405. Great Leaders Say No To Good To Focus On Great
Leaders must prioritize goals and decline distractions. Which isn't always an easy task.
Chase Big Opportunities
A good strategy is aimed at addressing a big opportunity. However, staying on track is a challenge when new opportunities or issues arise.
Saying no when the ask has limited benefits is more manageable. It is much more complicated when there is value to be gained.
Because there is value, there will be a push from stakeholders to pursue these efforts (internal or external or both). The pressure will rise, and there will be immense temptation to compromise to satisfy everyone.
This is where leadership has to resist temptation and say no or not now. While value could be gained, it is not worth delaying the gains of your bigger goals. Time is not on your side, and the cost of delay can be massive.
When it comes to executing a strategy, it is all about maintaining focus. Anything that takes you off the path is a distraction.
Supporting Insights
“Focus takes a ton of discipline. The business world is full of distractions and temptations posing as opportunities.” - Sanjay Khosla & Mohanbir Sawhney
“Organizations are often spread too thinly across too many priorities, and too many of them are ill-defined.” - Frank Slootman
“At the core, strategy is about focus, and most complex organizations don’t focus their resources. Instead, they pursue multiple goals at once, not concentrating enough resources to achieve a breakthrough in any of them.” -Richard Rumelt
“This person says “no” all the time. She says no because she has goals, because she’s a practical visionary, because she understands priorities. She says no because she has the strength to disappoint you now in order to delight you later.” - Seth Godin
“Remember too that your time is your one finite resource, and when you say “yes” to one thing you are inevitably saying “no” to another.” - Andrew S. Grove
Keep Learning
“The inflow is daunting. And now more than ever, your professional success and personal well-being depend on how you manage it. You can’t say yes to everyone and everything and do all of it well. When you take on too many or the wrong things, you waste time, energy, and money and distract yourself from what’s really important. Still, no one wants to anger or disappoint colleagues or other contacts—or, worse, turn down key career and life opportunities.”
324. Great Leaders are Focused on Value
“What’s different about your product or service so that customers are willing to select it over competitors? What keeps your customers coming back for more vs. making a switch?”
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