Imagine driving on a highway you’ve never been on before. Preferably you’re driving a convertible and the views are breathtaking. In this scenario, it’s unlikely you’ll notice the guardrails. However, the guardrails are almost invisibly keeping you on track, guiding you safely and efficiently to your desired destination. In your business, your Core Focus™️ functions the same way.
In his book, Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies, Jim Stengel said it best: purpose mobilizes people in a way that pursuing profits alone never will.
It is always a challenge to keep individuals and organizations focused, but that’s what great leaders do. Distractions abound, but great leaders have an internal compass that keeps them from drifting off course. Two things set your bearings – your why and your what.
The video below offers brilliant words of wisdom attributed to Warren Buffett as career advice to his personal airline pilot, Mike Flint. I have read this story before. This gentleman, self-described creativity expert James Taylor, offers it as advice for creatives.
I offer it as advice for business owners and leaders. It syncs really well with the precepts of EOS®, which all support the idea that Less Is More. Focus on the most important goals for your business, your department, your personal life – this quarter, this year, always.
One of my clients, a small software company in Detroit, had this a-ha moment in our recent quarterly session. “With great power comes great responsibility. We have great power (talent on our team), and we’re not being responsible because we aren’t focusing it effectively.”
Fortunately, they have great people on their team that fit into their culture and are extremely talented. Unfortunately, several team members are bringing in too many new ideas and opportunities for the team feasibly to pursue.
Business owners know that providing an excellent product with excellent service at excellent prices typically leads to strong growth and profitability. But did you know there is another more subtle — possibly more powerful — factor that can pave the path to better profits? It’s your mission statement.
