In an age of multiple distractions, it is more than ever important for business leaders to have a strategic focus for the direction of their enterprise and clear goals so that progress can be measured.
Especially in the early stages of starting a new venture enthusiasm may be high, but if insufficient thought has been put into the aims and goals and the direction of travel, activity may become scattered in too many directions at once.
It is a waste of time, energy and possibly resources and a lack of focussed effort can lead to disappointing results, even to business failure.
How to keep your head while all around you are losing theirs
It is important for an organisation and its key people to have a clear idea of its purpose, its competence and the value of what it is offering to clients and customers.
This should be defined in the business plan and be regularly reviewed and, if necessary, updated.
What worked at start up and during the early stages may no longer be relevant or at least may need tweaking. Perhaps what has worked and been learned can be applied to introduce new, more innovative products, services or ways of doing things. The lessons learnt might justify pivoting the business in an entirely new direction.
But at each stage, if change is to be introduced it must be in the context of a strategy that helps people to keep their eyes and their actions on the goals.
The LinkedIn Influencer and writer, Bruce Kasanoff, argues that we live in an age of multiple distractions and that people who master the so-called skill of multi-tasking are actually training their brains to be less effective and efficient.
Kasanoff also offers workshops exploring the role of enlightened self-interest in professional organizations and within individual careers.
In a world based on competition, he says, it is inevitable that businesses and enterprises will compete for customers’ attention and business leaders are likely to be no less susceptible than anyone else.
He advocates taking a break to pursue another activity, in his case photography, when starting to feel distracted or stressed.
The result, when returning to a piece of work or the business environment, is that a person is refreshed and ultimately more focused.
Perhaps it’s a lesson busy business leaders need to learn.