One of the key responsibilities of being a leader is to not only provide direction for your team, but also maintain direction for yourself. And particularly, in an ever changing business environment where priorities change quickly and senior executives can often play the ‘leadership hierarchy’ card to influence your direction, it can be incredibly difficult to maintain focus and remain on your chosen path.
If there is one key lesson I have learned over the many years of being a leader, it is that it is so important to be crystal clear on what it is you are shooting for, because if the clarity is not there, the chances of hitting the goals and targets diminish significantly. And this can be like a self-fulfilling prophecy – when the results are not there, the mindset and attitude can sometimes be adversely affected, resulting in your output and application being less than optimal, therefore leading to poorer results. And so the cycle continues.
It is therefore so critically important to be very clear on where your focus is. You may have heard the phrases ‘where your focus goes, your energy flows’, or ‘you get what you focus on’. This is so true and something that is extremely important to grasp as a leader.
Our brain is incredible – so incredible in fact that it will do and focus on what you tell it or instruct it to do. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) not only acts as a filtering mechanism, it is also our own inbuilt GPS system, helping you to achieve what it is you are most focused on. Every single second, we are being bombarded with millions (if not billions) of bits of information, and the RAS acts as the filter, only allowing through to our conscious mind the bits of information we are focused on. For example, have you ever been in the market to purchase a new car, and once you bought it, all of a sudden that same car was everywhere on the road? This is your RAS in action. Before purchasing the car, there would have been a large number of those cars on the road, the only difference being that you were not focused on them, hence you didn’t see them. The exact same principle applies to your self talk and your beliefs. If you believe that you are a poor public speaker for example, your RAS will search for evidence to support that belief and when it finds it, will therefore confirm what you believe – that you are a poor public speaker.
If however, you believe that you are a good public speaker, your RAS will search for evidence to support this. You see, it doesn’t actually matter whether it is positive or negative, your RAS will do exactly what it is told to do and search for the evidence accordingly.
So as a leader, it is so vital to ensure that you are focusing on areas of your leadership that will deliver the positive outcomes you are seeking. Here are some points to consider:
- What Is Your Leadership Intention? I have said many times that your team is watching everything you do and listening to everything that you say. They are also watching what you don’t do and listening to what you are not saying. Therefore, it is super important to be very clear on your leadership intention. Are you there to create an environment where your team feels empowered and inspired? Or are you there to manage performance and ensure that the team are achieving their kpi’s and objectives? What ever your intention is, your RAS will search for evidence to support it. What are you focusing on?
- What Leadership Goals Have You Set For Yourself? It never ceases to amaze me the number of leaders who focus all of their attention on ‘doing’ leadership, without first sitting down and setting very clear, specific and actionable goals. These leaders create the impression of being very ‘busy’, however when push comes to shove, they achieve very little because they are not clear on what they are aiming for. And what impression and example does this create for their team? The results, unfortunately, are 100% predictable. So please invest the time up front to clearly identify the leadership goals you are looking to achieve, and allow your RAS to get to work. You may still be ‘busy’, but I guarantee you that the results you achieve will be significantly different and better. What are you focused on?
- What Conversations Are You Having With Yourself? Your self talk is the most powerful conversation you will ever have. No matter where you go, there you are, and the voice inside your head is constantly speaking. It is therefore critical that, as a leader, you become acutely aware of the conversation taking place inside your cranium, and ask yourself whether the conversation is helping or hindering you. Remember, your RAS will do whatever is asked of it, so if the self talk is pessimistic and focused on limitations, the RAS will search for and find evidence to support those limitations. What are you telling yourself as a leader? Is the glass half empty or is it half full? With your team heavily reliant on you for direction and inspiration, you had better focus on the glass being half full. This will allow you to look at the possibilities, will enable you to attack and deal with challenges and obstacles more effectively, and allow you to create an empowering and inspirational environment for your team to thrive in. What are you focused on?
- Do You Believe In Your Team? One of the biggest barriers to effective leadership is the belief of the leader that their people are not capable. And when this happens, guess what? Yes, that’s right – the RAS will search for evidence to prove that your belief is true. It is therefore vital that as a leader, you have unwavering belief in your people, as this belief can only lift people to higher levels of performance and achievement than even they may have thought was possible. And for some of them, they will simply leverage off your belief in them to move forward and gradually increase the belief in themselves. What are you focused on?
Whether you are brand new to leadership or have been a leader for sometime, it is essential that you check in and understand what you are focused on. Whilst leadership is by no means easy, it does become easier when you are 100% clear on what you are focused on, as it will establish an empowering environment for your team to operate in, and the results the team achieve will become more predictable and most importantly, sustainable. So, what are you focused on?
To your continued sales leadership success.
Darren
If you want to know how you can better lead your sales team, send me an email at darren@darrenmitchell.com.au
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Also, be sure to download a FREE copy of my e-Book “Lead With Influence – The 7 Strategic Keys to Unleash Your Sales Leadership Potential”. Click on the link to the right of this page to download a copy.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter, or Facebook.
Darren specialises in working with Sales Leaders to create, implement & embed a sales leadership game plan that will deliver outstanding and sustainable sales & revenue results. He is also the founder of the Australian Sales Leadership Network, a LinkedIn Group for sales leaders to share insights, strategies, resources and best practices, in order to build high quality, engaged and successful sales teams, delivering profitable and sustainable sales results. To apply to join, please click this link.
