Organization vs. Focus

In my interactions with clients and colleagues I often am privy to conversations about organization and time management. Leaders often ask how they can get better organized to achieve the tasks they have set for themselves, and there is great training and coaching available for this goal. 

My experience, however, is that often the core time management issue for leaders isn’t that they need to get better organized, but that they’re trying to do too much. What they really need is better focus.

We in the high achiever cohort are often coached to work hard and get better organized, but not often enough coached to work “smart” by doing less. At some point we just have too many things on our task list to get them all done well, and this creates unnecessary stress and poor performance across the board.

One of the biggest differences between true leaders and managers is that leaders are more focused on strategy and vision while managers are more focused on tactics and execution. If you aspire to be a good leader, then you need to be good at strategic planning, and an important part of strategic planning is deciding what NOT to do with your business.

One of the most prevalent causes for business failure is trying to be “all things to all people” by lacking sufficient focus. The same is true for your individual career strategy. If you take on too much, you can’t possibly do a good job of all of it no matter how well organized you are.

Time and energy are finite resources for individuals and for businesses. Focus these resources wisely so that you and your business will flourish.

Don’t be a stranger. (770) 993-1129. tdockery@TheResolveFirm.com