The Leader's Productivity Paradox: Navigating the Risks of Busyness

The Addiction to 'Doing' in a World That Demands 'Thinking

Modern executives live under relentless pressure to be perpetually "busy". Packed calendars and back-to-back meetings have become status symbols. Business culture rewards this constant activity, this "doing mode". However, the most critical challenges of our time—decarbonization, market volatility, digital transformation—are not solved with more activity. They demand deep reflection, a strategic perspective that can only emerge in the "spacious mode". The addiction to busyness has become the biggest impediment to wise leadership.

The Traps of the Perpetually Busy Leader

Leadership trapped in a never-ending cycle of "doing" is detrimental to the organization. The consequences of this culture of busyness are deep and often invisible until it's too late.

• Reactive, Not Strategic, Decisions: The lack of time for reflection leads to rushed decisions. Leaders are forced to react to day-to-day problems, constantly putting out fires, instead of designing proactive strategies.

• Team Innovation Suffocation: A leader who is always rushed sends an unmistakable signal: there is no time to think, experiment, or discuss complex ideas. Creativity, which requires space, withers in an environment that only rewards fast execution.

• Blindness to Systemic Risks: The busy leader focuses on the operational details in front of them, such as the CEO who demanded constant daily progress updates from his team. In doing so, they lose sight of the big picture: emerging strategic trends and disruptive risks go unnoticed until they become a crisis.

How to Create Space in a Busy Calendar: Practices for Wiser Leadership

Recovering the "spacious mode" does not require withdrawal, but a set of deliberate and disciplined practices. It is about consciously designing time for thinking.

1. Design Meetings for Thinking, Not Just Reporting: Audit your calendar. How many meetings are dedicated to thoughtful decision-making compared to simple status updates? Transform key meetings by implementing tactics such as sending pre-reading material and dedicating the first 10 minutes to silence for reflection.

2. Schedule 'Not Doing': Time for strategic reflection must be treated with the same seriousness as a meeting with the most important client. Actively block time slots in your calendar with the title "Strategic Thinking Time" and protect them from interruptions.

3. The Power of Disconnection: Leaders model the culture. If you send emails at 10 p.m., you create pressure for your team to do the same. Establish and respect clear boundaries. This is not weakness, but a demonstration of sustainable leadership that allows the entire organization to find the necessary space to think