Are You Leading Your Team in the Right Direction?
The leadership habits that keep you (and your team) focused
I’ve finally stopped saying ‘Happy New Year’ when I greet people and I’m feeling refreshed and energised after some wonderful beach time. Now I’m ready to ‘lock in’ as my kids would say. Now the real work begins.
The planning and preparation I have done over the last few months have laid the groundwork but I know that progress is only realised through decisive execution and focusing on what's important.
The Cost of Losing Focus
“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”
I love this quote because it reminds me of the importance of clarity and focus in leadership. Without clear priorities, it’s all too easy to get swept up in the whirlwind of urgent tasks that yield little value to your broader goals.
When focus slips, the impact can ripple through a team. Chasing too many objectives, succumbing to shiny-object distractions, or micromanaging minor details depletes energy, slows momentum, and diminishes morale. Over time, this lack of direction can leave teams feeling overwhelmed, disengaged, and uncertain.
For leaders, it risks undermining trust and credibility—a challenge that can destabilise even the strongest teams.
The solution? A consistent commitment to focus. By identifying what truly matters and aligning your efforts with clear, strategic priorities, you create the conditions for sustainable success.
Focus empowers teams to stay energised, confident, and purpose-driven. It anchors decision-making, enhances trust, and builds resilience, even in times of uncertainty.
As leaders, it is good to remind ourselves that simplicity and clarity are not limitations but strengths. They allow us to cut through the noise, channel our energy where it counts, and lead with purpose.
A Leader’s Role in Execution: Climbing the Tree
Imagine your team forging through a dense jungle, determined to push ahead. As a leader, your role isn’t to grab a machete and join the cutting—it’s to climb the nearest tree, assess the landscape, and ensure the team is heading in the right direction.
This highlights three essential leadership tasks:
Clarify Direction: Keep your team aligned with strategic goals by staying focused on the bigger picture. Be decisive in saying “no” to distractions that don’t serve the mission.
Build the Right Team: Delegate effectively. Empower the right people with the right tools and trust them to deliver.
Inspire and Sustain Motivation: Execution is not a single step but an ongoing process. Keep your team energised, on track, and resilient, even when challenges arise.
By maintaining this perspective, leaders avoid getting bogged down in tasks others can handle, enabling them to drive progress with clarity and intent.
“Vision without execution is hallucination.”
Edison’s words remind us that focus is the bridge between ideas and outcomes. Leaders must resist the allure of chasing every opportunity or taking on too many goals. The temptation of bright shiny objects can scatter focus and weaken results.
The Eisenhower Time Management Matrix offers a useful framework for the best use of your time as a leader.
Where possible, operating within the "Important but Not Urgent" quadrant, prioritising actions that lead to long-term success for significant portions of your week, will help you be effective.
Allowing "Not Important but Urgent" distractions—such as low-priority emails or minor interruptions—or "Not Important and Not Urgent" activities to dominate attention will reduce your efficiency and momentum.
The Hidden Impact of Distraction
Research underscores the high cost of distraction. One study found that it takes over 23 minutes to refocus after an interruption. Across a team, this wasted time compounds exponentially. Similarly, several studies have shown that multitasking has been shown to impair cognitive performance and decision-making, further reinforcing the need for leaders to set a clear path forward.
Strategies for Laser-Focused Execution
To ‘lock in’ on execution, leaders can adopt these practical strategies:
Limit Goals: Prioritise no more than three key objectives at any given time. Spreading focus across too many goals dilutes energy and impact.
Resist Bright Shiny Objects: Evaluate new opportunities through the lens of your overarching goals. If it doesn’t align, either defer it or let it go entirely.
Delegate with Confidence: Identify tasks that others can handle and entrust your team to take them on. Delegation isn’t abdication—it’s empowerment.
Set Boundaries: Protect your time and focus by saying “no” to unnecessary meetings, interruptions, and low-value tasks. Use tools like time-blocking to safeguard your priorities.
Leadership Questions for Strategic Focus
When putting plans into action, ask yourself:
Does this action or decision directly support our top priorities?
Am I focusing on what only I, as a leader, can do?
Are my team members equipped and empowered to take ownership of their responsibilities?
Adaptive Stability in a Busy World
Leadership is not about doing it all—it’s about doing what matters. Darria Long, in her TED talk, “An ER Doctor on Triaging your “Crazy Busy” life” shares a powerful insight: focus on what’s truly critical rather than letting chaos dictate your priorities.
Adaptive stability thrives on this principle. Leaders who remain composed, focused, and intentionally provide their teams with clarity and assurance, even amid uncertainty.
By resisting distractions and doubling down on what truly matters, leaders not only execute effectively but foster an environment where their teams can perform at their best.
Make 2025 a Year of Meaningful Progress
This year, commit to leading with focus, intentionality, and execution. Your team looks to you for direction. Climb that tree, align your team with the bigger picture, and empower them to bring your collective vision to life.
