Great leaders get bored.
Any job can get boring and repetitive. Even very senior roles, or in large organizations where there’s a lag between thought, action and results, and lots of organizational process.
There’s a thing that good business owners or senior leaders do that is open to you at work and crucial to your leadership.
They use boredom by turning into a challenge.
Trying new things or new ways to do old things.
Boredom happens because what you do eventually gets dealt with in your subconscious brain. It’s dealt with efficiently there, but it leaves your conscious brain with nothing to do.
That’s why you get bored.
Reacting to boredom is a critical skill that can be practiced. Treating boredom as a challenge can become part of your leadership style.
Practice in your daily work.
Even the most repetitive things are interesting at first. The first time you walked to your workplace, your brain was fully engaged, and you knew it. Likewise your first team meeting or making your first widget.
After hundreds of repeats you’re bored. On autopilot. Not engaged.
This may not be a big deal if the path to your mission is straight and easy. Like walking to work or making widgets.
If your path is not easy or clear you need to stay alert, which means boredom is a sign you’re ready for something new.
How much of your daily work is routine? I mean things you don’t have to think about to do. Like walking to work.
This is not about whether you like them or not, but whether you’re on autopilot.
Great leaders make change a habit in their own work and boredom is their guide.
Take a different path. Sit in a different seat. Wear different colors. Talk to someone you haven’t engaged with. Speak up in a meeting you’re normally quiet in.
Stay quiet in one you normally talk in.
Try a different way to get the same result.
You might get a better result. If not, try another change.
Trial and error in small things prepares you for the big things.
“…use boredom by turning into a challenge…”
This is simply mind training. You’re not redesigning that widget or starting a new business. Not yet anyway.
Be aware of what’s become automatic at work and challenge it by focusing on what’s boring, not dreaming about something outside of work.
Later, as a leader, this habit will help you see things that the team needs to change.
Use boredom as a prompt to try something new.
Do you find your mind drifting off at work?
Do you let it drift outside work or bring it back to what’s boring?
Are you dreaming about the weekend, or is there something you can do to refresh that boring task?
Is a tedious task something to be endured, or refreshed?
Do you know what you do on autopilot?
Is boredom a part of your day or a new challenge?
What puts you to sleep?
.
.
“I might be wrong, but at least I’ve thought about it…”