By Garry Hojan
A: This is an awesome question, and certainly not industry-specific. It affects all of us to one degree or another, no matter what business we are in.
Below in this response, I’ll include Google’s response to “causes of feeling overwhelmed in business” so you have some practical tips from the all-mighty ABC wizard. However, I also want to cover another aspect of this issue. I covered it before, but I believe it’s worth repeating.
I had just taken over executive management of an aerospace OEM, and one of my business mentors taught me something that changed my entire business approach.
We were having our usual monthly session at a local cafe, and he asked me, “Do you know what the single most important job of a leader is?” After I gave some of the typical answers, he said, “To provide clarity.”
At first, I didn’t really get it. I thought I provided clarity. I had meetings, I communicated up and down the team chain, and I worked on plans operationally and by the numbers, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that much of what we did and even who we were as a company was pretty generalized and certainly not crystal clear.
The issue? I, like almost every other company owner/executive out there, am too busy just “doing business” to get down into the details of clarity. There is so much work to owning, running, managing a company that this, in and of itself, can be very difficult to manage.
My mentor also asked me to do something. He prefaced it by saying, “I’m going to ask you to do something, and you’ll likely find it’s one of the hardest disciplines you’ll ever have to learn.” In my mind, I thought, “Oh, yay” (sarcasm), like I don’t have enough on my plate already. But I listened because I truly respect and trust this mentor.
He said, “I want you to pick a day and time every week and take four hours to focus on strategy.” Full stop! Ya right, I’ll just magically find another four hours in my sixty-hour week that isn’t enough as is. He went on to instruct “Away from the office, away from home and family, away from distractions, phone off, no checking email, no answering calls. Bring a notepad. If you must use a laptop, don’t look at emails or any other distractions, just focus on strategy.”
Finding time—ugh, how many times have you heard it, said it, and wished it? Seriously, four hours? Every week? And where am I going to do this? With reluctance, I said I would follow his instructions.
Locally, I found some quiet restaurants and explained I’d be there for about four hours. I’d usually buy breakfast and then sit, think, and take notes. I’ve done this every Monday for years now.
It has brought crystal clarity. Who are we? Why do we do what we do? What are our core values? Who are our customers, and what do they want? Where are we going? How are we going to get there? When are we going to get there?
My number one responsibility to a company leader is to enforce financial solvency and help provide clarity. Once crystal clarity is achieved, it can be communicated and implemented across the company.
This will reduce feelings of overwhelm.
Once you have this clarity, every decision should be checked: “Is this aligned with our mission, vision, and core values and will it get us closer to achieving our goals?”
This is laser-clear focus; everything else is distraction. This allows for quick recognition and rejection of distractions. The whole team should also be doing the exact same thing at their level of responsibility.
Clarity brings ease in determining direction and decision making. The opposite is also true. So, what’s clarity, focus, and growth worth?
You’ll have to put a value on that for yourself, then decide if you think it’s worth it to be deliberate about it. For me, it made all the difference in the world to the company and the team. It also pretty much eliminated the feeling of being overwhelmed.
Need help getting to your crystal-clear strategy? Let’s chat
Never any sales pressure and a simple guarantee…I provide higher value over cost, or you don’t pay.
You can email me at ghojan@jhaero.com or call my cell at 208-627-2565.
