five ways to stay focused on the most important, not the most urgent.
by anthony zecca
do you evaluate the effectiveness of your team by what they get done or on what they get done that matters?
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simple question and for most firms, the answer is a focus on getting things done. however, getting things done too often does not align with putting effort into getting things done that matter.
merely “getting things done” is checking off the to-do list or responding to that last email or text. every single person in every single firm gets caught in the “getting things done” trap and spends so much time on tactical activities with little time left for activities that move the firm forward towards its long-term strategy.
“getting things done that matter” is spending time on and putting effort into those activities that are more strategic and that align actions with the long-term strategy and vision of the firm. too few firm partners or senior staff spend enough time on the things that matter – and too few firm leaders put the effort forth to ensure that time is spent on things that matter.
there is a balance to be achieved since no one can ever totally get away from the tactical day-to-day things. how balanced is your time? i suggest that for one week, maintain an old-fashioned t-account. on the left side, list the things you spent time on and got done addressed a short-term “need to get done”. on the right side, list those activities you spent time on that advanced the firm towards its long-term vision and strategy. do this for a week and then sit back and judge for yourself – are you climbing the right wall? if you are the firm leader, are you climbing the right wall and leading everyone versus managing everyone’s tactics?
why is this important? in so many firms i have worked with, everyone is working hard and putting in the hours, getting things done. yet, the firm is achieving modest results in terms of growth of revenue and profits. top performing firms reach the top for a few reasons. one of the key reasons is that leadership focuses so much more time on setting expectations, communicating the vision, and ensuring that everyone understands and lives within an effective balance between tactical and strategic. leaders in top firms focus on ensuring that their entire team understands the long-term strategy and the actions necessary to achieve success. they empower everyone to act within the vision and hold everyone, including themselves, accountable for results measured against expectations. they ensure that everyone is climbing the right wall.
the bottom line is that there is no path to becoming a standout, high-performing firm when everyone is running on all cylinders getting things done if they are climbing the wrong wall and firm leadership is running alongside them.
if you are the firm leader:
- communicate the vision and long-term strategy often – you can’t do it enough.
- clearly communicate to the entire firm the performance expectations you have so that everyone understands actions that are necessary to achieve. strategic success = climbing the right wall.
- make sure your leadership team is climbing the right wall and ensuring that their team is climbing the right wall.
- make a focus on the concept of “climbing the right wall” a standard agenda item at your leadership team, partner and town hall meetings. provide examples, call out individuals who have taken actions to climb the right wall.
- make the concept a standard part of your conversation toolkit.
you can’t become a standout, high-performing firm if there is no clear and strong strategic roadmap and if leadership is not focused on ensuring that there is an effective balance in everyday actions between tactical and strategic activities throughout the firm. the reality is that most individuals gravitate to what they are comfortable with and measure the day’s success by “what” they accomplished and not the “value” of what they accomplished.
the leadership challenge is to understand that and to lead everyone out of their comfort zone to a higher level of performance-driven by the value of what they do and not the quantity of what they do.