Summary.    Working longer hours for a struggling company may make you feel like a hero, but one person’s efforts will not save an at-risk organization. In this article, the author outlines strategies for how to focus your energy so you can have the most significant impact...

When you work for a struggling company, it’s normal to feel compelled to work longer hours in hopes of righting the ship. This tendency is particularly true in business development when you directly impact revenue.

This is what my client, James, was facing (not his real name). James is a VP of business development and had been with his cybersecurity startup company for 18 months. As he familiarized himself with the organization, he grew concerned about its strategy and company direction. Although invited to participate in senior management meetings, James disagreed with the C-suite’s direction and believed it jeopardized the company’s growth. While James wanted to challenge some of the leadership team’s assumptions to help turn around the company’s performance, he was also conflicted about maintaining boundaries around his personal and professional time.

When James brought these dilemmas to our coaching meetings, I shared the following strategies with him, which he was able to leverage to keep his boundaries intact while also succeeding in his role.

Determine when to offer advice — and when to step back.

Since James had been in the tech industry for more than 15 years working for several companies of different sizes, he’d seen firsthand what worked and what didn’t. He wondered if he should step beyond his defined role to advise the executive team — and if so, how far he should go — particularly since this would require entering territory where a CEO with little experience might not welcome his views. It also would absorb more of his time and energy to take on this additional legwork, giving him less time for his core priorities.

Your decision on whether or not to advise on matters of company performance outside of your main role should hinge on if you possess the expertise to effectively and efficiently offer your advice. If you do have significant insight into your new company’s problem, then you may be able to share that in a straightforward way without encountering a major time suck. Here’s what that might sound like:

• “I’ve been in this industry for 15 years and can help with this pivotal decision.”
• “My last company encountered a similar situation. I’m happy to share what worked for them.”

Get specifics before taking on new assignments.

One of James’s struggles with his executive team was their lack of defined goals. So, when they asked him to take on an additional assignment, he declined because it wasn’t clear what success would look like, and he was already concerned about achieving in his primary role.

Before agreeing to take on an extra assignment, seek specifics: What’s the objective? How will success be measured? How long will this assignment last? What exactly will be required of you? How many hours will it take? Once you have a clear understanding of what’s required, then you can confidently decide if it’s a good match.

If it’s not a good fit, then decline positively and honestly by saying something like: “Thank you for considering me for this project. I have to decline, though. With my current responsibilities, I couldn’t give it my full attention. It would be best to offer it to someone with the bandwidth to help it reach its potential.”

See if you can help in smaller, more manageable ways by providing input on the project plan or offering to attend brainstorming sessions, for example. By contributing where you can, you’ll showcase your proactive nature and prove you’re a team player without overloading yourself.

Graciously decline new roles if your primary responsibilities will suffer.

Six months into his tenure, the VP of marketing for James’s company left to take another position. Management came to James and asked him to fill in. James realized that doing so would distract him from his current business development priorities, which were critical to the company’s revenue. The question that James posed to me was how to decline without giving the impression that he lacked commitment to the organization and without appearing selfish.

The key is to focus on why saying no is in the best interests of everyone involved, or as executive coach and author Melody Wilding describes, it’s about taking a “relational” approach. You might say, “If I devote time to marketing at this juncture, it will take away from my ability to focus on revenue generation, which is critical to all of us.”

Find small ways to protect your time

James realized that adding hours to his schedule would not measurably affect his company’s performance and could lead to burnout. So he looked for tangible, small ways to establish limits.

He began by blocking out parts of his calendar when he couldn’t attend meetings because of his commuting schedule, family responsibilities, or because he wanted the first hour of his day to get organized. His goal was to protect the time on his schedule to maximize his effectiveness.

If you get a meeting request within the time you blocked off, suggest an alternative. If you can’t reschedule the meeting, you’ll need to decide whether it’s vital for you to attend. In some situations, you may be unable to change meeting times, such as when the meeting involves global participants in multiple time zones or if the schedules of a team need to be coordinated for a consulting project. In these cases, you’ll need to evaluate the situation on its merits.

Limiting your availability can be especially difficult to do when your company is struggling — you don’t want to be seen as not pulling your weight. This is why communication is key. If you plan on setting your phone on “do not disturb” or are limiting your timeframe of answering emails after a particular time, clearly relay that to the rest of your team to manage their expectations of you.

According to Jim Harter, chief scientist for Gallup’s workplace management practice, speaking up is the best step to setting workplace boundaries. Let your manager know what is and isn’t working and the goals you’re trying to achieve. If you have yet to set boundaries and communicate what you need within your current role, then you’ll just take that lack of clarity into a different setting if you shift to another job, eliminating the original stressor but not the origin of your stress.

Working longer hours for a struggling company may make you feel like a hero, but one person’s efforts will not save an at-risk organization. Focus your energy where you have the most significant impact and consider what makes sense for you in the long run.