Vanity Work: How to Banish it From Your Workplace Forever

Let's Fix Leadership

Spending hours on busy work that doesn’t impact the business? Attending meetings we shouldn’t be in because our ego wants us there? Filling our to-do lists with meaningless tasks because we *have* to? These, my friends, are all the height of vanity work, and we’re all guilty of it, maybe by choice or by association.

Not all work is created equal - some is vital to the success of the organization and other work…we really shouldn’t be giving the time of day. So how do we tell the difference, and most importantly, how do we get rid of it from our teams and organizations and in the words of Elsa, “let it go?”

In this episode, we’re talking about why vanity work needs to be banished.

Three Things To Take Away From This Episode

Why vanity work is a problem

Vanity work isn’t just a harmless annoyance, it’s a huge drain on company resources. It drives burnout, makes our organizations slower, and frankly, there are more important things we could be doing. In today’s busy world, no one has time to do work that doesn’t matter, so we must make getting rid of vanity work a priority.

How leaders invite vanity work into the organization

One of the biggest causes of vanity work is leaders not trusting their teams enough to just let things go. Whether it’s due to poor training, the wrong hires, or our ego, this has to be remedied immediately.

Before you accept that next meeting request…

Meaningless meetings are the height of vanity work, and it’s time we get really honest about why they are still on our schedules. Is it because of ego, because we don’t trust our teams, or because it’s something people in your organization just do?