Recently I met with the executive team of a successful small business that’s wrestling with the question of how to achieve even higher levels of employee engagement, organizational performance, and customer satisfaction. As we discussed what it might take to achieve their goals, the head of customer service said,

“These steps were discussing…like giving our people more support and mentoring… they absolutely make sense, but how are we…the people in this room…going to fit them into our day to day workload, when we’re already overstretched?”

It’s a question I’ve heard many, many times—because the fact is, leaders at every level, in pretty much every organization, are always pressed for time. They—you—are  constantly under pressure to get things done—to complete those projects, make those numbers, hit those performance goals. With too many meetings to attend and too many fires to put out, there never seem to be enough hours in the day.  So how do you find the time to get to know the people in your organization and give them the support they need to develop their potential? How do you find the time to build a culture that fosters high levels of engagement?

Obviously, the answer lies in how you set priorities—where you choose to spend more time and where you choose to spend less. Which brings me to the difference between managing and leading. A great deal has been written on this subject, but in my mind, managing is more about organizing people, controlling costs, and deploying resources. Leadership, on the other hand, is more about motivating, inspiring, and bringing out the best in people. It’s about helping people expand their vision of what’s possible, and then helping them achieve that vision. That takes time—time spent meeting with people, listening to them, and figuring out how to remove the barriers that get in the way of their performing to their full potential.

So if you’re wondering where you’ll find the time to do the hard work of building a culture of engagement, you might ask yourself, “If I’m really a leader, what else should I be doing?”

As you think about that, here’s something else you might want to consider. When the customer service leader quoted above raised the “time” issue, one of the other people in the room said, “That’s a good point. But what if we each put 10% of our time into getting more out of the other people in the organization…and as a result they each got 10% more productive…wouldn’t the whole company be much better off?”

Good point, don’t you think?

The fact is that building an engaged culture does take time. Personally I’m convinced that it’s time well spent, since higher engagement almost always translates into better individual and organizational performance, measured by virtually any metric you choose. As a leader, you can’t afford not to find the time.