As leaders we often have many competing issues, challenges, and tasks. Guess what?
That is life.
To be an effective leader we must continue to be focused. We must provide a consistent vision of the future we are leading people towards.
That is leadership.
Of course we can have new ideas. But the new must be prioritized and more importantly, discussed and created in the context of your focused future vision.
It is the only way you will succeed. And it is the only way those you lead will remain productive and enjoy their work.
Focus.
One thing at a time.
Focus.
Put everything in proper perspective.
Focus.
Help others do the same.
Focus.
photo credit toolstop
I agree, Kevin, the metaphor of focus is a useful one. The word reminds me of another concept, “depth of field”. I remember when I used my old SLR film camera, that I had to pay attention to depth of field if I wanted to avoid blurry regions on my photographs. Otherwise, a photo could be simultaneously focused and unfocused. That was OK if I wanted to remove anything that might distract from the subject of the image, but sometimes the background (or foreground) highlights, complements or enriches the subject. I think that is also the case in leadership when we notice that something we were not originally concentrating on is much more relevant or important than we first realised.
That is a great point – and a wonderful metaphor. I remember doing the same thing before cameras became so automatic.
Kevin 🙂