3 Steps to Ensure Focused Leadership
Today's leaders are challenged with the prospect of success and failure. Every decision can make or break the leader of an organization and its future. Leaders must be focused in order to make every decision count.
But how do you focus as the leader of an organization? The process is relatively simple. What follows is a simple formula that will provide a framework for focused, successful leadership.
- Know your desired outcomes. So often, leaders have no idea where they want to take their organization. Every outcome looks like the winner. So instead of focusing, many leaders try to implement everything, to the detriment of accomplishing anything. Grow my core business, expand into new markets, add new staff, reduce headcount and many other initiatives become all mixed into one confusing mess. And, they easily distract a leader. It is time to make a choice! Your desired outcome will dictate the strategic and tactical paths you choose. So choose wisely.
- Identify the obstacles standing between you and your desired outcome. The obstacles may be many, but choosing the few, important ones is a most critical second step. Solving the wrong problem often leads to the wrong outcome. Get some perspective by looking from different points of view, getting input and feedback from others and simply maintaining an objective view of the obstacles and how they impact the outcomes.
- Select and engage the right solutions. To do this, first identify the options available, highlighting advantages and limitations of each option. Simply identifying and listing the advantages and limitations will frequently lead to a clear idea of the best solution to make. With the chosen solution(s) in mind, develop an action plan that clarifies action steps, accountabilities, time lines, resources and the metrics you are striving to achieve. Then execute on that plan, relentlessly.
These three simple steps will allow you to be a focused leader that produces successful outcomes. Which of these steps do you find to be the most difficult?
