Coachable Moment: The 20/80 Analysis

Posted 10.18.2010

One of the new features in the second edition of The Next Level is a series of sidebars called Coachable Moments. Each of these Moments offers a context specific, road tested coaching tip that you can use to increase your leadership effectiveness or that of leaders you’re coaching.

One of my favorite Coachable Moments from the chapter on picking up defining what to do and letting go of telling how to do it is one I call the 20/80 Analysis. Here’s how it works:

Raise the capacity of yourself and your team by shifting your time and attention to focus on what you need to accomplish for future success. Write down your answers to these questions and share them in a conversation with your team:

1.    What will things look like twelve months from now if we’re completely successful?

2.    What are the 20 percent of the things that I need to be spending 80 percent of my time and attention on to create that future state?

3.    What are the 20 percent of the things that I have been spending 80 percent of my time on?

4.    What’s on the list from question 3 that I need to let go of and have my team pick up?

5.    What will my team need to let go of to create the bandwidth to pick up the things I’m turning over to them?

Give it a try and let me know what it does for you and your team.