What’s on your radar?

What’s on your radar?

I was watching a movie a few weeks back where a Navy Seal team were hitching a ride on a very high tech submarine, to rescue some poor unsuspecting soul who inadvertently got captured and imprisoned in a not very friendly country (I realise I have just described countless action plots). The thing about this show was there were opposing forces and priorities for the two leaders on the submarine.  Delivering the Seal team was going to involve the submarine getting very close to unauthorised ocean territory, which if breached, would cause a major international incident (yes, I am aware I have still described the same countless action plots)!

So, you have different priorities amongst the two different crews on board and it’s fair to say things get a little bit heated between the two captains.  You could see that there was a split second where both captains wanted to feel more effective and in control.  Ever felt like that?  So, how did they get clarity?  Well, the submarine captain relied heavily on the sonar radar – the dashboard that lights up and shows everything in the water around the submarine.  The captain knew, from looking at the sonar, what things could be ignored and therefore, was able to make the right decisions and prevent an international disaster.  This, of course, meant the Seal team were able to extract themselves out of the submarine through the underwater shoots and save the day.

So why do I share that story with you?  Well, as a leader, have you had times when different teams in your organisation have had different priorities?  When different priorities caused a conflict in time scheduling or resourcing?  Or when teams in the organisation were so focused in their own silo of operations, they were unable to see the impact they were having on the rest of the organisation?  These are the times when you wish you were a little more effective or at least that you had a bit more control over everything that was hitting your desk and your team?  I’m sure most of us have felt that in the last 3 months (even if we only admit it to ourselves!).

As leaders, we are constantly navigating a busy, complex business environment and there are times when that can feel just a little bit out of control.

There is no magic silver bullet, magic wand or pixie dust to sprinkle around and make everything a bit more orderly and agreeable.  We can’t put time on half speed so we can just catch our breath and catch up on the tasks at hand.  We must soldier on!  And that can be a little exhausting sometimes.

I reckon it’s times like this we need to take a peek at how we are playing our inner game as a leader. Is the way we are doing our leadership currently, helping or hindering us from achieving the results we are after.  Do we need to shift the dial – just a fraction?  If so, which way and how far?  Sometimes what got us to where we are now, might not be what will get us to where we want to be

One thing is for sure, if we want to shift the dial on performance and feel more in control, we need clarity around what our priorities are and how they fit into the bigger picture.  By default, this often helps us feel more in control.  We can then apply focus to the things that really matter now.  So often, we allow all this other ‘stuff’ to creep in, suck up our time and overwhelm us.  Focus on the priorities for now and apply consistent action around those things and then we will achieve the results we not only need, but the results we want.

As you head into the latter part of your week, what is the top priority that you can focus on so you hit the weekend feeling like you have made progress and maybe, even feel a little more in control?

Lead with Impact,