Episode # 12 - Why Leaders Struggle to Make Time for Strategy

Why do most leaders say strategy matters, but rarely make time for it?

In this episode, Vishal Prasad explores the gap between intent and action using insights from Harvard Business Review, Columbia Business School, and cognitive science. Turns out, it’s not just your calendar — it’s busyness as status, execution overload, and cognitive inertia.

He breaks down three big blockers:

• Busyness being worn like a badge of honour
• Execution overshadowing reflection
• The brain’s default to reaction over strategy

Vishal also shares two practical tools:

• A 10-second strategic pause
• A 5-minute block of “strategic idleness” backed by neuroscience

If you’re constantly stuck in the weeds and struggling to make space for strategy, this one’s for you.

This… is The EnterpriseJoy Podcast —
Enterprise strategies for leaders, in under five minutes.

Music Credit: Switch It Up, performed by Silent Partner, from the YouTube Studio Audio Library

📚 References

1. Harvard Business Review
   If Strategy Is So Important, Why Don’t We Make Time for It?
   https://hbr.org/2018/06/if-strategy-is-so-important-why-dont-we-make-time-for-it
2. Harvard Business Review
   How CEOs Manage Time
   https://hbr.org/2018/07/how-ceos-manage-time
3. Balanced Scorecard Institute
   The Leadership Gap: Understanding Strategy Execution Failure
   https://balancedscorecard.org/blog/the-leadership-gap-understanding-strategy-execution-failure
4. Columbia Business School
   Silvia Bellezza, Neeru Paharia & Anat Keinan
   Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol
   https://business.columbia.edu/sites/default/files-efs/pubfiles/19293/Conspicuous%20Consumption%20of%20Time%20JCR.pdf
5. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
   Why Strategic Idleness Can Drive Breakthrough Thinking
   https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-strategic-idleness-can-drive-breakthrough-thinking
6. Harvard Business Review
   The Business Case for Reflection: Brief Pauses Boost Performance by 23%
   https://hbr.org/2014/10/reflecting-on-work-improves-job-performance