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Intentional Leadership — D2, W2, M4 — Focus

Let’s work through an exercise to clarify your role, sharpen your skills, and refine your ability to focus. Before you can do this, it’s important to understand you role and what skills are necessary for you to be successful in it.

First, on a piece of paper, describe your current role. What are you responsible for?

Next, outline the skills required for you to be successful in your role. List at least 10 skills, then circle the top three.

Now that you are clear on the top three skills required for success in your job, what can you do in the next week to improve your mastery of just one of those skills?

After you have picked one, create a simple plan that will drive you to sharpen that skill at least twice over the next week. Be very specific and even put the time and activities in your planner. If you don’t commit to it, something else will surely come along and eat up the time you’ll need.

I look forward to hearing what you are working on, the actions you are taking to sharpen your skills, and what your results are.

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W1, M4 — Focus

I’m working my way through a process called The Deeper Path, led by Kary Oberbrunner, a fellow John Maxwell Team member can coach who is guiding me through this amazing process he developed with his Builder, Chet Scott. Traveling The Deeper Path is all about gaining clarity and focus.

While I have what I believe to be a lot more clarity about where I’m headed and what I’m building in my life than many others, I know I don’t have it to the degree I need it to be truly fulfilled, successful, and reach my potential. The truth is, there is so much stuff going on around all of us all day long, so much noise, so many messages to sift through, so many people clamoring for our time and attention, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. It’s easy to get lost in all the stuff. It’s easy to be busy, and yet not feel productive.

I know I’ve been there, on more days than I like to admit to. Yet, I’m aware of this, and awareness is the key. Once you have come to this realization, you have the opportunity — and the choice — to do something about it, to do something differently.

You see, busy doesn’t necessarily equate to productive. To be productive, I need to spend my time on the “right” activities. To know what the “right” activities are, I need clarity and focus!

How do we get there? Begin with the end in mind: What objective are we trying to achieve? When you can write an objective statement simply and clearly, you understand what you need to do to achieve it, when you need to do it, how you will do it, what resources (people and other) you need, and what the result will be when you are done.

Let’s put it into practice. We will create a task list that will allow you to stay focused on your project, effectively thinking through from the big picture to the details.

Across the top of a piece of paper, write your task or goal statement. Then, below it write this — and do the ranking:

Priority (1 = Low and 5= High)   1     2     3     4     5

Impact (1 = Low and 5= High)   1     2     3     4     5

Define the following:

What tools will you use to accomplish this task? List all resources — tangible or intangible, including specific people (time, money, supplies, staff, other materials, etc…)

Who will benefit or otherwise be affected by the completion of this task?

What will be the result?

When you’ve completed this exercise, use the information to draft your objective statement. Here’s an example: “By the end of this week, I will have created a comprehensive client contact file, including communication preferences, connection time-lines, product and services preferences, and known networks/affiliations, which I will use to track my business and networking activities.”

Now, take a clean sheet of paper, write your new objective statement at the top, then create your thorough task list which will allow you to meet your goal. Make notes as you work through it this week on what worked, what didn’t what you added that you didn’t need, what you needed but didn’t think to list…We’ll do some reflection on this later.

Get to work!

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Intentional Leadership — Month Four — Focus

Focus: A state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding. A point at which rays (as of light, heat, or sound) converge or from which they diverge or appear to diverge;specifically: the point where the geometrical lines or their prolongations conforming to the rays diverging from or converging toward another point intersect and give rise to an image after reflection by a mirror or refraction by a lens or optical system.

Thank you, Merriam-Webster online!

Without focus, our efforts are haphazard, expending energy without clear direction. With focus, we can channel our energies and efforts toward clear objectives. We can set and stick to priorities. We filter the information we are drowning in — more than 3000 messages per day according to some sources — able to determine what is truly relevant to you and your mission and ignore the rest. Focus allows us to make decisions in line with our values, beliefs, priorities, and goals. We are able to clearly articulate our vision and guide others. We operate effectively, efficiently, productively; working smarter not harder.

Think of the difference between the light channeled by an incandescent bulb and that of the light channeled through a laser. The first gives you diffused, gentle illumination; the latter gives you a single, super-concentrated beam, intense enough to cut through steel. The difference between the two is simple: Focus.

What you accomplish will be determined by your ability to focus your thoughts, your energy, your efforts. When you have focus, making decisions and taking action is easy. Without it, you will drift through your life, randomly moving with the flow of whatever current you are caught up in. The choice is yours.

Before we begin this fourth month of our Intentional Leadership journey, take some time to consider these questions:

What goals are you currently focused on?

Who best understands your career focus?

How do you maintain your focus in light of the myriad daily distractions you encounter?

When has your clarity of focus inspired someone else to take action?

I’m excited to move into this next stage of our journey. Are you ready? “See” you tomorrow!

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