Successful ‘time entrepreneurs’ understand that time leadership is about creating more hours in a working day by improving efficiencies in existing processes or by introducing new ones.

It is said that all of us have the same 24 hours at our disposal I on any given day. This is true but in a limited sense because a leader is not just responsible for his or her own time but for the aggregated (compounded) time of the team members whose hours are at the leader’s disposal to utilize, manage and invest. Monetary interest compounds over time and adds to the initial capital, which, in turn, earns a higher return every year. The principle of compounding also works in the world of ‘time entrepreneurship’ along the same lines. A ‘time entrepreneur’ or ‘time leader’ is a person who is responsible for the time of his or her entire team, which in the case of a CEO or CMD could be thousands of people. Time leaders are not only responsible for their own 24 hours but for the working hours of all the people under their charge. So, a time leader with 1,000 employees who work for 8 hours a day is responsible for the daily productivity achieved (an equivalent of interest) in 8,000 hours (or time capital) that they give the company he/ she leads.

Time compounding occurs due to the aggregation of working hours of employees under a leader’s charge. From a Human Capital perspective, the rate of return from this aggregation or compounding of time depends on efficiencies within a company’s work culture and on the effectiveness of processes in the organization designed to deliver productivity.

Organizations are built with different purposes and different ends in mind, but they do have the two elements called ‘people’ and ‘processes’ in common. An army defending the country or an FMCG company, a temple trust, an educational institution, a charitable hospital, orphanage or old age home are all organizations with these two elements in common. Irrespective of the nature of the organization, a time entrepreneur’s job is to improve the productivity of both people and processes through innovation.

Innovation that ensures the performance of tasks in lesser time magically ‘creates more time’. This extra time adds to the compounded capital and makes the organization more efficient. A time-conscious organization introduces efficiencies that have a bearing on the lives of employees beyond the working hours

What is the time spent on trips to the water fountain on an average day in an office with 300 employees? What is the time saved when water bottles are provided at every desk twice a day? Can the photocopier and the team that needs most photocopies be reduced, so the time is saved? How can technology be used to save time in the execution of essential tasks in the organization? What L&D initiatives can introduce efficiencies in the workforce that can, in turn, reduce the time spent on specific tasks?

The time saved due to various innovations or ‘time created’ in this fashion, which adds to the ‘time capital’ must be used consciously to create a better workplace ecosystem for all stakeholders.

With more time at hand, there is space for taking on added responsibilities, lesser workload, and more opportunities for bonding and recreation within the organization. It also helps a time entrepreneur or leader to foster ‘time consciousness’ in the organization, which encourages individuals, teams and departments to improve efficiencies that create additional time for themselves and others to have the space to breathe easy, grow and flower. Are you such a time entrepreneur?