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This was a version of my calendar about 18 years ago.
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Why What You Do Daily Is Where Leadership Shows Up
Before anyone reads your résumé, your job description, or your leadership philosophy, they’ve already seen the truth about your leadership.
They’ve seen your calendar.
A calendar doesn’t just show where your time goes, it reveals what you value, what you protect, and what consistently gets pushed aside. It shows whether you lead intentionally or reactively. It exposes whether relationships, reflection, and preparation are truly priorities or simply good intentions.
In my experience, you can learn more about a leader in five minutes looking at their calendar than in an hour-long conversation about leadership theory.
And I learned that lesson at camp long before I ever had the language for it.
One summer, I watched a young program director (Mike) sprint from one thing to the next all day long. Campers loved him. Staff trusted him. Parents appreciated him. He was everywhere, answering questions, solving problems, filling gaps.
By Friday, he was exhausted.
Not because camp had gone poorly, but because Mike had spent the entire week reacting instead of leading.
What stuck with me wasn’t his effort. It was what wasn’t happening. There was no time set aside for planning. No protected space for reflection. No rhythm that allowed him to step back and ask, “Is what I’m doing today helping camp run better tomorrow?”
Camp taught me this early:
If everything is important, nothing is protected. I had a BLOG post about Leadership and Fire Drills a while back where I discussed a version of this with a great leader, Jackie.
That lesson has stayed with me for quite some time and it’s the foundation of what I now eventually developed and what I call a Compartmentalized Weekly Calendar.
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| Camp Director off Season Compartmentalized Calendar |
Servant Leadership Is Not About Doing EverythingOver the years, I’ve worked with thousands of leaders, camp directors, program leaders, nonprofit professionals, and emerging leaders and I’ve noticed something consistent.
Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack heart. They struggle because their days are running them instead of the other way around. I know, because I have had that mindset and it makes life so difficult at times.
As servant leaders, we often confuse availability with effectiveness. We want to be accessible, responsive, and supportive (and those are good things). But without intention, availability turns into reactivity, and reactivity quietly erodes leadership.
A compartmentalized weekly calendar doesn’t remove compassion.
It creates space for it to show up well.
What John Maxwell Has Been Teaching Us All Along
You know I am a huge fan of John C. Maxwell, as well as a certified coach and trainer. John has reminded leaders for years that success and influence are built in the daily disciplines, not the big moments. What you do occasionally may inspire people and what you do consistently is what shapes culture.
Your calendar tells the truth about your leadership.
If relationships matter, they’ll show up on your schedule.
If growth matters, it will have protected time.
If reflection matters, it won’t be an afterthought.
What you do daily is where you will see results not because the calendar is magic, but because intentional repetition compounds over time.
Why “Compartmentalized” Matters
Compartmentalizing your week doesn’t mean ignoring people. It means grouping similar leadership work together so your energy, attention, and mindset are aligned.
At camp, we never tried to do everything at once. Program time was program time. Prep time was prep time. Reflection happened around the campfire, not while sprinting to the next activity.
The same wisdom applies to leadership long after summer ends.
Instead of bouncing all day between emails, staff issues, program prep, fundraising, and board work, a compartmentalized calendar creates intentional blocks for people, planning, systems, outreach, and reflection.
That’s not rigidity. That’s stewardship.
The Servant Leadership Hook Most People Miss
Here’s what camp made clear to me:
Leadership presence is felt most when it’s grounded, not scattered.
A compartmentalized weekly calendar isn’t about control, it’s about care.
Care for yourself, so burnout doesn’t creep in unnoticed.
Care for your team, so they get your best attention, not what’s left.
Care for the mission, so it doesn’t survive on scraps of time.
When leaders are constantly scattered, everyone feels it. When leaders lead with intention, teams feel safer, clearer, and more confident.
That’s servant leadership in practice.
Start Simple, Stay Faithful
You don’t need a perfect schedule. You need a faithful one.
Start by asking:
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What deserves my best energy?
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What keeps getting crowded out?
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What would happen if I protected time for what matters most?
Try living into a compartmentalized rhythm for a few weeks. Don’t judge it, just notice what it reveals.
Because as John Maxwell has taught us time and again,
small daily choices compound into meaningful leadership results.
And your calendar is where those choices quietly live.
If this resonates with you, I’ve created a free SKOOL course in my SKOOL community (Servant Leadership at Camp) where I walk through the Compartmentalized Weekly Calendar in a practical, servant-leader way.
It’s not about becoming more rigid or productive for productivity’s sake.
It’s about learning how to protect what matters, lead with intention, and stop letting every urgent thing steal your best energy.
If your weeks feel full but unfocused, this course is for you.
Join the free SKOOL course and start shaping your week instead of chasing it.
