Watch your thinking time

Being too busy to have time to think is often a delusion of self-importance and sometimes just a defence against impostor syndrome.

- Suneeta Reddy is Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.

Not making time for introspection, looking at the big picture, distilling insights, and coming up with new ideas inevitably leads to strategic errors and erosion of leadership. There can be no excuse for not having time to reflect.

In the pre-work-life balance days, leaders would typically show up at the office towards the end of the workday, often after long lunches or rounds of golf, and hold back loyal colleagues until late in the evening for gossip and planning. The late start to the day gave leaders time to think before work, albeit at a cost to others. Now, 24/7 calls, emails, and chats have replaced the after-hours adda and made leaders information-rich but thought-poor.

In these times of great volatility, change, and uncertainty, leaders need to think, unthink, and rethink continuously. There are no lasting best practices or strategies in this era, and it is self-harming to stick to beliefs and behaviours that were previously rewarded.

The growing complexity of the economic and political environment, radical changes in business technologies and models, and rapidly emerging opportunities and competition require leaders to act thoughtfully, not just react quickly.