Who Controls Your Time/Agenda?

My business career started at Ameren/Union Electric back in the 1980s. I landed a role with an outstanding company right out of graduate school during a horrible recession.  Inflation was running at eight to ten percent annually and the unemployment rate was about the same. Ameren was part of a large group of electric utilities that was validating selection assessments for their key positions – tests for power plant workers, line workers, supervisors, and administrative professionals. I was fortunate to be hired from outside the Company as Ameren generally promoted from within, but to be part of this testing consortium they needed a “testing specialist” with a graduate degree in Industrial/Organizational psychology. Although I had zero experience, I had the academic qualifications so I became their Testing Specialist as my first adult job.

Ameren was building a nuclear power plant when they hired me; the Callaway plant is located near Fulton, MO about 110 miles west of St. Louis. Frequently, I would drive to the plant site to administer tests to potential employees and the contractors who were building the facility. Getting the plant on-line was the primary objective for everyone who worked at Ameren. It represented a $3 billion dollar investment for the Company and would provide clean, efficient power for thousands of homes. All of Ameren’s 5,000 employees were focused on doing whatever it would take to get the plant completed and producing power.

About six months into my tenure at Ameren, one of the Callaway plant staff, Bill S., called me and said he needed me at the plant the next morning at 7:30 am to administer tests to a group of job applicants. The situation was urgent, and his exact words were, “if you’re not out here in the morning to give these tests, this plant won’t go on-line, and it will be your responsibility!” I would have been more than happy to leave my house at 5:00 am to administer the tests, but my supervisor had scheduled me for other duties the entire week. I explained my scheduling dilemma to Bill S., but he really wasn’t listening and just repeated his comment, “if this plant doesn’t go on-line, you’re to blame.”

I was panicked by now and went to see my supervisor, Audrey F., telling her the entire story with a combination of fear and urgency in my voice. She listened intently and finally smiled, “Shawn, do you really think if you don’t administer those tests tomorrow that will prevent the plant from going on-line? This is Bill S.’s problem, not yours or mine. He needs to have a plan, a schedule, and communicate when he needs our services.” She then uttered those words that have stayed with me for many years, encouraging me to call Bill S. and tell him:

“Your lack of planning is not my emergency.”

I didn’t go to Callaway the next morning but somehow the plant did go on-line and is still producing electricity today.

I think of this story when someone makes a last-minute, or what I think is an unreasonable request of me or my team. But the lesson of this story is more about who controls your schedule, your time, your agenda. Most of us want more time and/or control over how we spend our time, but in reality, that’s not always possible, particularly if you work in a client-driven profession.

Being a consultant is both a client-driven and time-driven profession. We’re somewhat in the emergency business and people often don’t call until they REALLY need you. (Probably because we send an invoice when we provide services.) And sometimes, the client’s lack of planning is our emergency. But there is true value in helping clients understand time constraints and exert some level of control over their time. Here are a few bullets/questions that I often expand on in group training or individual coaching sessions:

• The power of saying no and setting boundaries – are you being too agreeable?
• Recognizing the difference between urgent and important.
• What do you really control vs. what do you think you control?
• Who else could complete this project, perhaps even better than you?
• What will you give up in order to take on this assignment?
• Is the request reasonable or actionable? Can it be negotiated?
• How do you set expectations on how you prefer to be communicated with?
• What would happen if that urgent/important item didn’t get done?
• Does being perceived as indispensable somehow make you feel valuable or important?
• The gift of the sabbath – how not-working paradoxically leads to greater productivity.

Of course, all of the bullets above deserve a level of discussion and expansion which space does not allow, but I’m hopeful they spark an interest or a reminder of how you can manage or  respond to situations described in the introduction. Just remember, don’t use the quote provided by my supervisor!