One of the greatest qualities that we can have as leaders is to have a high sense of urgency in addressing issues.
I have found that a good rule of thumb, though, is to wait 24 hours, to address significant issues of conflict to make sure I am not over-reacting or making a “mountain out of a molehill.”
Ironically, I came up with this 24-hour rule more than twenty years ago when I was pregnant and working for a relatively insensitive and uncaring boss. I was concerned that she might see me bringing up issues as being an overly-emotional pregnant woman. To mitigate this situation, I decided I would just wait 24 hours before bringing concerns to her.
To my delight, I found this rule helped eliminate at least half of the things I might have brought to her and the issues I did bring to her were very well thought out and presented. So, I have kept this 24-hour rule for my entire career… and it has worked really well in my personal life as well!!
~J
