so I was trying to think on the cover sheet, what if I was Ralphie, what I would write? And I, I came up with the perfect thing.

Joe:
Oh!

Alyssa:
“I Screwed the Shoulds.”

Joe:
Ah, tell me about…Shape this essay for us, Alyssa.

Alyssa:
So…

Joe:
I assume “the Shoulds” are not your neighbors and that this is going to get inappropriate. No?

Alyssa:
No. No.

Joe:
Okay. Just making sure.

Alyssa:
We’re good.

Joe:
We’re coming up to the line there with that one. Okay.

Alyssa:
I like all my neighbors, mostly, um… None of them listen to this. It’s okay. Um, in any case, my whole thing was, you know, there were lots of things maybe I should have done. Definitely should have done some professional things. I had goals in mind that, you know, for myself, for writing and all of these other projects that I have going on that I, for the first time in my adult life, said, I’m not going to meet a goal that I set for myself. And I’m going to be okay with that. Um, so that was the major, big theme. Um, and I replaced all of the ‘should’ with why not? We went to the amusement park, we went to, uh, kayak on the lake. You’re a kayaker, I’m a kayaker only because my husband is a kayaker, and my kid wants to be a kayaker. So, therefore, I am a kayaker. But mainly it, like, I just enjoyed the outdoors. I enjoyed my little family.

Joe:
Yeah.

Alyssa:
My husband. My son. And I was just going to be present and all the rest of the shoulds screwed right off.

Joe:
And that’s what you should do with your summer. Right? I mean, you just nailed the things that, you know, when we look back on the various stages of our lives, are the things that we’ll remember most and assign the most value to. And so good on you, my friend! That all sounds amazing.

Alyssa:
Thank you. High-five, me.

Joe:
High-five.

Alyssa:
All right. So, tell me about your summer vacation, little Joey.

Joe:
How I spent my summer vacation… Loving the Christmas story reference, by the way, my all-time favorite Christmas movie. Um, eminently quotable. We quote it all the time all year long, especially my sister and I. And so, for you to drop, I want you to write a theme. It just makes my heart sing. And so, I’m thanking you, I’m thanking you for bringing that to the podcast today. Umm…

Alyssa:
Fra-gi-le. Fra-gi-le.

Joe:
“It must be Italian!” All right. If I’m writing this essay. I found that when I was thinking about this question, I very quickly got caught up in the negative. Like the first half of summer had all this great client work and I was traveling and then like the numbers with Delta variant are surging again. And things are like half of my fall calendar has been wiped out again. So, it’s like living this kind of Groundhog’s Day with what we did in 2020. And that’s very frustrating. And I thought, no, no, no. I had all these wonderful things that happened in the summer. So, I’m going to make the choice to write my essay on a … in a positive bent. And so, I’m going to answer the question with the positive things that happened. And then the two big things for me this summer, um, were spending time with my two families. And so, um, in June I got to go to the National Speakers Association national convention, it’s called Influence, uh, in Las Vegas. Um, I was elected to the board of directors for NSA.

Alyssa:
Oooohhh!!

Joe:
And so will now serve a four-year term and really get to give back to this organization that has meant so much to me. And, uh,

Alyssa:
Congratulations!

Joe:
Thank you.

Alyssa:
That’s awesome!

Joe:
Thank you. And so, I spent eight days, four days for all of the board of directors’ work and then four days for the conference and just got to be immersed in so many incredible people. So much talent, so much, so many incredible relationships that, uh, mean a lot to me and have formed over the years. And our conference obviously was canceled last summer. So, this is the first time in almost two years that we’ve been able to gather in person and got to watch a very dear friend of mine get inducted into the speaking hall of fame, uh, which was really special. So, so that was the first part of summer that was in, in June. And that was, uh, really a lot of fun. And then the other family, of course, is my family unit, right? My wife and our three kids. And we got to do a couple of fun things this summer. Um, I got to take my mom and my sister on a trip where I did a keynote, and we had some fun together. And then when I came home, we all went with, with my wife and kids, uh, to a week at the lake where we got the kayak and swim and, uh, when it rained, we all went roller skating, which we hadn’t done in years. Um, and by the way, that is not like riding a bike. It does not come back.

Alyssa:
Good to know. Will not try.

Joe:
It is awkward as hell at 44. You know, you strap those skates on you’re like these are old school, traditional skates. And I did this like, uh, like a complete pro when I was nine. Uh, and now I look like I’m having a seizure standing up so…

Alyssa:
My butt hurts just thinking about it.

Joe:
Wasn’t good. I got smoother as the time went on, but, uh, I’m glad nobody filmed me. So, yes. So those are the … the … the ways that I spent my summer vacation for me were really highlighted by family time, my professional speaking family, uh, and some, some trips and fun time spent with my family.

Alyssa:
That’s awesome. And this is a great question.

Joe:
I like it.

Alyssa:
Especially this time of year. It, it like roots people back to what that whole thing is that we’re trying to… the illusion of balance that we’re trying to have weighted in these things. So that’s an awesome question to ask folks.

Joe:
And if you take this question to your teams and your huddles, I want to encourage you, listeners to, um, ask for detail, not, you know, we don’t want to push past people’s boundaries of self-comfort and oversharing, but you have those people on teams who will answer the question, you know, how did you spend your summer vacation? Oh, we went to the beach. Oh, you know, not much I built a deck, you know, ask for a little bit. Well, we’ll … we’ll tell us a little bit about that or what, what was the best part of that? Maybe ask an open-ended follow-up question that, that actually tries to draw out a little bit more detail or, oh, you went to Myrtle Beach, do you go there every year? Do you stay in the same place? Do you do the same things over and over again? You know, don’t, don’t, you’re not trying to be intrusive, but when, when we bring out more detail that actually helps people find these things in common with each other and access each other’s humanity in the way that we’re talking about with this question.

Alyssa:
Absolutely.

Joe:
And that’s the Camaraderie Question of the Week!

Alyssa:
Are you planning a meeting, conference, retreat, or event? Why not invite our own Joe Mull to be your keynote speaker?

Live event audio:
How many people here who supervise have had their time, attention, and energy devoured by someone who is not committed? If yes. Say yes. And an Amen. See, like I said.

Alyssa:
Joe teaches leaders, how to boss better and cultivate commitment in a way that is funny, captivating, and filled with takeaways.

Live event audio:
Do you believe that these people are coming to me and telling me that I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong?

Audience Member:
Oh my gosh, wonderful. Really engaging and thought-provoking, which is really great with lots of good tools to take home. You felt present –  like you wanted to lean in. You didn’t want to pick up your phone and scroll through Facebook.

Alyssa:
Whether your event is virtual or in person, your audience doesn’t want another boring 60-minute lecture. They deserve to learn and be inspired by a world-class program they simply cannot turn away from. That’s what you get, guaranteed, from Joe Mull.

Live event audio:
We can all agree we want our employees to care and try, but care and try isn’t about competence. It’s about commitment. And commitment can’t be bought. It can only be earned. Your number one job as a leader is to cultivate commitment.

Alyssa:
For more information, visit JoeMull.com/speaking.

Joe:
All right, Alyssa, you may recall that in our last episode, which we recorded a while back, we had this really, I think, um, fruitful conversation about the ‘Myth of Productivity.

Alyssa:
Yeah, yeah.

Joe:
And we … we ended up talking through all of these ways in which we try to manage our schedules, and manage ourselves, and manage our expectations about what we can accomplish in one day. And it led us into this really interesting conversation about how we turn that into an evaluation of our own competence when we don’t end up showing up in a superhuman kind of way around productivity, right?

Alyssa:
Yup.

Joe:
And I ended up having some notes about that conversation that didn’t make it into that segment of the podcast that I thought would actually make for an extra little fun add-on, because…

Alyssa:
Ooh!

Joe:
It was an idea that we didn’t talk about much in that segment, but I think is worth mentioning. And that is this idea of planning for the unplanned. And, and for me, this actually might be the most important productivity hack that a leader can build into their routines. And I have a feeling that you do this in your life and or you did it when you were in corporate America. And so let me tell you what I mean by this. Uh, one of the things that I have figured out, and it’s taken me a long time to do this, is I have to build in time, not just to be productive, but to be reactive.

Alyssa:
Hmmm.

Joe:
When I put together my schedule each week, I am blocking out time in my calendar, obviously for meetings and other things that I am scheduled into. I’m also blocking out time to work on the things that require my attention. So, I know that I need to block an hour to write out the podcast episode agendas and run sheets before we record, and then send them to you. I know that takes me an hour. So, whenever that’s coming up, I know I have to block an hour to do that. When I’m preparing for a keynote, I always block two hours before the keynote and usually two or three weeks before the keynote for all the customization and whatnot that we do. We always build into my schedule, a minimum of that amount of time. And so, for years, what would end up happening is I would fill my day with all this stuff. I book my day with meetings and… And calls and whatnot and appointments, and then the work time. And so, you would open my calendar and you would see from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM, bang, bang, bang, everything back-to-back work time. And, and I would even get good at building in what I call tasky time. T-A-S-K-Y. Tasky time. I would block tasky time, like half an hour or an hour in the day. And that’s jumping into email and catching up on a bunch of the little things that need to happen. I called it tasky time.

Alyssa:
Ok.

Joe:
And I was like, this is, this is, this is working for me, but then it really wasn’t. And I realized that what I wasn’t allowing for was flex space in my schedule to react to the events of the day and the people around me. And so, my new approach is to only schedule about 60 to 70% of my day.

Alyssa:
Oh.

Joe:
To leave about 30% of my day, excuse me, for reaction. Responsiveness. And here’s where that comes in handy. So, if I’m in the middle of this two-hour window where I’m working on the customization of a keynote for a client and the member of my team pops into my office, because she just got an email, and we need to talk through the best way to handle the request or respond to the inquiry. I’m not suddenly going, okay. I just lost 30 minutes of the keynote prep time that I need to find someplace else. That time is built in for flexing. I know, I know I have it there in the day because I’ve left enough kind of clear space between some things to shift and move on the fly. So, this is my advice to leaders: recognize that we need to not just schedule time to be productive, but we have to leave time open to be reactive. What say you?

Alyssa:
Ahhh. That’s what it makes me do. Take a big breath. Cause at first, I was like trying to understand. I was like, okay, he means responsive. Like you got to build in like the email answering time and you’ll help people like give themselves credit for those things. But then whenever you said, no, it’s about this responsiveness, this flexibility to… You can already have that tasking time done. Right. You schedule that…

Joe:
I’m sorry, it was tasky. T-A-S-K-Y. I think it’s a much cuter name than tasking.

Alyssa:
You’re right. You’re right.

Joe:
I just want to be clear.

Alyssa:
My sincerest apologies. I just, I think that that rule… You know, we in the… You know… I don’t know if you know this or not, but like I grew up, quote-unquote, “professionally” in the hotel world. And we had the 80/20 rule, which was, um, when you were within like… I for…now I’m going to forget what it was. But one of the things was like about whenever you’re within like 20 feet of a guest, you smile.

Joe:
Uh-huh.

Alyssa:
Like you’re, you’re, you’re engaging. Right. You’re making a great…I think maybe it wasn’t 80…I don’t know. Whatever the heck it was. All right. But this whole thing that you’re talking about is outside of the scheduled things, which can include the tasky time.

Joe:
Yes.

Alyssa:
60% of the schedule is the scheduled, including the tasky time. And then the other part is responsiveness.

Joe:
Yes.

Alyssa:
And that, you know, from, again, depending on what generation you’re from, if you look at your calendar might go, hmm, there’s a lot of time here to be filled. Maybe you’re a little bit lazing’ around there, Joe.

Joe:
Uh-huh.

Alyssa:
To, you know, through the throughput, from our prior discussion. But the fact of the matter is this is what sets great leaders apart. This is what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from one another – is to be responsive and in the moment, and present. And having that built into your schedule each and every day? That’s a recipe for success,

Joe:
You know? And…

Alyssa:
Absolutely.

Joe:
If…We have to label it, what it is, right? Because we have to reframe this in a way that actually gives credit for what it is. If you just look at and see kind of white space on your calendar before and after an appointment and you say, oh, well, you clearly, aren’t busy enough. That’s not true. You’re leaving that time open to do staff engagement. So, label it. So, block it, put it on your calendar, and call it staff engagement. Now, if I’m your boss and I peek at your calendar, I see, oh, this person is in meetings. This person is doing their project work. This person’s doing staff engagement. They’re an amazing supervisor. They’re figuring out how to balance all that stuff. And they’re making sure that they make time for it. So it was, you know, this is the reframing that needs to occur, right?

Joe:
Because we subjugate those things to everything else. That responsiveness, that, that balancing between being productive and being leaving time to be reactive. We…value that…we…we reduced the value of that in our perceptions. Whereas we need to decide that this might actually be the most important thing. That’s the stuff that helps us achieve our long-term goals. Right? Creating that space in between, uh, each of these areas. Uh, this may not be the best analogy, but I think of it like parallel parking.

Alyssa:
OK.

Joe:
When you parallel park your car, you’ve got to leave enough space at the front end of the car and the back end of the car so that you can get out later.

Alyssa:
Hmmm.

Joe:
If you don’t leave enough space, you’re trapped. And you ultimately can’t go anywhere and operate on your own schedule. And that’s what, that’s what this kind of leaving time in and around other appointments so that you can flex and shift and move wherever possible, uh, is so important. Otherwise, you’re trapped, and you’ll never get where you want to go.

Alyssa:
Wow. You are on fire today! Fire!

Joe:
One more triangle just for the kids at home. Well, that’s our show this week, BossHeroes. Whether you joined us on Apple, Spotify, Audible, iHeartRadio, or you stream the video of our episodes on the Boss Better YouTube channel, we are humbled and excited that you tuned in. I think, Alyssa, as summer comes to a close, we should leave everyone today with that little internet meme that I mentioned earlier, that’s been circling everywhere. I’ve seen it in so many places. Uh, let’s leave today with this, friends. The whole world is short-staffed right now. So be kind to those who showed up. Thanks for listening. We’re so glad you’re here. See you next time.

Alyssa:
This show is sponsored by Joe Mull and Associates. Remember, commitment comes from better bosses. Visit joemull.com today.