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“If a man does not know to what port he is steering, no wind is favorable to him.”

Seneca

Greetings, a belated “Happy New Year!” and a sincere apology for not keeping up with this blog in the middle of a series. I have no good excuse other than being focused on too many things, which is ironic given that “Core Focus™” is the next topic in our Smart x Healthy = Enduring Success series.

Those of you with a memory better than mine will recall that we have been exploring the notion that enduring success is achievable when one builds an organization that is both Smart and Healthy. We have also discussed how one of the major aspects of creating a Smart and Healthy organization is getting every member of a senior leadership team on the Same Page with regard to the answers to what we are referring to as the Eight Key Questions. In previous blogs, we talked about the importance of getting everyone to agree to their “Why” (i.e., their Purpose, Passion or Cause), and in our last blog we talked about the power of a well-articulated set of Core Values.

In today’s blog we are going to talk about the power of getting clear on one’s Core Focus. My EOS® colleagues and I have found that organizations master Core Focus when there is complete agreement on two things. The first is the organization’s “Why:” where they excel, what they love doing, what they are great at doing, what they are passionate about–why they exist. The second is the organization’s “Niche:” a simple description of the distinct segment of the market they serve. Examples include:

•  Orville Redenbacher: popcorn
•  Mayflower: long distance moving
•  FedEx: overnight package delivery
•  Dropbox: cloud-based document storage and sharing
•  eBay: virtual marketplace

Once an organization creates a clear and compelling Core Focus, it not only captures the hearts (through defining it’s “Why”) and the minds (through clearly defining it’s Niche) of its employees, but it provides everyone within the organization with two powerful decision-making filters that help make things simpler and clearer for everyone. When organizations have this clarity and begin to align all of their people, processes, and systems with their Core Focus, they find themselves:

• Reinvigorated,
• Operating “in the zone,”
• Doing what they love,
• Focusing on what they’re great at doing, and
• Being keenly aware of what they shouldn’t be doing.

In fact, we have numerous examples of clients deciding to rid themselves of full business units as a result of this clarity.

In short, a strong Core Focus fundamentally enhances an organization’s effectiveness. It substantially reduces the likelihood that the organization (and its Visionary) will be distracted by things that may be interesting but are fundamentally inconsistent with the organization’s primary business. And trust us, you can only imagine how much time, effort, and money is wasted by organizations that get distracted by what we like to refer to as “shiny objects.”

As Zig Ziglar said:

“I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there you’re never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.”

Until next time, may you build with passion and confidence.