By Chris Bekker, Atomli Leadership Lead
One of the challenges I encounter most often in leadership development programmes is a comment that usually comes quietly, towards the end of a session: “I understand the principles, but I simply haven’t had time to apply them at work.”
I understand why people say it. Meetings, deadlines, operational demands, customer issues and unexpected problems fill the working day, and by the evening there seems to be little room left for anything else. When leadership development is treated as one more item on an already overloaded list, it is almost guaranteed to lose out to whatever is more urgent.
That is why I encourage managers to look at it differently. Leadership development should not be another task added to your workload. It should become part of how you do the work you are already doing.
Delegation
You already need to allocate work every week. Instead of simply handing over a task, use the moment to practise effective delegation. Clarify the outcome you expect, agree on how much decision-making authority the person has, and establish sensible checkpoints along the way. The task gets done either way, but the way you assign it determines whether the person grows from it and whether you are pulled back into it later.
Communication
You already attend meetings and interact with your team. These interactions are a ready-made practice ground for active listening, asking better questions and checking for understanding. A manager who deliberately tests whether the message landed as intended, rather than assuming it did, will often prevent problems that would otherwise surface a week later as rework or confusion.
Coaching
Imagine an employee approaches you with a problem. The familiar response is to supply the answer, which feels helpful and is usually quicker. The alternative is to ask two simple questions: “What options have you considered?” and “What would you recommend?” Often the person already has a workable answer and mainly needs the confidence to act on it. Over time, this small change reduces the number of problems that arrive on your desk, which is precisely the pressure many managers are trying to relieve.
Planning
You already carry responsibilities and deadlines. Taking a few minutes to establish priorities, anticipate obstacles and agree on expectations costs very little compared with the time lost to avoidable surprises. It brings me back to the 5 Ps: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. It is an old saying, and it remains useful because it is true.
Feedback
You already observe your team’s performance every day. Everyday interactions offer the best opportunities to give timely, constructive feedback, and feedback loses much of its value when it is held back for a formal review months later. A brief, specific comment close to the event is easier to hear, easier to act on and far more likely to change behaviour.
Conscious Application
None of these examples necessarily requires an additional meeting, workshop or activity. They require something else: conscious application. This means choosing to use a leadership principle deliberately, rather than automatically reverting to familiar habits. Much of what we do as managers runs on habit, and habit is efficient, which is exactly why it is hard to change when the pressure is on. A deliberate choice, even a small one, interrupts the pattern.
Developing new behaviours does take practice, reflection and sometimes coaching. Not every attempt will go perfectly, and that is part of learning. The cycle is straightforward: try something, observe what happens, reflect on the outcome, adjust your approach and try again.
Where Development Becomes Real
In my experience, each part of the process has a distinct role. The classroom provides knowledge, shared experience and a safe environment to practise. Individual coaching addresses personal learning needs that a group setting cannot reach. But the workplace is where leadership development becomes real, because that is where the habits are formed and where the consequences of change are felt.
Perhaps the question managers should ask themselves is not “When will I find time to practise leadership?” but rather “Which leadership principle can I deliberately apply in the work I’m already doing today?”
Leadership development is not something we should do only when we have spare time. It is something we practise while doing our jobs.