The story of the lumberjack

When the workload never stops growing and I can't see a way out other than working harder.

There's an old story about a lumberjack trying to cut down trees with a blunt axe. Every day he works harder and harder but cuts down less and less.

His supervisor suggests sharpening it.

He replies: "I can't. I'm too busy cutting."

Every leader knows that feeling. The pressure of daily tasks, the back-to-back meetings, and endless emails and growing action lists!

How I felt

I used to feel exactly the same. Operational roles are heavy. And the pressure never really stops. • Pressure on resource reductions • Growing action lists from meetings • New campaigns and ideas • And a workload growing faster and faster every day

We were all going through the motions - always so 'busy', but busy doing what?

It was only when my team and I stepped back and asked:

"What 20% of our work is taking 80% of our time?" "Where are the biggest friction points we can streamline?" "What work is actually delivering meaningful outcomes?"

The solution wasn't to push harder, it was to step back and get clear!

Start sharpening your axe

Hold a "See the Forest for the Trees" meeting. This can take 1-2 hours - a reset with your team.

Here's exactly what to cover:

1. List out everything your team does Daily, weekly, monthly, and ask "Which daily tasks genuinely help us meet our targets?" These are essential. Keep them.

2. Sort the tasks using the Impact/Effort Matrix This helps you see what matters vs what drains energy. • High Impact / Low Effort → prioritise / protect • High Impact / High Effort → protect, plan, streamline • Low Impact / High Effort → challenge, simplify, streamline • Low Impact / Low Effort → do only if needed

3. Create a simple improvement plan Based on what you decided to remove, streamline, improve or challenge, create your plan. • What we're improving • Who owns it • By when Keep timeframes realistic so the team can build trust and momentum.

4. Hold a monthly follow-up - accountability Check in on progress. Remove roadblocks. Choose the next improvement. Small improvements, done consistently, change everything.

Your weekly leadership play

Hold your "Sharpen Your Axe" meeting.

Planning and clarity first. Improvement second.

That's how you sharpen the axe.

See you next week, Steve