How’s Your Focus Working for You?

Focus. 

It’s one of the things we need to be more successful in business – right?  Although I agree in general terms, it is also instructive to consider what you are focused on. Let me cut right to the chase: I believe that most business leaders and sales professionals tend to focus on the wrong thing more often than they should.

Allow me to illustrate this with a few questions for you to answer (and, yes, brutal self-honesty counts):  

•  At the split second in time when you recently met someone new, what (or who) were you actually thinking about?
• When you negotiated the final points of your last business deal, what (or who) were you actually thinking about?
• When you last worked with a dissatisfied customer, what (or who) were you actually thinking about?

For most people who are ok with the brutal self-honesty thing, the answer to all three questions is usually “myself.” 

If this is the case for you, do you think that at those three moments you were really focused in a way that moved you closer to the long-term results you want?  What about all of the other moments in your typical day – is it a stretch to believe that you are focused too much on yourself there too?  And how about others in your organization (hint: if they’re human beings, they’re susceptible too) – where are they focused?

One way to find out what you might be missing is to consciously change your focus during important meetings and interactions away from yourself to the other person.  Then see what happens.  Your thoughts drive your behavior, which in turn drives your results.

Give it a try to see if what you’re focused on needs to change.