Every leadership team has a strategic plan. Or at least they think they do. Ask any CEO about their priorities and you’ll hear the usual suspects: people, innovation, client experience, strategic growth, culture, succession planning and operational excellence. Then ask to see their calendar. That’s where the real strategy lives.
Calendars rarely lie. They reveal how leaders actually spend their time — not how they wish they did. In fact, if your calendar looks anything like mine, it probably includes meetings titled “Quick Discussion” that somehow consume an hour, three back-to-back Zoom calls, and at least one appointment you don’t remember scheduling. Somewhere between all of that is a 30-minute block labeled “Strategic Thinking.” It usually gets sacrificed to whatever caught fire that morning.
Research published by Harvard Business Review found that CEOs work an average of 62.5 hours each week, much of it consumed by meetings, reviews and operational demands. Meanwhile, another analysis by McKinsey & Company estimates that executives spend nearly 40 percent of their time making decisions, yet many report feeling overwhelmed by competing priorities rather than focused on strategic work. It’s no wonder many organizations struggle to execute their most important initiatives.
The best CEOs understand that every meeting they schedule — or choose not to schedule — sends a signal throughout the organization. Time is the one resource every leader receives in equal measure, and how it’s invested communicates priorities far more clearly than a beautifully designed strategic plan.
Want innovation? Show me recurring meetings dedicated to exploring new ideas.
Want stronger culture? Show me coaching conversations, employee listening sessions and leadership development.
Want exceptional client experience? Show me time spent with customers, not just reviewing customer satisfaction dashboards.
Want succession? Show me mentoring sessions before someone announces they’re retiring.
One exercise I often recommend to leadership teams is surprisingly simple. Print your calendar from the past 90 days. Then hand it to someone who knows nothing about your business and ask one question: “Based solely on how I spent my time, what would you conclude are my top three priorities?” The answer is often eye-opening. If they conclude your organization’s strategic plan is email, internal meetings and putting out fires, you may have uncovered your biggest leadership opportunity.
The good news? Calendars can be redesigned. Protecting time for strategic thinking, scheduling regular client conversations, mentoring emerging leaders or simply creating uninterrupted time to think can have an outsized impact. Great organizations aren’t built one annual retreat at a time. They’re built one intentional day at a time.
Do yourself a favor and conduct your own calendar audit. Here’s how:
Review your calendar and ask:
- What percentage of my week is spent creating the future versus reacting to the present?
- Does my calendar reflect the priorities I ask my leadership team to embrace?
- If someone reviewed my last 90 days, would they correctly identify my strategic priorities?
Before your next strategic planning session, don’t begin with your mission statement. Begin with your calendar. It may be the most honest, and occasionally humbling, assessment of your organization’s strategy you’ll ever see. ●
Judy Bodenhamer is the founder of Client Experience Group
