Have you ever been in meetings where the eyes of the people in the room are staring at you and almost instantly ask you to provide direction? What are we going to do now? For less severe issues, the response can be given on the spot, no problem. For deeper rooted issues, a change of the ground rules may actually be required. That demands leadership, but what kind? Course corrections aren’t easy and aren't meant to be either.

Changing the ground rules implies taking risk and requires boldness. We are good at doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results (Einstein’s definition of insanity). That's because we have a natural resistance to change and are not as audacious as we should be. Oftentimes we tolerate a problematic situation far too long, lean back, at times play victim and hope that somebody will stand up and fix it. Changing the ground rules means altering the operating model. That means changes to one or more of the following dimensions: people, process, technology, policies and procedures, governance structures, business partners, etc.

An ad at the end of one of my workout videos caught my attention. A kitchen timer is ticking away. A voice says “It’s about time. Time. Time.” A trainer appears and says, “The number one reason people don’t work out is time.” A woman appears and says, “I can’t work out for an hour. Are you kidding me? I don’t have time!"  Another ad has a trainer saying something like, “Nobody has time, but if you give me just 30 minutes every day for 21 days, I’ll give you the body you’ve always wanted.” Oh were it that easy!

Are you still at work while your colleagues are off on vacation? The holiday period – whether that’s during the summer, during the end of year or at any other point where it’s normal for people in your country to take time off – can see your project coming to a halt. Everything takes longer if you can’t find the resources and get responses to queries.

Here’s how to stop your project slowing right down during the quiet times.