One of your jobs as a leader is to focus the energies of your organization on a handful of priorities. You have limited resources: limited money, limited equipment, only so many people and just so much time. You can't do everything. You must cull your list down to the three to five most important things you need to get done.
But how do you do that? Here's a four step process I find helpful.
Get clear on why you and your team exist. What is your core mission? Why does your organization pay for your team? Boil this down until you can state that mission in a single sentence. Write it down and share it widely.
Given that mission, what core objectives must you accomplish next? Brainstorm a complete list, then winnow it down to no more than five key objectives. Why five? Because it's tough for any of us to remember more than about five things at once. A handful, we can handle. As you finish one of your top five, you can bring another one onto the list to take its place. But work on only five at once.
Talk about, ask about, and act on those five items and only those five items. Barring a crisis, spend 90 percent of your time on these five and let other things slide. Why so much time on five things? Because how you spend your time is a powerful communications tool. Your team will notice how you spend your time, and will focus their efforts accordingly.
Sort any new demands into one of three groups and take the appropriate action:
- If the new demand will move you forward toward one of your focus objectives, do it and do it well.
- If the new demand will not help you reach one of your focus objectives, but must nevertheless be done, get done as quickly as possible. Don't strive for world-class execution - do a good enough job and get back to your focus items.
- If the new demand will not help you reach one of your focus objectives, and is not required for other reasons, just say "no."
I know it's tough to put all but five projects on the back burner. But if you want to succeed as a leader, you really must do just that.
