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Timeless Wisdom for Modern Leaders - Lead With the Wise Use of Time

Guest post by: Per Winblad

Article Overview: Universally acknowledged as one of the world's wisest leaders, King Solomon, applied leadership principles that are as relevant and powerful today as they were in his own time. This article explores the importance of planning in the wise use of time.

Timeless Wisdom for Modern Leaders - Lead With the Wise Use of Time

Lead With the Wise Use of Time

Solomon says, “Hard work brings prosperity; only a fool idles away his time.”



Wise leaders know that time is their most precious asset. When seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years pass, they are lost forever. Time can never be called back or used again once it has passed. A lost today cannot be recycled and another will not replace it. Time applies its rules to all; even the richest man on earth cannot buy more time than any other person.

Wise leaders know that the secret to their success is determined by their daily agenda. They use their time with great care and they make time to work on their priorities. We gradually learn to say “no” to various demands when we have a sufficiently anchored “yes” within ourselves to guide us to what is of long-term importance.

When it comes to time, invest it wisely.

As Solomon so poetically said, “I, Wisdom, will make the hours of your day more profitable and the years of your life more fruitful!”

Wise leaders concentrate their time and energy on the top 20 percent of activities that produce an 80 percent return on their effort. This means they must be ruthless in prioritizing things that give the highest return.

The main difficulty with prioritizing and dealing with the most important things first can be likened to the contrast between the clock and a compass.

The clock is for meetings, activities and commitments, what we do, and how we spend our time.

The compass marks direction, vision, values, principles, what is important for our leadership of ourselves and others. Both are important and there needs to be a balance between the two.

Wise leaders also support their co-workers in constructively dealing with time. The leader who is able to guide their co-workers’ priorities so they are consistent with the group’s most important objectives will effectively lead the work forward.

The leader is important to the co-worker as a sounding board on how they can be sure to use their time in the best possible way. Wise leaders know how to invest their time in a productive balance: accomplishing their priorities and supporting their employees in their development and growth.

Solomon tells us, “Joy fills hearts that are planning for good!”



Wise leaders allocate regular time for planning for themselves and their co-workers. They plan for both short-term and long-term. A sensible reflection backward creates clarity in what a task demands in effort and time. By projecting a long-term perspective forward, it is possible to be proactive in order to make the right choices for a successful endeavor.

The way to make things happen is to plan for them to happen.

Solomon also says: “It is pleasant to see plans develop.”



Wise leaders also evaluate their progress at regular intervals – by themselves and together with their group. Evaluation is both the last and the first step in learning and development.

Wise leaders are constantly assessing and learning, setting new objectives and planning how to best reach them. With proper assessment and planning everyone can act purposefully.

Solomon tells us, “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after wind.”

Wise leaders seek to maintain control over their to-do list and focus on what is actually important. They realize that some things may not be as essential as others and therefore may be postponed, delegated, or simply discarded. Wise leaders slow down and concentrate on doing the most important thing. They know they have all the time they need by setting wise priorities.

Wise leaders plan their time so they have balance in all of life’s important areas. Naturally, no one can keep this balance entirely all the time, but that is something we can strive for. By creating the right balance regarding our needs and interest for work, family, relations, and recreation, we open our minds. We have more energy and become more constructive and positive as leaders. There are very few people who say: “My only regret in life is that I didn’t spend more time at the office!”

Solomon teaches, “A dull axe requires great strength; be wise and sharpen the blade.”



Wise leaders know that they must never get so busy chopping wood that they don’t take time to sharpen the blade of the axe. Figuratively, “sharpen the blade of the axe” means that we constantly renew, exercise and develop all dimensions of our human nature – the physical, social, mental and spiritual dimensions. We do this regularly and consistently in wise and balanced ways.

The physical dimension covers such things as exercise, eating habits, and how we handle pressure and stress.

The social/emotional element deals with how we develop our relations with people in our environment.

The mental dimension includes intellectual vigor: reading books, visualizing, and planning.

The spiritual dimension is about our core, our set of values and how we live up to our faith and our beliefs.

Wise leaders know that no single hour of our day will return as much as the hour they invest in exercising one of these four human dimensions.

Solomon points out, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”

Do you know how many minutes there are in one week? A mere 10,080—that’s 168 hours. This is your wealth in time. What you use it for is up to you. But whatever you use it for, you’ll never have more than these 168 hours each week. What you do with your time determines what you will achieve in your life.

Our daily actions create a certain routine. For each and every one of us, it is important to regularly review how we want to develop this routine. We ensure there’s time for planning and follow-up.

Focus on one week at a time with a view toward your overall objectives. Then focus on each individual “today”: How you carry it out, how you develop, how you follow-up, how you let go, how you prepare yourself for the next day, how you relax, etc.

By taking the time to consider the course of the day’s activities, you can meet each moment with calm, peace and confidence, prepared to respond to whatever arises rather than merely reacting to situations that come up.

Planning and investing your time wisely in creating balance in all aspects of yourself will pay big dividends in your life and in your leadership abilities.

To become a wiser leader:

• Learn to invest invest and plan your time wisely and carefully as time never can be called back once it is gone.

• Follow your plan and focus on the small number of activities that contribute the greatest value to your life and your work.

• Focus your time and energy on the most important activities each day and ask yourself this question: “Is what I’m doing right now leading me to my most important goals in life”?

• Learn to say no to the various demands by having a strong anchored yes within you to guide you to what is of long-term importance.

• Involve your team in the planning process.

• Delegate whatever possible.

• Invest time to support and help your employees develop and grow.

• Evaluate your progress by yourself and together with your group at regular intervals.

• Invest time regularly to “sharpen the blade of the axe” renewing and exercising your physical, social, mental, and spiritual dimensions!

• Begin your day in the best possible way by taking control and creating a picture of this specific day.

• Act – because only action makes dreams come true.

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Article Tags: higher values, importance of planning, king solomon, leadership, leadership principles, leadership wisdom, modern leaders, own time, time management, timeless wisdom, timemanagement



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