The KEY: The Busyness Addiction

Hello Leader,

The blind spot we will examine today is a rampant problem seen in most corporate offices in the last few years. In fact, it’s an epidemic, a symptom of the times and of the dis-ease of culture and society. Applying this Key helps you build stronger foundation for durable success.

Too many managers confuse “urgent” with “important” and mistake “being busy” for “being productive.” Here is a question to think about: Are you always busy? Do you allow yourself to fall into the activity trap of never ending busyness to the point that it has become your second nature? Is “being busy” an identity or even a status factor for you? If the answer is yes, you might want to reflect on this and find a way to dissolve and breakout of the “being busy” identity. Too many people stay obsessively and addictively busy to build their sense of self-importance. They end up filling their lives with an excessive amount of urgent but totally unimportant stuff. It’s an unhealthy self-concept and a distorted self-view that says: “As long as I am busy, I am included. I am in on what’s happening and I am important.”

The Story of Monty
Monty always walked fast. It was a habit he had developed to confirm to himself that he was indeed a very busy and successful man. This let everyone around him know that he had urgent things on his plate and was working very hard. It gave Monty a sense that he was important and he believed this was the surest way to gain people’s respect. Through years of dedication and hard work he rose up the corporate ladder to the level of Vice President. Monty’s perception of a leader’s image was someone who was always on his way somewhere, looking intense and necessarily short on time.

Discover the KEY and find out what happened to Monty here.

© Aviv Shahar