Draw A House

Where you look, your people will go. You are the GPS—it’s really that simple. But, not only should you decide where to go, you should keep tunnel vision on the target.

I watch too many leaders suffer from what I call the “I Can Complete My Thought Later” disease. While this disease doesn’t have a medical or scientific basis, I discovered it over years of close leader observation, and it goes something like this: As a leader, you have an idea, a sketch in your mind of what you want. You give a vague description to your team, who then heads off to work on it. When what they bring back is far from what you had in mind, only then do you give more detail. All along you had the ability to give a more precise picture, but because you were really busy, or assumed that others had the same idea in their minds, you didn’t. Subconsciously, you knew that you could complete your thought later. Sound familiar?

When you choose not to convey a crystal-clear idea, you cost your team time and effort, forcing them to redo work—sometimes twice or three times—when it could have been done right the first time. So, be sure to ask yourself next time: “Do I know what I want?” “Does my team?”

When I’m working with a group of executives, to illustrate the effects of the “I Can Complete My Thought Later” disease, I ask them to draw a house. After a minute or so, I look at their pictures and ask, “Where is the second floor?” Expressing my frustration that they’re not performing according my expectation, I continue asking: “Where is the fence? ... Where is the chimney?”–Or whatever is missing from what I originally had in my mind. Inevitably, the response is, “But you didn’t ask for those elements; you just asked for a house!”

They’re right, the mistake was mine. You have to be absolutely clear as a leader.

This exercise is a perfect example of the disease’s negative impact on performance: causing people to repeat work they could have done correctly the first time, if only you had been clear about what you wanted. As a leader, you need to know exactly what you want and focus on this when you convey directions to your team. Otherwise, everyone around you will get distracted, just as a horse does when its jockey glances sideways.

Don’t get distracted by what’s going on around you; instead keep looking straight ahead.

A distraction you’ll need to avoid during the beginning of this new year is carrying over limiting thoughts from 2016. Last year was a tough year! Everyone I talk with is glad that it’s over—but because it’s over, don’t allow your team to be distracted by last year’s macro-economic conditions.

Distractions easily seep into your business environment but you must keep them out. What you talk about, your team will talk about. What you give attention to, your team will give attention to as well. Remember where you look, your team will go.

I’m shocked how much time people spend repeating rumors about market conditions and allowing those false claims to shape their view of the market. Last year, I noticed that whenever people spoke of the market being off by 40%, it was nonsense. No one had first-hand knowledge or could directly source their figures. Yet, they readily repeated that alleged market trend without even understanding it. Even worse, they allowed a falsity to shape their views. Utter distractions!

2017 is going to be better: oil prices are slowly moving in a positive direction, velocity of funds will pick up, it looks like US policy is going to shift and hopefully some steam is being released from regional tensions. We need to look to the future without distractions from the past.

Where you look, so will your employees. When your focus shifts, execution problems emerge. You cannot afford for even a fraction of a second to shift your focus. When you get distracted, you put you and your team’s goals at risk. Give clear direction and keep everyone focused on the target.

Printed originally in Gulf News (9 January 17)

A thinker, speaker, and writer to the core, Dr. Tommy holds a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University, and is the founder of Emerging Markets Leadership Center (EMLC) where he is the region's leading CEO Coach. In addition to writing a number of books—including the Amazon #1 best-seller, Leadership Dubai Style and 10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East, Dr. Tommy is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Markets Business—The Authoritative Review.

Follow me on twitter @tommyweir or visit www.tommyweir.com for more of my thoughts on leadership.