When Opportunities Become Problems

Leaders have an abundance of riches in the form of "opportunities".

The opportunities often arrive as “invitations,” and it’s exciting and flattering to receive them. It doesn’t take long until the volume of opportunities becomes overwhelming to manage.

Is this ringing a bell or sounding an alarm for you?

Ideally, leaders use these opportunities strategically, expanding their influence, increasing their impact, and achieving their goals. Ideally, is the key word.

For many, the opportunities become a problem – a "Rocks and Squirrels" problem. Mindlessly accepting every opportunity without a filter is like filling your pockets with rocks while hiking up a mountain. You pick up a beautiful rock, drop another in your pocket, a squirrel catches your eye, another rock, a flying squirrel, one more stunning rock. Weighed down by the beautiful rocks in your pockets, feeling mild whiplash from following the squirrels, you overlooked the epic views.

Your rocks are the acceptances dropped in your calendar till it’s full - and it’s slowing you down. The squirrels are all the activities, including figuring out how to fit things in, that distract you from getting things - your wildly important things - done. 

Invitations to participate, join a table, share expertise, be the executive sponsor for a key program, represent the company, or lead an industry initiative are just a sample of these opportunities. The invitations are earned; they validate success, acknowledge expertise, and serve as recognition for a leader's work and reputation.

Opportunities tend to increase over time for leaders. Occasionally, a new role or major recognition brings a significant bump in invitations. Without deliberate thought and action, saying “yes” becomes the default. Over time—or overnight—the result is a full calendar. Early breakfasts and back-to-back meetings spill into evening business and social events.

Your most valuable resources—time and attention—are finite. Failing to manage them with discipline creates a supply issue.

The first sign there’s a problem?

There’s never enough time. Your packed calendar provides the proof. The people who rely on your wisdom, await your decisions, and value your presence notice it, too.

Time and attention go hand in hand. When spread too thin, neither is focused.

Daily stress mounts as you scramble to reschedule or cancel commitments to make room for urgent or high-value requests—creating a ripple effect across others' calendars. More pressure builds when you realize meetings have become your primary activity. There's no time to follow through on commitments or intentions tied to the opportunities you accepted. The value of your time investment is lost.

You have no space to think deeply, prepare properly, do your core work, or honor your commitments in a timely manner—if at all.

This problem won’t solve itself.

There is no time-creation fairy.

Mastering AI will NOT solve this problem.

Hoping things will slow down is not a strategy.

Optimism won’t help you here.

It’s rare to find a leader who isn’t stretched by demands on their time and attention. The most experienced recognize that too much opportunity can become a problem, and they take action before it overwhelms them. Many don’t see it coming until it’s looming large. Either way, the sooner you tackle it and take control, the sooner you’ll replenish those valuable resources - your time and attention.

You need a strategy to ensure you are intentional about where your time and attention go.

The strategy-building exercise starts with questions to identify priorities and continues with work to get the right action plans to help you focus on those priorities.

 The process requires you to make tough decisions. Not everything can be a priority. Focus is limited.

This is about protecting and using your time and attention - when done, you need to be deliberate in executing the plan.

Helping leaders focus their time and attention on their priorities is rewarding work. It falls in the category of “do hard things,” and Coaches don’t do the heavy lifting.

Smart questions, an outside perspective, and the right amount of challenge help leaders refocus, illuminate priorities, and build a framework to assess opportunities.

I do feel a bit like one-half of a superhero team creating a new energy source when the work is done. Next best thing to a time-creation fairy!