Leadership Lessons- Part I: Focus

(Originally Published 21 July, 2009)[Note, this was the first of nine posts dedicated to leadership, and how to be a GOOD leader]

A few weeks ago, I posted my thoughts on leadership, and gave my recommendation for a good book ("Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek, the Next Generation", by Wess Roberts, Ph.D, and Bill Ross). At the time, I couldn't find the book in my pile of stuff, and now that I've found it, I will start a short series on leadership. I will take the important ideas from the book, and present them as they apply.

Lesson I is Focus. I will focus on the aspect of focus (heh, I made a pun) as it is the cardinal quality of an effective leader. Without focus, the goals and aspirations of the group will never reach fruition. The following are important points.

• An effective leader must maintain a clear and unclouded vision about situations that may arise in the future. Such vision requires the leader to deal with all his priorities, but not necessarily sequentially. An effective leader must develop the ability to see and deal with the consequences of his action, or inaction, immediately.


• The degree of effectiveness of any leader is directly proportionate to the amount of focus he applies to his most important duties.


• An effective leader should cultivate and expand the full mental ability to adapt and atune himself readily to miscellaneous demands as well as new and unusual situations, and to be inventive when dealing with any crisis that may arise.Such leaders are of far greater value to othrs than they would be if their mental abilities were arrested at mere immitation.


• The demands of time and attention that are placed on a leader by those on his team increase with rank and position. However, since the leader can not be in more than one place at any given time, it is of vital importance that he be able to distinguish between that which is profitable, and that which is wasteful use of his time and proximity


• A clear and persistent goal reduces the extent of the effort needed to be effective.


• While being sidetracked from the main focus may bea result of of taking on too many responsibilities, a gifted officer will most often fail as a result of hasty or uncertain distribution of his talents.


• An effective leader can not afford to allow his team to be distracted by misdirected competition, as this inevitably leads to failure.


• When one is not precisely fitted for a job, the best way to hone and develop the skills needed to become successful at it is to concentrate on the enthusiasm and devotion required to do it


• The most guaranteed way to be selected for a higher position is to concentrate on doing one's present job thoroughly, and to the best of one's abilities.


• When a leader becomes convinced that the power of concentration leads to success, he will go to great lengths to propagate this power in his team, and will carefully and tirlessly work to prevent wanton waste of profitable effort and valuable resources.

And in conclusion:


• Concentrating on the most important aspects of one's duties gives all the secondary or mechanical operations of one's efforts the ease and expertise of habit.

If you focus your efforts on matters of the highest priorities associated with your position, you will liberate more of your own, and your team's, initiative, power, innovation, and imagination- all which are vital proponents of a successful endeavor.

(Next: Lesson II- Urgency)