You may have a task list, you may have meetings lined up, but what are your real priorities?
Lately, I have been amazed at the answers I get when I query executives about their priorities. Many utter a reference to "objectives" that sounds good, but soon they discover that their answers don't clarify what their priorities are for that day. They often are not clear on what actions they need to focus on today that will lead to success tomorrow.
The second revelation is the massive amount of "disconnects" there are within companies over what a person's or team's priorities are, or should be. In training sessions I often focus on aligning a company's priorities in order to achieve their strategic goals. I will take executives through a discovery exercise that goes like this-
I ask the group to list their top 3 priorities. I then ask them to get with the person that they report to or with their teammates with whom they work most closely. They compare their priorities and guess what? Over 50% of the time they don't match! Over half the time their priorities are completely different than those around them. Do you think this might cause some "disconnects?" Imagine, the person that you report to thinks you should be working on "X" and you are working feverishly on "Y." Do you think someone may be disappointed?
There is a huge misalignment here, and it's all based upon assuming (a really dangerous thing to do in any circumstance!) that everyone knows what is important...the real priorities. Don't assume! Ask, verify, and realign!
Business runs at a frenetic pace as you well know. Things pop up daily that divert your focus and therefore may shift your priorities. Over time you can lose sight of the real priorities that lead to the achievement of the bigger goals that you have established.
It all comes down to continual communication about what is important and what has changed on the landscape that may have shifted your priorities.
Steve Pinchotti, CEO of a high tech company, states- "The leadership team in every company must set clear objectives and priorities and review them on a frequent basis. Having the discipline to maintain a priority list enables you to handle new initiatives with minimal disruptions. The expectation that all workers can and will achieve extraordinary results is not realistic unless they know what to work on first."
Don't wait for your review, or board meeting, or any other check in point, to discover that there was a misalignment of priorities. Check with your team and those around you to make sure that everyone constantly knows what the priorities should be.If you and your team have your priorities in sync, the more successful and happy, you, and they, will be.
Leadership is often about focusing on the most basic things. This is one of them.
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