My career has taken a number of unexpected turns over the years: I’ve moved between academic editing and academic medicine, university administration and international policy, performing arts and gender equality.
There’s one unifying element to my work:
I help mobilize busy leaders to take meaningful action, usually on deadline and often as volunteers.
Does this ring true for you?
If you’ve read my last e-newsletter, you know that effective email communication is critical for getting busy leaders’ attention. But what happens when you need more than a response—you need them to do something?
In this newsletter, I share strategies that work from both sides of the equation—whether you’re trying to mobilize busy leaders, or you are that busy leader trying to be more effective.
Five strategies to help busy leaders take action
The most frustrating pattern I see in organizations is when great ideas stall at the implementation stage. The strategy is clear, but nothing happens because those tasked with taking action aren’t following through on their commitments.
Whether you’re a busy leader yourself or someone who works with them, the following strategies will help transform bottlenecks into breakthroughs:
1. Make it meaningful: If you read my first installment, you know that most busy leaders want to contribute. Emphasize the specific value that only they can bring to your project. For busy leaders reading this: notice how quickly you prioritize tasks where your expertise is truly needed, as opposed to generic requests anyone could handle.
2. Be explicit about what you need: Using the principles outlined in my last newsletter, clearly state what action you need them to take, by when, and why it matters (this last part is key!). Vague requests get vague results—or no results at all.
3. Make it easy: Do the preparatory work yourself. If you need their feedback on a 20-page proposal, call their attention to three passages to focus on. If you need them to introduce you to someone else in their network, either draft the message or provide some bullet points that they can edit and put in their own words. This upfront investment in your time builds goodwill that will pay off in the long run.
4. Know thy leader: Figure out how and when they work, and tailor your request accordingly. Learn their schedule, including busy periods of travel and key deadlines they face for other high-priority projects. Do they require significant advance notice? Or do they thrive under the pressure of last-minute deadlines? (If so, be sure to modify the deadline you give them so that your project keeps running on time.)
5. Be warm, organized, and calm: Most busy leaders already face considerable pressure. In my experience, they eagerly work with people who actively lower stress rather than add to it. A reputation for being low-drama ensures you’ll be taken seriously when an urgent need arises.
Bonus tip: Schedule a meeting
Many busy people run from meeting to meeting with little time to get work done. Use this to your advantage: Get a meeting on their calendar where you can support their implementation of critical tasks. This approach works especially well for decisions and requests that would otherwise languish in an inbox.
Ultimately, helping leaders take action isn’t about imposing your agenda—it’s about creating conditions where their expertise can have maximum impact with minimum friction.