Laser Focus
Gene Moran, Ph.D.
Founder & President of Capitol Integration | Guiding Companies to Dramatic Outcomes in DC | Million Dollar Consultant? | Consultant of the Year | NILE Top Lobbyist | Bloomberg Government Top Performer
“I’m going to be laser focused on (your issue).”
Candidates routinely promise that (your issue) will be their top priority on “day one.” The inference is that the ability to singularly focus on a problem is a valued attribute. It might be a useful way to influence a single-issue?voter, but laser focus isn’t so helpful for business leaders.
Leaders need to survey the entire landscape and recognize a myriad of environmental factors such as cost of goods, retention metrics, weather, insurance claims and costs, capital?investments, competition, and the list goes on. Leaders need to maintain the big picture. Your people, on the other hand, need the ability to zoom in on a specific challenge to understand its nature and deal with it.
Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, is described by the Wall Street Journal as “hands-on.”
The image leads one to imagine he’ll be walking the assembly line, ready to tighten any bolts that might be overlooked. This sort of hands-on?leadership?is not leadership; it’s the opposite of leadership. Ortberg will bring a new focus, but don’t look for it to be laser-focused on the current problem of blown-out panels. It’s more likely and more appropriate that he’ll focus on the culture that allowed such a specific problem. It’s hard to laser focus on culture.
My first Captain on my first ship once told me as a newbie ensign that he “could be the best division officer on the ship (an entry-level officer position), but my job is to be the Captain. Your job is to understand your area (I was the communications officer) and work with your assigned people on your part of the mission.”
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In the late 1980s, images of Where’s Waldo were popular.
The challenge was to look at a two-page picture or poster of dozens or hundreds of people and identify the character Waldo in the image. Success at the task requires one to scan the image intently and look for what’s out of place, often Waldo’s signature red and white striped shirt. Leaders should similarly be able to scan in multiple dimensions, such as up and out from their current position. Only when something disturbing pops up is laser focus required by a leader, and even then, only for a short time until the experts can be directed to the potential problem.
Lasers and laser focus have their place, but their presence in the C-suite should be transient, not permanent.?
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