Get Out of the Weeds: A Lesson on Leadership and Procrastination

When I decided to let my garden go unattended last year due to a busy winter and a packed travel schedule, I was unprepared for the messy aftermath. By July of that year, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. My flower beds and vegetable gardens were completely gone. May’s tiny weeds became July’s towering four foot stalks. Grass had crept into my lily beds. Years of gardening were wiped out in just one season. I had to work ten times as hard just to get things back on track.

The mess that happened in my garden is a great metaphor for what can happen at work when a leader procrastinates. Small problems escalate into larger ones. Years of forward movement can deteriorate in a matter of weeks.

Challenges at work, much like weeds, are tedious, determined, and unrelenting. Maybe it’s the feedback you’ve been holding back on sharing, the lack of alignment your team members are complaining about, or that persnickety board member you need to develop a relationship with. Those kinds of issues are always there. And it is not unusual for leaders to give in to the overwhelm (or fear of the unknown) and respond by…..not doing anything. But kicking those problems down the road to be dealt with later almost always makes matters much worse.

What Would You Do?

One of my clients, Lydia, reached out to me to lead a training on how to navigate conflict with her team members. When I started to probe into WHY she wanted the training, she explained that her team had been in-fighting for over 6 months and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

As we dug a little deeper, it became clear that most of the fighting was due to two individuals on the team who had a difference of opinion about the strategy that the organization should take. Over time, those two members had essentially pushed the rest of the team into taking sides. I asked if anything else had been done to address the situation prior to our conversation. Lydia said no and expressed regret that she hadn’t pushed the two leaders to sit down and talk about it when it first became an issue months ago.

What would you have done in this situation? How would you help Lydia and her team now?

First - no judgment here. Sometimes, we don’t recognize the weeds for what they are.

Second - it was clear to me that training was not going to solve the situation. As a first step, the most important thing for us to do was sit down with the two individuals on the team for some mediated conversations. A team level training and conversation would follow as a second step.

Lydia noted that the high touch intervention necessary at this point might have been avoided if she had addressed the situation several months ago, before tensions had risen so high.

So how can we steer clear of this (very normal) tendency to delay?

First, to address procrastination, we have to learn why we do it.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

Research has identified two main sources of procrastination for leaders of organizations:

Internal forces: Leaders who fail to regulate their goals or who get sidetracked by minor decisions are more likely to procrastinate. Impulsive leaders, in particular, often struggle with managing their emotional states, making it harder to stay on task.
External forces: The environment also plays a role. Distrust and lack of transparency can lead to fear and uncertainty. In these conditions, leaders may feel paralyzed, unable to focus on their priorities.

Procrastination doesn’t just impact the leader; it affects everyone in the organization. A procrastinating leader can create a culture of stagnation where status quo thinking takes over. That’s why it’s so important to tackle procrastination head-on.

Tackling Procrastination:

To get out of the weeds (metaphorically and literally), sometimes you have to invest time and energy upfront. A little regular effort can make a world of difference before little problems spiral into bigger ones.

Here are a few strategies for overcoming procrastination.

Regular planning: Shift from a reactive mindset to a proactive one by setting aside time to plan regularly. One of the best ways to do this is to explore the way you relate to urgency and importance. Setting aside just one hour a week at a time when there are no interruptions to: 1) review your calendar, 2) reflect on emerging issues that might need to be addressed, and 3) schedule in blocks of time to accomplish your most important items of the week can be a game changer! When you’re clear about your priorities, you’re more likely to stay on track.
Timely feedback: Don’t wait for issues to build up before addressing them. Giving feedback early on helps prevent larger problems later down the line. In fact, giving bad news early actually strengthens your relationships at work and builds trust. Here’s more on how to stop avoiding conflict.
Investing in onboarding: Train new staff properly from the start, even if it takes a little extra time to do so. When they’re better equipped, you won’t have to micromanage them later on.

Break down big projects into smaller pieces: If it can be overwhelming to take on a large project, try splitting it into smaller, more manageable pieces with clear personal deadlines. This is the Japanese idea of “kaizen,” taking small steps to change a process or momentum.

When Time Management and Planning Don’t Help, It’s Time To Look Deeper:

If the steps above don’t help, you may want to consider that your procrastination isn’t just a matter of better planning or management practices, but may actually be an emotional regulation problem. If your procrastination has an emotional root, it’s important to learn how to forgive yourself for mistakes, give up on perfection, remove distractions, and set concrete goals that feel doable.

So, what are the “baby weeds” in your leadership right now? These are the small but persistent issues that, if left unchecked, could grow into something much bigger.

And, what’s one small thing you can do today to start dealing with these problems?

I wish you success in cultivating your leadership "garden!” And if you are looking for support in getting out of the weeds in a deeper way, let’s connect! Schedule a call with me today!