The 3-Tier Leadership Playbook I Use in My Companies.
May 15, 2024Today, let's talk about "Focus."
What do leaders focus on?
With a seemingly endless number of priorities, by what compass should leaders determine what to spend their time on?
Well, instead of discussing leadership and organizational theory, I'm going to share the actual playbook I use to help me and my teams stay focused on the right things.
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Focus, or Lack-there-of, Will Determine Your Outcome
Let's talk about lasers.
Everyone likes lasers. They're cool. They're basically the gimmick that made Star Wars so cool and Dr. Evil so hilarious.
A laser, with just 4,000 watts of energy, can cut through steel.
Yet, the sun produces 44 quadrillion watts every day, and the worst thing to happen if we're outside too long is a sunburn.
Why is that?
Focus.
100% of the laser's energy is focused in the same direction, while the sun's energy is dispersed all over, with only a fraction of it reaching the Earth.
Most companies are like the sun. Their energy is being pushed and pulled in a thousand different directions.
The end result? Nothing productive gets done, but team capacity still seems to be full.
Without the ability to focus, your company will feel the same way.
Timers, Time-blocking, and "Deep Work"
There is a ton of effort and work being done in these three fields today.
I just posted about a new timer I got to help me stay engaged in my deep work.
Time-blocking is a tactic I use and teach religiously, as I believe it's one of the best ways to prioritize your time and stay focused.
Cal Newport wrote "Deep Work," one of my favorite books on the topic of focusing your mind intensely on only a few things.
All of these are critical to unlocking the best version of yourself.
I HIGHLY recommend you do all three of these actually (topics for another time!).
But all of these are fundamentally and absolutely useless if you fail to prioritize your time on the right things.
My 3-Tier Leadership Playbook
You don't just wake up one day and determine that "this" (whatever this is to you) is the right thing to do today. You can – but rarely is it the best thing.
In my 30,000+ hours of doing this, I've boiled this complex process down to three core fundamentals:
- Have a Clear Vision
- Assemble a Cohesive Team
- Stay Ruthlessly Devoted to Disciplined Action
These are the three fundamentals I focus on with all of my clients.
These are the three fundamentals I focus on with every business I run.
These are the three fundamentals that every leader must focus on to grow and scale their business.
Let's break them down, one at a time...
01 Clear Vision
You must create a vision so sharp that it cuts through even bad ideas.
Your vision sets your strategic plan and is comprised of the following:
- Company Values
- Mission
- 10/5/3 Year Vision
- Marketing Strategy
- 1 Year Plan
- 90 Day Sprint
This is what you should focus on Quarterly and Annually, and it should inform every decision you make and every dollar you spend.
Get these documented and shared by your entire team.
During a visit to the NASA Space Center in 1962, President Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom.
He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said: “Hi, I'm Jack Kennedy, what are you doing?”
The janitor responded: “I'm helping put a man on the moon, Mr President.”
That's vision.
02 Cohesive Team
Too many books have been written on teams, yet not enough leaders understand how to assemble, assess, and maintain a cohesive team.
This is where you focus on:
- Functional Org Chart
- Functional Job Descriptions
- Right People/Seats
- Leading & Managing
- Building Trust
- Delegating
- Quarterly Check-ins
- Incentives
- HR Process
Each component helps ensure that only the best people join and stay on your team.
You'll only push your company to the level of your leaders and teams.
These are all items that live on my "Focus" dashboard, which contains topics and questions I ask myself weekly, monthly, and quarterly to assess whether I'm doing my best to lead my teams.
03 Disciplined Action
Once we know where we're going and have our team sorted, it's all about focused, disciplined action.
This is what most of my week-to-week time is focused on:
- Dashboard (ie. Metrics, Scorecard)
- Weekly Huddle
- Workflow
- OKR’s (Objective: Key Results)
- Problem-Solving
- Scaling Process
Staying ruthlessly disciplined in action, you're entire team will be focused around achieving your goals and fulfilling your vision.
Once fully implemented in your team, you'll hit your targets with much more speed and accuracy.
It's a game-changer.
Putting it All Together
If you can achieve a clear vision, build a cohesive team, and stay disciplined in your actions, you'll know what it feels like to have your team operating on an effective and scalable operating system.
This just happens to be the one I use.
I hope it's helpful, and stirs your mind on ways to refocus your time on the right things.
If you find yourself wanting some help on this, I coach teams in implementing these three fundamentals, and I also coach individual leaders in these areas and more.
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