Episode 62: Bottleneck Manager? Why Always Being Available Backfires
Also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
In this episode, ex-British Army officer and GM Jimmy Burroughes explains why the easier you are to reach, the more questions you get, using induced demand on a motorway as the model. He walks through the cost to the manager, to you and to the business, with a supplier delivery example that shows how one quick reply breaks your focus. He then gives two fixes to use this week: a three-column format for decision rights, and answering with “what do you suggest?”.
Free Digital Asset: Are You the Bottleneck? Free Leadership Assessment - https://jblhighperformance.com/am-i-the-bottleneck
Episode highlights:
00:00 - Intro
00:44 - Easier to reach, more questions
01:49 - Induced demand explained
02:38 - The supplier delivery example
03:06 - The cognitive cost of interruptions
04:18 - The three-column decision format
04:39 - Ask “what do you suggest?”
05:03 - Track your interruptions
06:04 - Close the extra lane
06:49 - Outro
Listen:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QJXm5Q9dgKHW6B8Tu0ZOO
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-high-performance-leader/id6794540633
Follow and Subscribe to Jimmy Burroughes
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmyburroughes/
Website: https://jblhighperformance.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jblhighperformance
Always on and still fielding every question? Find more on being less available on the blog: https://jblhighperformance.com/blog
If being less available is landing and you want to talk through where your own team is stretched thin, book a scoping call: https://calendly.com/jblhighperformance/scoping_call
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