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Successful leaders concentrate on big decisions

BY: MICHAEL STERN November 07, 2007


The secret of business success, as I have learned through our executive coaching practice, is focus. There is nothing more powerful than a leader who is focused, laser-like, on a few essential priorities. And there is nothing sadder than an executive bogged down in trivia, indecision and other people’s problems.

Unfortunately, such entanglements are far more common than you'd expect. It’s easy for an outsider to say, “Focus only on your principal tasks.” But it’s much harder to remember that amid the rush and din of daily business, with everyone coming to you for help.

Take Barbara, the manufacturing executive I met recently who found herself being invited to too many client meetings. The sales reps always say, “We need you there.” Often because it’s a high-level, trust-building meeting, and sometimes because it’s a bad news, we’re-increasing-our-prices meeting, and the rep doesn't want to take the heat alone.

Barbara was torn. She has her own work to do. But she also knows that building relationships is part of her job – and she doesn't want to appear unapproachable or uncaring.

Barbara needs to sit down and formally review her priorities. One, obviously, is to accomplish her own high-level, strategic mission, and another is to build the skills of her team so they don't need handholding or CEO firepower to close a sale or handle a sensitive meeting.

On this issue (and not many others) I stand with former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who said, “The first rule of leadership is to save yourself for the big decision. Don't allow your mind to become cluttered with the trivia. Don't let yourself become the issue.”

Barbara has to learn to delegate decision-making to others, make her own appointments with key clients and gracefully decline requests for her to go along to sales calls and meetings. If colleagues insisted they absolutely needed her to be there, she might say, “Okay, but just this once. And while we’re at it, let’s work on upgrading your skills or confidence level so that you can handle this yourself next time.”

People make excuses for not delegating. “I have to make sure the job is done right.” “I don't have time.” (Remember the exhausted woodsman who never had time to sharpen his saw?) “It takes longer to teach someone to do this job than it takes if I do it myself.”

In truth, many just need to get better organized so they can assign tasks to specific people and hold them accountable for the results. But these are exactly the skills that don't get taught in business schools, and can trip up the unwary or those partial to controlling things.

A few pointers for people who do too much:

• Take time to work out your three most important priorities. The rest is deadwood – someone else’s job. Limit the time you commit to everything outside that core area.
• I meet lots of executives who say they have too much to do and not enough time. My response: You don't need to do it all. Find good people and give them the responsibility for the tasks that are not strategic priorities, or that don't represent the best use of your skills.
• Don't worry about being perceived to be shirking. Delegating is leadership. It allows others to take on new challenges and grow. Your “B” chore is someone else’s “A” task. What’s drudgery to you is job enrichment for somebody else.
• Know which clients at what levels you should be working with, and delegate the development of other relationships to someone else.
• If you're not sure that a subordinate can handle a certain assignment, delegate in stages. Tell them you want them to take over this file – but first, they have to come back to you with their thinking on how best to move forward. Once you have consensus, let them get to work – but insist on regular updates. That lets you control the outcome until you are ready to give them full responsibility.
• Successful delegating can be contagious. If your self-discipline permeates through your organization, it will make all of your people more effective. .