Context Before Content

Much of leadership success is based on one’s ability to recognize the context of a situation and to adapt your behavior accordingly. Context agility is critical to long-term leadership success.

Context is also critically important in life success. Content without context is a sure recipe for failure and is the reason that many time management techniques just don’t work. People are looking for ways to get more things into what for many of them is an already full schedule. They are looking for the next gadget or gimmick that will give them those few extra minutes to get one more thing done. But ultimately they just end up chasing their tails. While there is no quick fix, there is an easy answer to be, do, and have everything that you want. The answer is weekly planning.

I was introduced to this concept many years ago by the FranklinCovey organization and have since refined my own system of weekly planning that has yielded tremendous results. Weekly planning fills the void that many of our clients seem to have, the context or direction for all of their activities, planned or otherwise. It helps bridge the gap between their long-term vision and their day-to-day activities. in effect it helps us to “slow down to go faster.”

Weekly planning starts with a review of your purpose and values and may even include a glimpse of your vision board if you have one. This review creates the proper context for drawing up your weekly plan. The next step is setting or reviewing your intentions and/or affirmations. This step signals your intentions to the universe and begins to attract vibrations that are in harmony with your intentions. From there it is important to plan and schedule renewal activities,daily and weekly renewal in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our lives. Energy renewal often gets sacrificed for “getting things done,” however we need higher resonating energy to attract our intentions. The last context setting activity is the setting of VITAL goals. VITAL goals are; Verifiable, Inspiring, Time-Bound, Actionable, and Limitless. Two or three VITAL goals per week are more than enough.

Once you have invested time in creating the context for your week, now it is time to block out time to spend supporting your intentions, renewal, and goals. It is important that your actions and choices be in alignment with your purpose and values. Lastly ask yourself the question – “What can I delegate, automate, or eliminate from my schedule?”

As you commit to this weekly leadership practice you will ultimately become unconsciously competent in reaching your dreams and goals.