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Five Ways to Regain Your Leadership Focus at Work

Rekindle your enthusiasm and put yourself back in the driver’s seat.

By Susan Cramm

October 01, 2003 — CIO — You are in a funk. Your work has turned into a grind, your calendar is out of control, and issues are growing into problems. The focus and energy that you once had are dissipating. People in your organization have noticed—they describe you as distracted, disengaged and tense. You are the missing-in-action CIO—present in body but not in mind and spirit.

You are not alone. 90 percent of professionals are living a less than purposeful existence—either in a state of disengagement, distraction or procrastination—according to Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal, authors of "Beware the Busy Manager" (Harvard Business Review, February 2002). What state you find yourself in, say the authors, depends on the relative levels of two factors: focus, which is "the ability to zero in on a goal and see the task through to completion," and energy, defined as "vigor that is fueled by intense personal commitment."

Most likely, you started off in your current position with a strong sense of purpose and the ability to see problems and solutions in stark relief. You defined and tackled your laser-sharp agenda with limitless energy and enthusiasm. But as time passed, you lost interest or ran into obstacles or got overloaded and joined the suffering 90 percent.

Great leaders understand how to renew their leadership agenda. They have the self-awareness and self-discipline to identify and overcome their malaise. Many of us have used job-hopping as a primary means of leadership renewal. Although crude (in that it does not force you to face the root causes of your leadership malaise), it is effective—as long as there is a strong job market and you are a hot commodity. Now more than ever, given the weak economy and aging demographic, the ability to renew your focus and energy and regain your purposeful footing is important. If you are ready to take back your job, here’s what you should do.

Make the time. It should come as no surprise to learn that purposeful leaders schedule time on their calendars to think and reflect. Many hectic managers find this task almost impossible and require outside assistance from a trusted adviser to help them do calendar analysis and surgery. Since your schedule consists primarily of meetings, the easiest way to make time is to reduce the frequency and duration of meetings (try saying, "When someone asks for one hour, they get half an hour"), eliminate certain meetings ("I don’t meet with vendors") and activities ("My assistant answers my phone and reviews e-mails" or "I read e-mails and check voice mail once a day"), and delegate project work that you have picked up along the way.

 

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