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If the pandemic wasn't enough international conflicts, market fluctuations and rising inflation is the cherry on top. It may feel sometimes it’s impossible to get ahead of progress. laser focusEspecially when internal activities is swirling as fast as what is happening around us.

Does this sound like you? Multi-tasking is off the charts. All emails coming in seem to have the “High Importance Flag” marked. Your calendar is full of back to back meetings all meant to discuss important topics. This leaves you no time to really get anything meaningful done. Yet every new day brings a whole new set of challenges to be urgently addressed and you feel further and further behind. What’s worse is if the entire team is unfocused and operating in the same way.

If focusing is a challenge, what destination will your ship reach if any at all?

Imagine you are a lion tamer. You suddenly found yourself in a cage with a very large and hungry lion. The lion’s roar is deafening. Its claws, taking swipes are you, are razor sharp. The lion’s teeth look like steel traps. In the cage you find a whip, a bag full of treats, roaring-african-lion1and a four legged stool to control the lion. Which do you use?

A whip will only anger the lion. The treats are useless because they will eventually run out leaving only you and the lion left.

The stool is the best choice. When lifting the four-legged stool to the lion’s face it doesn’t know which stool leg to focus on. So it stands still enabling the lion tamer to live another day.

Who should focus, you or the lion?

Here are 3 ways to help you build a laser focused leadership team

  1. Regroup on the vision: Successful organizational focus depends on if everyone sees the big picture and how they fit in it. It’s funny how some leaders feel they can simply state something once and they think it magically becomes a reality. The truth is unless we repeat and model our message often and through various means, the message doesn’t necessarily cascade throughout the organization.To add to the complexity is the remote reality of our workforce. Success is when employees see from leaders, not just hear, to achieve objectives and ultimately the big picture.
  2. Simplify and focus energies: What is the one thing (or top three things) that must be critically done right now? In fast-paced environments, it is easy to get distracted. But as a leader or owner of a business, corporation, or a department take a minute and answer the question of what is critically important. Once you’ve decided the answer to that question, refocus your team on critically important item(s). Stop all of the other projects and activities that are not aligned.
  3. Recognize and reward: To put wind in your ship’s sails, align your recognition and reward system around those critical items. If it is critical that your organization provides exemplary customer service at all levels, then make sure all of your recognition and rewards systems support that critical priority.

Putting things into perspective goes a long way towards ensuring effective focus and executing on key objectives. When that happens, the lion to tame will look more like a kitten.

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Tresha Moreland is a 30-year organizational effectiveness and strategic workforce planning expert. She partners with business leaders to develop workplace strategies that achieve best-in-class results. She has held key organizational leadership roles in multiple industries such as manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. Tresha is the founder and principal consultant of HR C-Suite, LLC (www.hrcsuite.com). HR C-Suite is a results-based HR strategy resource dedicated to connecting HR with business results. She has received a master’s degree in human resource management (MS) and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). She has also earned a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Six Sigma Black Belt Professional (SSBBP) Certification. She is also recognized as a Fellow with the American College Healthcare Executives with a FACHE designation.

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