Being busy is sometimes a badge of honour.

Long days.
Back-to-back meetings.
An inbox that never empties.

For many business owners, busyness feels like proof you’re doing something right.

It isn’t.

In fact, being constantly busy is often a sign that leadership is missing where it’s needed most.

That might sound uncomfortable – but it’s also incredibly freeing once you see it for what it is.

Busy usually means you’re reacting, not leading

When someone tells me they’re “flat out”, my first question is always the same:

‘Busy doing what?’

Because nine times out of ten, what they’re describing isn’t leadership work – it’s reaction work.

Responding to emails.
Solving problems the team should be handling.
Jumping from one issue to the next.
Firefighting.

It feels productive.
But it’s not strategic.

Leadership isn’t about staying in motion.
It’s about deciding where motion matters.

The business doesn’t need more of you – it needs better use of you

One of the hardest shifts for business owners is accepting this truth:

Your value doesn’t come from how much you do.
It comes from what you choose not to do.

When leaders stay busy, it’s often because they haven’t:

  • clearly defined priorities
  • built systems that remove repeat decisions
  • delegated responsibility (not just tasks)
  • trusted the team to think, not just execute
  • created space to think properly

So they stay involved in everything – and call it commitment.

In reality, it’s control disguised as dedication.

Busyness is often avoidance in disguise

This is the bit most people don’t like admitting.

Staying busy can be a brilliant way of avoiding the hard stuff:

  • the uncomfortable conversation
  • the underperforming role
  • the pricing issue
  • the structural weakness
  • the decision you know you need to make

Busyness gives you an excuse not to stop and think.

And thinking is where responsibility really shows up.

What strong leaders do instead

The most effective leaders I work with don’t look busy.

They look calm.
They look deliberate.
They look hard to interrupt.

That’s not because they’re doing less – it’s because they’re doing the right things.

They:

  • protect thinking time
  • design their diary around priorities, not requests
  • remove work that shouldn’t need their input
  • let problems surface rather than jumping in too early
  • focus on decisions, not activity

Their businesses move faster precisely because they slow down enough to lead.

A simple test

Ask yourself this:

If I stepped out of the business for two weeks, what would actually break?

If the answer is “a lot”, the problem isn’t effort.
It’s structure.

And structure is a leadership responsibility.

Being busy feels safe. Leading doesn’t.

Busyness is familiar.
It’s comfortable.
It gives you something to hide behind.

Leadership requires space, clarity, and the willingness to disappoint people in the short term to build something better in the long term.

So the question isn’t: ‘How can I get more done?’

It’s:  ‘What am I doing that a leader shouldn’t be doing at all?’

Answer that honestly – and busyness stops being a problem very quickly.

 

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