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FOCUS: The Sharper It Is; The Sharper You Are

“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” – Unknown

“What people say, what people do, and what they say they d are two different matters.” – Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

Tony Gwynn of the 1997 San Diego Padres had just another year of batting 339, 2nd only to Ted Williams. It was reported that Gwynn would read Ted William’s The Science of Hitting,” by Ted Williams several times each year. Gwynn’s rookie year was the only year he did not bat over .300. Columnist George Will wrote “people who are great at what they do, such as Tony Gwynn, have cultivated a kind of concentration unknown to most people.”

What does it take to have the focus required to be a truly effective leader? The keys are priorities and concentration.

A leader who knows his priorities but lacks concentration knows what to do but never gets it done. If a leader has concentration but no priorities, he/she has excellence without progress. But when you harness both, you have the potential for greatness. So many leaders it seems focus on the minors instead of majoring on the majors. That simply does not make sense to do that.

So the important question is; “How should focus your time and energy?” Here are some helpful guidelines.

Focus 70% on Strengths

Effective leaders who reach their potential spend more time focusing on what they do well than on what they do wrong. Peter Drucker states, The great mystery isn’t that people do things badly but they occasionally do a few things well. The only thing that is universal is incompetence. Strength is always specific.”

Focus 25% on New Things

Growth equals change. If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving. That will mean stepping into new areas of life. Tony Gwynn had a conversation with Ted Williams once who suggested to Gwynn that if he would learn to hit inside pitches it would increase his over a;; batting average. The old pro was correct. There are times when you have to work in new areas of life to get better. Keep in mind as a leader when you are through growing, you are through.

Focus 5% on Areas of Weaknesses

Nobody can entirely avoid working on areas of weakness. The key is to minimize it as much as possible. The old adage is true, hire to your weaknesses so you stay focused on your strengths.

How would you rate yourself in the area of focus? Have you been majoring in minor things? Are you spending too much time focusing on your weaknesses that you fail to build your strengths? Do the people with least potential dominate your time? If you answer yes to these questions, then you have probably lost your focus. To get back on track with your focus do these four things:

Work on yourself – you are your greatest asset or worst detriment,

Work at your priorities – you will have to fight for this, if you do not set your priorities someone else will set them for you.

Work in your strengths – you can reach your fullest potential.

Work with your contemporaries – you cannot be effective all by yourself.

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Music: “Gratitude Mood” by David Arivett. You can learn more about his music by clicking on his name. THANKS DAVID!

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