Rate-Limiting Step
Last week, I was sitting with Spiros, my fiancé, as we both caught up on work.
While our jobs are very different, there are some similarities in the way we get our work done. He’s a surgeon, so he operates during the day, and he also has a lab and leads a research team. During weeks when he’s operating a lot, his research and administration work can get backed up, so he has to take care of it whenever he has a spare minute, which is usually after-hours, at home. I totally relate to that. When I have weeks where I’m doing a lot of speaking events, for example, the work I do to help our team and my own admin work can get behind, and I sometimes work from our couch in the evening to get caught up. Spiros and I were talking about this specific feeling of overwhelm: knowing you have so much to do, so little time, and other people depending on you to move things forward.
The last several weeks in particular have been busy for both of us. A few people on Spiros’s team needed his feedback on research-related projects so they could move forward, and a few people on my team needed my work on some projects so that they could act on next steps. As we worked to get ahead, Spiros said to me, “I don’t want to be the rate-limiting step.”
…and now, I introduce you to conversations between a neurosurgeon and me, the opposite of a neurosurgeon:
I, of course, had no idea what “rate-limiting step” means, so I asked him. He tells me that it’s a term used in chemistry, which he defined as, “The step in a chemical equation that predominantly dictates the speed of the overall reaction.” In other words...the rate-limiting step is the part of the equation that slows the whole thing down—the most inefficient part.
Then, suddenly, his chemistry brain clicked with my leadership brain: He doesn’t want to be the leader who slows things down for his team. He wants to be the one who helps his team make progress—not the one who prevents it.
And then it dawned on me: I have totally been the rate-limiting step on our team. Actually, I was the rate-limiting step for years. There were so many times that I prevented our team from making momentum. I needed every single thing passed by me; I needed to give my input and feedback on everything. When I think back to those days, I cringe. I can only imagine how much time and progress I cost our team.
These days, I’m sure I’m still guilty of being the rate-limiting step at times, but I’ve made an intentional effort to be involved in the fewest parts of the process that I possibly can. When someone on the team says they need my feedback on something, I challenge that thought. Do they really? I want them to feel empowered to take action without my input.
At the same time, there are instances where I know that they really do need my feedback to move forward. During those times, I try to be “in-and-out.” I set a timer, I look for any big things that stand out to me, I highlight areas that might need attention, and then I pass it along. I try to stay in the big picture and not get caught up in the details. My general rule of thumb is if something is 80% where I want it, I won’t leave feedback to change it. My belief is that doing so slows the whole thing down unnecessarily, and people probably won’t notice that additional 20% that I spent time on. When something isn’t at 80%, I may ask to see it again before it’s final, but my goal is to get it back in that person’s hands as quickly as I can so that they can continue making momentum and aren’t waiting on me to take action.
How about you? Are you the rate-limiting step? Are you involved in things that you don’t need to be? Are you getting caught up in details that don’t matter? The first part is recognizing that we may be the inefficient part of the equation. The second step is getting out of the way as fast as we can.
Thanks to Spiros for inspiring this week’s post! Perhaps one of the only times I will write about chemistry.
Hugs through the screen,
Kristen
PS: Have you heard of my new LIVE show every Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET? Think of it as real talk. I share the challenges I’m navigating as a leader and I also take questions from you! You can register here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT. It’s the same link each week. Hope to see you there!
