Every great leader wants to be there for their team. But here’s the hard truth: it backfires if you make yourself too available. Your time gets stretched too thin, decision-making slows down, and—ironically—the people you’re trying to help may start depending on you too much. Today, we’re tackling one of the most common leadership struggles: being accessible without being overwhelmed. We’ll cover why being ‘always available’ hurts you and your team, practical ways to set boundaries, and how to create a culture where people get what they need—without needing you all the time.
The Risks of Being Too Available
People will rely on you for everything instead of making their own decisions.
Constant interruptions lead to exhaustion
People respect your time less
Resenting your team
A mindset shift
People are not trying to hurt you. They are trying to help themselves. Understanding this perspective will help you be less emotional and less defensive.
Q: Have you ever felt negatively toward an employee who interrupted you? What did you do to manage the situation? How could you better understand this employee’s needs while managing your own?
Practical Ways to Stay Accessible Without Being Overwhelmed
Define your accessibility: Set specific times when you’re available for questions or meetings.
Empower decision-making: Encourage your team to develop solutions, not just problems.
Leverage different ways of communicating: Not everything needs an immediate response or a meeting —use email or voice notes strategically.
How to Become Better at Managing Your Availability
Audit Your Time
Track how often you’re interrupted and make a plan to adjust.
Look for patterns and help your team do the same.
Set Clear Communication Expectations
Define what is urgent vs. important vs. routine and communicate this to your team.
Encourage people to batch non-urgent questions instead of interrupting multiple times throughout the day.
Delay responses to non-urgent issues to encourage independence.
Train your team to think critically. Instead of saying, “Here’s what I think,” ask, “What do you think?”
Empower Decision-Making Through Delegation
Clearly define decision-making authority within your team—what can be handled without you?
Identify and elevate key team members who can take on more responsibility.
Build a culture of ownership: Instead of solving people’s problems, focus on being a guide. Ask lots of questions and help your team members devise a plan they can execute.
Q: Why do you think leaders feel the need to always be available? Have you ever had an unavailable leader? What were the pros/cons of their leadership style? After listening to this episode, how would you describe the best balance of being available yet setting boundaries?
Application Activities:
Complete a time audit. The best way to do this is to track your time throughout the day. Be sure to note any interruptions! Then, look at how much time you spend doing work, in meetings, and working with others on your team. Look for patterns in how often you are interrupted and how long it takes you to get back on track. Brainstorm ways that you can create blocks of time to work without interruption and ways that you can delegate tasks to give you more time to strategically meet with your employees so you can ask questions and address issues.
Does your team clearly understand when they should or should not interrupt you? Come up with a way of categorizing your team’s common issues or concerns and tell them the best way to communicate with you in each situation. Having clear expectations will help empower your team to either make decisions on their own or communicate in a way that will get the desired response from you.
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