With most of us working from home, it may be difficult to really delineate what role you are playing when. I, like most of you, have been on numerous Zoom calls during this time, and it now doesn't even hit my radar to see a child crawl up into a lap or a spouse walk past the camera.
So how do we (1) know what role we need to play when, and (2) understand the most important things to get done in that role when everything is mushed (technical term) together?
Great question!
Here is an exercise from Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that I've used consistently when leaders are attempting to segment roles within their lives. I think it is a great activity to do during these times - it will help you recognize the key roles you play and also prioritize what matters most in each of those roles. For those needing some order in this chaos, it can provide a framework for how to plan your weeks.
Find some time and go through the five steps below then follow the plan next week. Remember my favorite word: deliberate. Be deliberate in your roles, you'll see the benefit and so will those that matter most to you.
Step 1: Identify the key roles you play. You can have up to 7; however I encourage you to consider what roles are essential during this time. This may be leader, spouse, parent, teacher, child...whatever those key identities are. Write them down on a piece of paper.
Step 2: Identify the recipients of each role. Consider who benefits from what you do in the role. For example, for parent, write down the names of your children. For leader, write down the names of your team.
Step 3: For each role, write down what you want the recipients to say about you in that role. Think about this: when we find ourselves emerging from the COVID-19 times, and we ask that person to describe you from their perspective, what do you want them to say? This is aspirational. For example, I would want my team to say "She helped us prioritize our projects, she was available when we needed her, and she provided calm and supportive leadership in the midst of crisis."
Step 4: Review the statements you wrote for each role and recognize where you may be succeeding and where you may be falling short. Write down what you need to do differently to be the best in each respective role.
Step 5: Translate it to your calendar. For each role, identify the single most important thing you can do next week to be the best in that particular role and write it on your calendar. For example, for teacher. you may identify that you need to reserve one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon each day to help your student with at-home schooling. Put it on your calendar and make it a non-negotiable meeting. For your team, you may identify you need a 30 minute one-on-one with each team member - mark it down. For yourself, you may need a work out each day. Pen it in.
The key to this activity working for you is to believe you have the power to choose and you hold yourself accountable for those choices. Your "YES" has to be so strong you are willing to say "NO." Ground yourself in what you want in each role, remind yourself of that, then protect the things that matter most each day.
