Recently, I have developed a friendship with a young, successful business leader who has wisdom beyond his years. In one hour with him at breakfast one day last month, I learned more from him than I have with other leaders in a long time.
Here’s what he quickly realized in me and our business strategy … I/we lacked a specific focus. With a smile of his youthful face he gently suggested that our service strategy was too scattered. He said it in such a polite way that I wasn’t even bothered by the fact that he had just verbally slammed my decisions.
He was right.
Since that meeting, here’s what I have discovered about focus …
- Focus has pain. You must cut/change/move something or someone you hold dear.
- Focus isn’t necessarily concerned with emotions.
- Focus cries for objectivity vs. subjectivity.
- Focus offers clarity and kills the claim that you can be good at everything.
- Lack of focus has many examples. Painful ones.
- Focus can rally your team towards a common & big goal/win.
- Focused leaders are good at making tribes & leading them.
- Focus is the company campfire. It provides a gathering point, dialogue, & light.
I am still learning about focus. But I am not waiting to make some obvious decisions tied to our company in terms of focus. I am seeing some very quick results too – though I don’t expect them.
Here’s the book I am currently reading about the subject of focus. It’s powerful, candid, and offers some great examples of good focus and lack thereof.
QUESTION: Can you tell someone your organization’s focus in under 10 seconds? Does it take them longer than 30 seconds to understand it?
