Leadership productivity is under serious strain when employees and leaders are pulled away from their core production work into endless projects. Every time staff are diverted, productivity drops, costs rise, and service goals become harder to achieve. Leadership teams also fall into this trap, diminishing their leadership productivity and overall impact. In this article we’ll explore how to refocus leaders and production staff on performing the core work while minimizing inefficient project overload to drive results and efficiency.
Understanding Leadership Productivity and Production Work
“Leadership productivity” isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a measurable outcome of how leaders organize their time, attention, and priorities. When production work (the essential tasks your organization exists to do) gets repeatedly interrupted by low-value projects, leadership productivity drops, engagement falls, and outcomes suffer.
The problem has a real foundation: when people are assigned to production work but constantly pulled into other commitments, they can’t perform core duties effectively. Leaders fall prey to the same trap — focusing on projects at the expense of leading their teams in the core mission.
Why Project Overload Hurts Core Work and Leadership Productivity
Project overload — defined as an excessive number of initiatives or assignments that distract from essential duties — plays havoc on organizational performance. When production teams are diverted, service levels drop and costs increase as more staffing is needed just to handle the chaos.
Leadership productivity also suffers because leaders are distracted from coaching, strategy, and execution. Compounding this problem is the human tendency to equate busyness with productivity, even when working on projects that don’t directly contribute to core organizational goals.
- Use the One Thing Strategy to Focus Core Work
One of the most empowering ways to sharpen leadership productivity and reduce project overload is the strategy outlined in The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. This book argues that focusing on the single most important task drives disproportionate results and clarity in work. (Wikipedia)
How It Works for Core Work
- Identify the single highest-impact area of your core work.
- Block time daily to focus on it.
- Decline projects that do not support this focus.
This method counteracts the trap of constantly switching between production tasks and side projects.
- Apply Slow Productivity Principles for Leadership Productivity
Recent leadership research highlights the value of Slow Productivity — deliberately limiting commitments so leaders and teams can concentrate deeply on essential priorities. (Wharton Executive Education)
Instead of saying “yes” to every project that comes along, measure capacity upfront. If a proposed project cannot fit into your scheduled time for core work, it shouldn’t be accepted.
This strategy:
- Preserves energy and quality for core work.
- Eliminates unnecessary multitasking.
- Boosts leadership productivity by reducing reactive work.
- Prioritize With Time Management Classics (Like First Things First)
Stephen Covey’s First Things First emphasizes prioritizing meaningful work over urgent but low-value tasks. (Wikipedia)
Key Takeaway for Leaders
Use Covey’s time management matrix to sort duties into:
- Important and core work
- Urgent but not important (project noise)
- Delegable tasks
This approach ensures leaders spend more energy on core work that drives the mission and less on peripheral projects.
- Beware of Brooks’s Law When Staffing Projects
Brooks’s Law from The Mythical Man-Month says adding more people to a late project often makes it later. (Wikipedia)
This principle teaches a key lesson:
More resources don’t always deliver faster results, especially if those resources are taken away from core production work.
Leadership productivity demands that projects must be tightly scoped and fully justified before pulling staff away from key operational work.
- Build Leader Standard Work for Consistency
A key theme in leadership productivity podcasts like Get Organized at Work is Leader Standard Work (LSW) — daily routines that help leaders stay out of the weeds and focused on high-value functions. (Apple Podcasts)
LSW Habits Include:
- Daily time blocking for production work priorities
- Weekly reviews of team performance metrics
- Delegation and accountability systems
LSW consistently links leaders back to core duties rather than low-impact projects.
- Strengthen Team Productivity Habits
Even project teams can hurt core performance by developing reactive, unproductive habits. According to research on productivity habits in project teams, consistent behavior patterns around planning, communication, and collaboration determine overall efficiency. (Project Management Institute)
Habits That Drive Core Focus:
- Regular stand-ups focused on production tasks
- Scheduled project time blocks separate from core work windows
- Clear handoffs so production work doesn’t stall
Productivity isn’t about doing more work — it’s about doing the right work.
- Tune Leadership Styles to Support Efficient Core Work
Recent academic findings show leadership styles significantly influence project outcomes and team performance. The most effective leaders provide clear goals, role clarity, and actionable feedback. (arXiv)
What This Means for Leadership Productivity
When leaders coach and empower their teams, fewer side tasks become crises. Production work becomes smoother because teams self-organize around priorities instead of waiting for direction.
How to Refocus Leaders and Staff on Core Work
- Clarify and Communicate Organizational Priorities
Make core production work the shared mission — not just a checkbox item. Leadership productivity improves when everyone aligns with mission-critical tasks.
- Establish a Decision Framework for Projects
Before approving the project, answer:
- How does this support our core work?
- What staffing will it require?
- What is the measurable outcome?
Projects without clear answers should be deferred.
- Empower Delegation and Reduce Meetings
Too often, meetings and low-value coordination tasks consume leader schedule blocks. Use delegation and asynchronous communication to protect core work time.
- Use Data to Measure Core Work Impact
Track productivity metrics for core work versus project outcomes. When finance sees the cost of deviations, decisions become easier and more disciplined.
Books, Articles, and Podcasts to Build Leadership Productivity
Must-Read Books
- The One Thing – Focus on your most impactful work. (Wikipedia)
- First Things First – Prioritize what matters most. (Wikipedia)
- Leave the Office Earlier – Time management strategies that save energy for high-impact tasks. (Wikipedia)
Insightful Articles
- Impact vs. Time: A Leader’s Guide to Slow Productivity — provides a framework for limiting commitments for higher impact. (Wharton Executive Education)
Podcasts Worth Listening To
- Get Organized at Work — Offers episodes on Leader Standard Work and productivity habits. (Apple Podcasts)
- The Influential Project Manager — Focuses on prioritization and managing urgent vs. important tasks. (Apple Podcasts)
Final Thoughts: Commitment to Core Work Drives Leadership Productivity
Leadership productivity and production work efficiency are inseparable. When leadership and teams are constantly pulled into extra projects, core outcomes suffer and organizational costs rise. By intentionally limiting low-impact work, prioritizing core work, and adopting productivity habits proven in leadership literature and podcasts, organizations can refocus their energy on what truly matters.
If leaders lead fewer distractions and more focus on the mission, production work flourishes — and costs, staffing issues, and burnout decrease. This is leadership productivity in action.
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