Stay Focused on the Strategic
The CEO was clear on the objectives of the leadership team’s summit. My job was to design the meeting and facilitate the group’s work. I asked him what he thought would be the most important contribution I could make, as their facilitator. His reply: “Keep us focused on the strategic. We tend to get into the weeds, instead of discussing strategy and objectives. It bogs us down and eats up our time.”
If you have a similar experience, here are two principles to keep in mind:
- First, focus on WHAT needs to be achieved, not how. Keep your eye on the vision and strategy, the end game and desired outcomes.
- Secondly, make it a rule to not solve problems others are equipped to handle. Top teams waste valuable resources, namely their time and the talents of capable people, when they prescribe how a goal should be achieved or define solutions others have the capacity and resources to create.
