What Successful Leaders Focus On
For many years I’ve been fascinated by the subtle differences in the mindsets of highly successful leaders when compared with the mediocre majority. As Mark Twain once said “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”. I’ve had the opportunity to observe many outstanding leaders in action and it has become clear to me that a core strategy of their sustained success is a decision to choose what they will focus on. So what do successful leaders focus on?
The Core (instead of the fringe)
An ever-present threat to the success of every leader is the array of issues occurring on ‘the fringe’. Like team members that are leaving. Or distractions and fire fighting. Or side projects that don’t align. I’m not suggesting leaders should ignore the fringe, because issues do need to be addressed and sometimes great opportunities first appear on the fringe. But it’s a question of focus.
The leader who focuses on the fringe lives a reactionary existence and without the strength that focusing on the core brings, they can rarely capitalise on opportunities that arise anyway. Something I’ve noticed about effective leadership is that it operates with great clarity around what its core business is. They know what really matters and what the centre of their target is.
Momentum (instead of maintenance)
What gives your organisation momentum? Knowing the answer to that question is one of the great weapons of effective leadership. Momentum is one of the most difficult aspects of a business to build and a commodity that should be treasured. When we focus on building momentum we often make different decisions to the person who is more concerned with maintenance.
A momentum focus demands that we invest in things like marketing, training, product development and generally taking some risks. A maintenance focus is more concerned with systems, quality control, management and generally maintaining the status quo. Of course, you can’t ignore maintenance either if you want to stay in business for long. But you can have a well ‘maintained’ business that you run into bankruptcy by failing to keep the focus on momentum.
What They Can Influence (instead of what they can’t influence)
Stephen Covey was right when he taught that focusing on your “circle of influence” is instrumental to being an effective leader (ref: Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People). There is a direct relationship between the extent to which I focus on the things I can influence in the world around me, and the extent to which I create real and lasting change.
To be ineffective is to expend my best efforts and energy on issues over which I have no personal control. Like every business I’m affected by interest rates, competitors, global events and a whole host of factors that I cannot influence. I don’t ignore them, but I can’t focus on them and remain effective. One of life’s best-kept secrets is that when I focus on what I can influence, over time I increase what I can influence. On the other hand if I expend myself on things that I can’t influence, gradually my influence shrinks through disuse.
So What Are You Focusing On?
- Are you crystal clear on what is core for you and your team?
- Do you know what gives you momentum and does that get the lion’s share of your attention?
- And how much of your precious focus is drained away by things you cannot influence?
I’d love to hear your comments and feedback
Plus click “ShareThis” below to post this article to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and more…
Tags: Executive Coach, Executive Coaching, Focus, Leadership Coaching, Leadership Development, Leadership Training, Performance Coaching
July 13th, 2009 at 10:32 am
[...] What leaders focus on I found this article on the leadership coach blog. It is a great reminder about focus. Well worth reading. [...]
July 13th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Another excellent thought stimulating article. Required reading for any leadership practitioner!
July 13th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Great post Paul… a great insight and reminder into the world of successful leaders.
I’m one who finds it easy to become distracted by ’side projects’ and lose focus on the bigger picture, which in turn impacts on momentum.
Keep em coming!
Nathan
July 13th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Yes, yes, yes -I am focussed on the next important move on my chess board. I love the game of chess as a metaphor to business in the sense that, like you said, focusing on the core -and being aware of the fringe. Thank you for your wisdom.
Sky
July 17th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Excellent. Focusing on a few specific things that you can actually influence becomes more and more important the higher a leader goes. The more focused a leader is, the more impact he or she can actually make.
Good article,
Kyle
July 18th, 2009 at 12:42 am
That’s a great little crash course on quality leadership. The idea of a core focus is particularly attractive, by the way. You need to know what the trees look like, but you also need to keep an eye on the forest.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Fantastic. Keep your eyes on the core. Focus on what you can control. Do what you can to keep things moving forward. Full speed ahead! I just love this stripped down explanation of what a good leader looks like.
How often do we see people in leadership positions tinkering the details, micromanaging and spending more time planning emergency landings than takeoffs, huh?
(answer: too often)
July 27th, 2009 at 12:48 am
[...] What leaders focus on I found this article on the leadership coach blog. It is a great reminder about focus. Well worth reading. [...]
January 14th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Excellent article Paul – thank you so much!! Your wisdom must always be shared!! Are you working on a book yet?.. we need to hear much much more from you!